LAS VEGAS -- The legend of Manny Pacquiao reached a new level last night, not only with his winning a world title in a record seventh weight division, but also proving he's clearly the most exciting fighter in boxing.
Using a brilliant combination of speed and power, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) administered a systematic beating to Miguel Cotto before referee Kenny Bayless mercifully stopped the fight 55 seconds into the 12th round.
"I didn't know where the [punches] were coming [from]," Cotto said, "and I didn't protect myself from those punches."
Chants of "We want Floyd," rang out at a sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena as Pacquiao laid claim to the WBO welterweight championship and added fuel to a potential showdown with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather in 2010. It's a fight that has to happen now that Pacquiao easily handled one of the top welterweights in the division.
"My job is the fight in the ring," Pacquiao said. "It's the promoter who makes the fight."
Pacquiao fought magnificently. He withstood all of Cotto's power punches, while dropping Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) in the third and fourth rounds to take control of the bout. The fight should have been stopped after the ninth round. By then, Cotto was bleeding from the mouth and had an ugly mouse under his right eye. His face was a mess, looking much like it did in his loss to Antonio Margarito in July 2008.
"He was stronger than we expected," Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago said of Pacquiao. "He was faster than we expected."
Pacquiao seemed to pull back his assault over the final three rounds, as if trying not to inflict too much damage. Cotto's corner refused to stop the fight, leaving it to Bayless to step in 55 seconds into the 12th round.
"Manny's speed was too much," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. "His in-and-out motion was too fast. Manny broke him down."
Pacquiao's speed began to show in the third round, when he caught Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) with a right hook that dropped the Puerto Rican to a knee. It was more of flash knockdown as Cotto got up and began to land his own punches, countering amid Pacquiao's burst of fire.
Cotto frequently went to Pacquiao's body looking to slow down the Filipino. At one point in the fourth, Pacquiao stayed on the ropes in rope-a-dope fashion. But he battled off the ropes and landed a clean left hook that dropped Cotto for the second time in the fight. The Puerto Rican was staggered but saved by the bell.
Cotto regained his senses in the sixth and stalled Pacquiao's assault with a hard right hand along the ropes. But Pacquiao kept up the pressure.
Entering the eighth round, Cotto needed to do something to turn the fight in his favor. But Pacquiao couldn't be stopped. He began to walk through Cotto's punches, hitting the Puerto Rican with just about everything he threw.
Cotto's best chance to win coming in was to use his strength and his will to break down Pacquiao. But it was Pacquiao whose power and will were dominant. By the ninth, Cotto was spitting blood, his face starting to look a mess. At this point, his corner should have stopped the fight.
"I wanted to fight," Cotto said. "It was my decision."
In the other televised undercard bouts, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. remained unbeaten with a unspectacular unanimous decision over Troy Rowland, and Alfonso Gomez won a technical six-round decision over Jesus Soto-Karass of Mexico. The fight was stopped because of a bad cut Gomez suffered from a head butt.
george.willis@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
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