It’s not fair. Manny Pacquiao moves up from 106 to 144 lbs and he’s called an athletic freak of nature. I moved up from 135 to 210 lbs and they tell me I have issues.
The event is named “Firepower” with the main event being Pacman vs Cotto. Can’t they think of better titles? “Akin ang Pinas, Iyo ang Puerto Rico”?, “Paparapa-cquiao…. Love Cotto” (that McDo jingle)? Ok fine, we’ll stick with “Firepower”.
I’m not even going to write a background for this fight anymore since the past few days, all they showed on TV were special features on how Cotto is bigger (but slower) than Manny, Manny’s interviews and the historical implication of this fight (Manny’s gunning for a title in a 7th weight division). Even shows that had nothing to do with sports somehow were able to incorporate Manny in some way.
I’m no boxing expert but I’m going to say this goes into the late rounds with an even fight in the beginning, Cotto running out of gas in the middle rounds and starts dropping in the 7th and 8th rounds until eventually Manny just sweeps him off the ring. Manny in 10 for me or even earlier depending on how much the sponsors want him to go on (remember that his last fight with Hatton only lasted two rounds).
I’m looking at the weigh in photos the night before and I can’t help but notice that Manny has bulging muscles just below his chest, under the armpit area. What is that? I checked mine and it’s just all flab. Are men supposed to have those? Wow, Manny really is a freak.
By the way, Manny is Ring Magazine’s #1 pound for pound fighter. Cotto is ranked 7th. Interesting who’s at #6 – Nonito Donaire who won in his last bout against the swine flu.
Little is said (at least on local TV) about the huge advantage Pacquiao has of having Freddie Roach in his corner. Cotto has Joe Santiago, his nutritionist who I’m guess is picking up boxing tips by playing Punch Out and Fight Night. Maybe he’ll tell Cotto to just parry Pacquio’s punches then hit “A”. Maybe during the fight he’ll be shouting “B!”, “A!”, “B!”, Down! Down!
A couple more predictions:
- Manny in 10 with Cotto’s corner throwing in the towel.
- Almost 100% of the TV ads will feature Pacquiao. We’ll also see movie trailers for Wapakman.
- We’ll get political infomercials and these will be of the subtle variety.
- Completely bias TV commentary.
- Cotto will try something dirty which will be the hot topic in forums.
I was going to do a live blog update on this fight until I realized they were not showing the fight live on local TV. During the actual match, GMA 7 was still showing the Yuri Foreman – Daniel Santos fight. Thank goodness they skipped the Chavez – Rowland fight afterwards.
La Diva sung the Philippine National Anthem. I really hate to sound ignorant but… who?
Michael Buffer does his thing. Don’t you just love his job? He just reads what’s written on a piece of paper and pretends to know what he’s talking about. He already has what it takes to be a supervisor.
Round 1: Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Cotto looks fast and Pacquiao is getting hit with a lot of unusual combinations as they both feel each other out. If I wasn’t talking about boxing, the previous sentence is a really gay one. The round ended and it’s credited to Cotto.
Here it comes! The first political ad and it’s not a subtle one! It’s one for Dick Gordon who’s running for… uh… er… wait, is he running at all?
Round 2: More jabs to the face of Manny. A few more combinations from both fighters before Cotto lands a left hook bomb to Manny’s head. Pacquiao tries to unleash combinations but most are blocked. Manny looks fast but Cotto looks like a tank. Again, this round goes to Cotto.
I was wondering why LBC is showing these ads with Edu Manzano until I realized he was now running for vice president. Didn’t he already lose to Binay a few years back?
Round 3: Same story as Manny is still eating a lot of punches. Manny throws a combination which partially hits Cotto. Cotto somewhat slips while trying to avoid it causing him to land on his knee. Technically, it’s a knockdown but I wouldn’t get that much excited since it practically means nothing at that point other than an automatic 10-8 score. Cotto wasn’t even hurt.
Round 4: Manny AGAIN gets hit in the face. I don’t get his strategy, he’s standing against the ropes in a guard position while Cotto pummels him. Finally they switch positions (ala FPJ fight scenes) then the two engage in a street style fight wherein both throws all punches, no blocking. A left hook lands on Cotto and down he goes. Unlike the knockdown in round 3, this was a clean one. Cotto looked wobbly. That must have really hurt. 
Round 5: Cotto gets a new life bar. He still looks strong at this point and he continues to hit Manny who is now able to answer back with combinations of his own. Here’s the difference though: Cotto’s punches connect solidly while Pacquiao’s somewhat graze Cotto. Manny is certainly absorbing a lot of punishment. We know makapal ang mok-ha nya and it has been showcased all throughout the match
Round 6: Cotto is a gear slower. His punches are there but it wasn’t as crisp as it was back in the early rounds. With Manny still almost at 100%, Cotto is starting to get hit as his trainer now opens up his laptop and starts googling articles on what to do next. “Help me Wikipedia!”
Round 7: Cotto has a lot of nicks and cuts as if he shaved in the dark. Pacquiao is still getting hit but the punches don’t seem to have any effect on him now. Cotto looks tired and he’s now backpedaling which is an obvious thing to do. If you’re on the verge of losing anyway, why would you continue and waste time and energy? You should learn to quit especially at times when we all know you’re not going to win in the elections, I mean match.
Round 8: Another gear lower for Cotto which enables Manny to pepper him with more punches. I think it’s over since each Pacquiao punch drains the life and fighting spirit out of Cotto. I almost feel sorry for the guy now.
Round 9/10/11: It was all the same story in these rounds. Cotto looks really terrible now as he’s not even engaging Manny anymore. He’s backpedaling and is avoiding Manny which draws boos from the crowd. I doubt he’ll come out of his corner for the 12th round.
Round 12: Cotto continued to fight and Manny hits Cotto with a combination. Referee Kenny Bayless made a quick check on Cotto, immediately stopped the fight and wondered what Gollum was doing in the ring.
As predicted, it was Manny’s speed and power that led to his victory. Was the match fun to watch? Definitely especially in the early rounds. Worthy of a trilogy? Nah. I don’t think Cotto can do any better than he did on this match.
For sure there will be another motorcade, more Manny ads and new Manny jokes. In fact, I already got a new one:
Q: Why did Manny paint his house again?
A: Because the priest told him to go and repent.
Congrats Manny and good luck with "Money" Mayweather!
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