Wow. No boxer has made me feel like that in more than 20 years. What Manny Pacquiao did to Miguel Cotto I did not see coming.
It was absolutely mindblowing, and sets up what I believe will be the biggest grossing fight of all time; Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
The last time a fighter took my breath away in the manner of the Pac Man was Roberto Duran against Davey Moore in 1983.
It was after the second 'no mas' fight with Sugar Ray Leonard. He had been beaten by Wilfredo Benitez and our own Kirkland Laing.
We thought it was over for Duran and then he battered poor Davey from pillar to post to claim the WBA light middleweight title.
The Cotto bout was as good as you will see; an encounter worthy of boxing's fab four, Leonard, Duran, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns.
You could drop Pacquiao and Mayweather into that quartet and not lose anything in terms of skill, drama, power and excitement.
It would be interesting to ask Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach how he thinks his man would have gone against Duran. They were both superquick combination punchers, flying in and out, hitting hard as mules.
That's a parlour game for Christmas, send your winner on a postcard. And let's leave the Mayweather bout for another day. This is Pacquiao's moment.
I take my hat off to him for what he did to Cotto, a very, very good fighter.
Pacquiao just bullied him.
Cotto was backed up by Antonio Margarito, but this was even more impressive. Pacquiao threw him around.
I sat there gobsmacked. I could not believe what I was seeing, that a small guy coming through the divisions could do that to a bigger guy, a natural welter. I thought Cotto had a shout. I believe the referee might have been kinder and let him hear the final bell.
I know he took one hell of a shellacking. And I do not advocate unnecessary punishment in the ring. But on this occasion Cotto deserved to finish the contest.
As a tipster I have not had the best run of late. Let's hope for better tonight when Mikkel Kessler faces off against Andre Ward in the super middleweight series.
This is another tough fight to call. Kessler is rightly considered favourite, but Ward is a handful.
He's super quick and awkward. The quality that did for Kessler against Joe Calzaghe was speed. Ward has that to burn.
Saying that, Kessler is a terrific fighter. He is not fancy but he is exciting. He loves to fight. I have to go for Kessler, but only just.
There, you are now safe to go and put your mortgage on Ward.
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Source: mirror.co.uk
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