LAS VEGAS — Less than two hours after rearranging the face of Miguel Cotto in a 12-round masterpiece that became his record seventh world title in his seventh different weight class Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao was serenading the media.
Literally.
Pacquiao, wearing a fedora to help cover the bandage wrapped around his right ear — the only visible sign of wear and tear above his neck — talked about how this was one of the toughest fights of his career. In the next breath, breaking into a wide smile, he said he needed to hurry to get to his next gig a few blocks away at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino to sing eight songs with his band.
The Filipino superstar obliged when someone asked him to sing a few bars, and he brought down the house with his acappella version of Dan Hill's Sometimes when we Touch.
Pacquiao had sung a hit song a few hours earlier, too, when he destroyed Cotto with a relentless barrage of power punches that went on nearly the full 12 rounds inside the sold-out and raucous MGM Grand Arena.
The fight was mercifully stopped by referee Kenny Bayless 55 seconds into the 12th round, as Cotto's face was beaten to a bloody pulp, and whose eyes were nearly swollen shut.
The fight was still up for grabs after the first four or five rounds as the fighters exchanged punches. Then Pacquiao's blinding speed and power took over, and he showed why he's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He threw 780 punches and connected on 336, according to compuBox, nearly twice as many punches landed as Cotto's 172.
"Manny's just unbelievable," Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach said. "The first couple rounds he had me worried, he wasn't following the gameplan," said Roach. "Toward the end of the second round he started getting into the program, and made it look easy after that."
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) said he was measuring Cotto's power over the first three rounds, because all he heard before the fight was that Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) was bigger and stronger. "I just wanted to let him know during the fight who's going to be stronger," he said.
Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, in Cotto's corner for only the second fight, sure found out in a hurry.
"He hit harder than we expected and he was a lot stronger than we expected," Santiago said.
Santiago tried to stop the fight after the 11th round, but Cotto would have none of it. He went out for the 12th, his face a bloody mess. His wife and son left ringside after the ninth round, then accompanied him, along with several other family and team members, to the hospital later for an examination.
My health comes first," he said after the fight. "But I feel great, a little swollen, but that's all.
"Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers I ever fought."
Pacquiao and Roach addressed the fact that during the fight, Pacquiao often found himself on the ropes, a seemingly inviting target for Cotto's powerful body punching and damaging left hooks.
Said Roach: "I yelled at him every time, 'why are you fighting his fight? We're giving this guy an opportunity to bang the body and use his left hook.' And Manny said, 'I can handle it.' I said, 'well, show me.' And he did."
Said Pacquiao: "Sometimes I stayed on the ropes trying to control the fight. Sometimes it really hurt, but trying to control the fight, it's a mind (game). Pretending that you weren't hurt. But, it really hurt."
After the fight, Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promoted many of Muhammad Ali's fights, called Pacquiao the greatest fighter ever, better even than Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.
Pacquiao was embarrassed by the comparison. "I'm just doing my job to give a good fight in every fight I've had in my boxing career," he said. "And that's my goal, to give enjoyment to all those people who are always watching us."
Talking about his history-making seventh title in seven different weight divisions, Pacquiao said, "Even to myself, it's unbelievable. I can't believe it. But I say nothing is impossible if you believe in God. Keep praying and nothing is impossible."
So what's next for Pacquiao? The crowd let him know that the only logical choice was undefeated Floyd Mayweather, chanting "We want Floyd! We want Floyd!"
Since they have no intention of going up another notch in weight, "unless it's the right opponent," Roach said, Mayweather would seem like the only target left to conquer.
"I want to see him fight Mayweather," Roach admitted.
For now, Pacquiao will spend a few days resting in the U.S., then head back to the Philippines, where he is running for Congress. The election is next April.
"The next time he fights, he might be Congressman Manny Pacquiao," Roach said. "But I think he could be a better (ambassador) for his country as a boxer than a politician."
Source: usatoday.com
***
Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto trade blows
(Source: http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Media/ReM_Manny_Pacquiao_Cotto_GV.jpg)
Custom Search
No comments:
Post a Comment