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Pure Ownage

Overall, it was Pacquiao just being his usual amazing self. Pacquiao always fights his best when the lights shine brightest and this fight was no exception. Pacquiao had the power to drop Cotto but did not have enough to drop him for a full ten-count. Cotto’s corner could have save him some damage if they threw in the towel as early as the ninth round, right at the moment when Cotto’s wife and kids walked away.

Cotto needed to throw his jab often to have a chance at beating Pacquiao. He did it pretty effectively in the first round but he threw it less often and with less conviction from that point on. He also did not invest on digging to the body and using his weight to push Pacquiao around. Cotto had his advantages over Pacquiao but he chose not to use any of them.

Pacquiao on the other hand fought perfectly from the third round until the fight was stopped in the 12th and last round. He was fast and used awkward angles that flustered and confused Cotto, who actually admitted that he did not know where most of Pacquiao’s punches came from. Pacquiao not only destroyed a legitimate welterweight champion in Cotto, he also proved that he could take punches from bigger guys and could also drop them with a single punch.

Pacquiao thoroughly owned Cotto and, unlike the other man to beat Cotto, he did not need padded gloves to do it. Pacquiao was dropping his hands in the late rounds and daring Cotto to hit him. After Cotto complied, hitting him in his body, Pacquiao tapped his abs as if to say “I mean, you’ll need more than that Cotto, you know?”