Now that the dust has begun to settle in the wake of the mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, we should take the time to examine both the accomplishments and the future of the participants. First and foremost, we should applaud Manny Pacquiao. The little man that began his career as a fresh-faced sixteen-year-old at 106 pounds just dominated a legit welterweight 40+ pounds above the weight at which he began his career. We should also applaud Miguel Cotto. Cotto lasted almost the entire 36 minutes in the face of the woodchipper that is Manny Pacquiao.
Cotto was forced to answer questions as to the ghost of Antonio Margarito in the run-up to this fight. Did Margarito take something from Cotto that he can never get back? That question may still be left unanswered, as gauging Cotto's long-term health against the blinding speed and deceptive power of Manny Pacquiao is like measuring the Empire State building with a ruler. One thing can be said about Cotto's performance; he never looked comfortable in the ring. His vaunted left hook was never anything more than an annoyance to Pacquiao. The punch he threw with the most conviction was his left jab. When Pacquiao flurried, Cotto covered up and looked unable to answer any of Pacquiao's questions.
I think HBO's Larry Merchant said it best when he said, "Pacquiao's two hands are better than Cotto's one hand." Pacquiao dropped Cotto with each hand in the fight. The right hook put Cotto down in the third round, and the punch that I dubbed, "the Cottokiller", the left uppercut, dropped Cotto in the fourth.
From the fifth round on, Cotto was in retreat mode as he had no answers to anything Pacquiao offered up. Over the last few rounds, Pacquiao carried Cotto through the fight. He never moved in for the kill, as he looked across the ring at his Top Rank stablemate and took his foot off the gas, most likely out of respect for his Puerto Rican counterpart. In the end, most fans watching the fight wanted referee Kenny Bayless to step in and put a merciful halt to the beating, which he finally did in the twelfth round.
You could see the look of defeat in Cotto's swollen eyes. His body language told a similar tale.
During the post-fight interviews, Cotto called Pacquiao the best fighter he ever shared the ring with. He made a point to stick around during Pacquiao's interview, despite his need for medical attention. Pacquiao said the same thing about Cotto. Both men had nothing but respect for each other.
While most people immediately started calling for a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., you have to wonder where Miguel Cotto goes from here. Will he be matched up with another champion or contende, or will he take a tune-up fight with a fringe contender and give his badly-beaten body an easy fight? Let's hope he chooses the latter, as there are many flaws in Cotto's game that need to be re-worked before he steps in to the lion's den once again.
It may not be for me to say, but a change of trainer in Cotto's corner may be in order. Freddie Roach predicted Joe Santiago's inexperience would hamper Cotto's ability to make in-fight adjustments. As I watched Cotto beaten to the punch, ducking down and leaning into Pacquiao's left uppercut time-and-time again, trainer Joe Santiago offered no helpful advice. When Cotto kept his left foot inside of Pacquiao's lead foot, making him line up perfectly for Pacquiao's straight left, Santiago never told him to step left and get out of range.
Cotto vowed to return. He should take plenty of time to recover and plot his next move. From there, we should be able to see if the critics are right, and Cotto has truly entered the twilight of his career, or if he comes back stronger from his experience.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, looked brilliant coming back up to welterweight. I think it is a safe assumption to say that strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza really knows what he's doing. Pacquiao's legs looked bulked up and are presumably where he's generating the power that he has carried up through the weight divisions. I would be remiss in not mentioning the occasional allegations of steroid use from public figures such as Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Kermit Cintron. I would also be remiss if I didn't say that I think both men could be dangerously incorrect and should be worried about a jury of their peers finding their accusations incorrect and malicious.
Pacquiao presents a problem for any fighter ranging from welterweight down to junior welterweight. The simple fact that his power has traveled up with him, as well as his speed, make him a difficult matchup for anyone, including Floyd Mayweather Jr. As the thousands of fans in attendance Saturday night chanted out, Floyd Mayweather is seemingly the only fight that matters.
Many sources are saying that Richard Shaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, contacted HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg immediately after the fight to discuss the realistic possibility of another mega-fight for Pacquiao, this time with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Negotiations for the fight have already fallen apart once. Bad blood still exists between Top Rank frontman Bob Arum, Floyd Mayweather and his advisor, Al Haymon. The fight was offered to Mayweather with a 40-60 revenue split. Mayweather's side is asking for 65-35. Clearly there will have to be some give-and-take for this fight to be made. For the continued rehabilitation of the sport, and for it's continued growth in the twenty-first century, I hope both sides can come to mutually beneficial terms.