Seven, It Must Feel Like Heaven!

Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol – It was his 50th career victory… 38th via knockout… and 7th world championship in as many weight divisions.

Just about a year ago, Pacquiao moving up to lightweight (135 lbs) was considered by some as a stretch, especially when he did that to face a champion. Then less than six months later, he did what many others considered as the unthinkable – beating former middleweight champion Oscar De La Hoya to a pulp, forcing the “Golden Boy” to quit on his stool. Another five months passed and he massacred the supposed king of the 140-lb weight limit Ricky  Hatton of Great Britain in less than two pulsating rounds, on the way to becoming the first person to beat “The Hitman” in his own turf.

Last weekend, Pacquiao did something comparable to what USA’s Neil Armstrong did on the 20th of July, 1969 – set foot where nobody else has. Pacquiao became the first man in history to win seven world championships in as many weight divisions. The person closest to also achieving that, De La Hoya, is conceivably retired. From this point forward, the Filipino champ’s remaining boxing days will be geared at matching, if not surpassing, another Armstrong’s greatness… or perhaps that of Sugar Ray Robinson as the sport’s G.O.A.T.

I’m sure the boxing purists would protest that. Perhaps, they have a point when they talk about the legitimacy of the Ring Magazine, IBO, and even the WBO championship belts because probably, the WBC, IBF, and WBA sanctioning bodies are the only ones they recognize as legitimate. Well, let me break this to you, my fellow boxing fans, all these sanctioning bodies are a bunch of craps! When I said seven, I certainly meant weight classes. Come to think of it. Was David Diaz (WBC) at lightweight more deserving of a champion tag than Miguel Cotto (WBO) and Ricky Hatton (IBO) were at welterweight and light welterweight, respectively? Or was Lehlohonolo Ledwaba (IBF) at super bantamweight more legitimate than Marco Antonio Barrera (Ring Magazine) was at featherweight, vis-a-vis? You see, all this talk about legitimacy is all but nonsense!

Now let’s talk a little bit about what transpired yesterday. His mastery of Cotto almost certainly manifested Pacquiao being a sound, though very bold, strategist. In the first canto, Miguel Cotto seemed to have taken control of the fight, employing stinging jabs and counter left hooks, at times doubling them up before unloading his combinations that somehow stymied Pacquiao’s offensive. Then a little over the two-minute mark of the 2nd round, Pacquiao did the unexpected, even by this writer. The Filipino firebomb stood in front of Cotto, covering up the way Ronald “Winky” Wright does, and dared Cotto to come in and take his best shot. Pacquiao took a very big risk considering Cotto’s knockout history… but it proved to be so much effective, as Cotto was lured into a slugfest and deviated from his initially effective jab-first and counterpunching strategy. In the fourth inning, Pacquiao totally defied Freddie Roach’s directive to stay away from the ropes when he employed Muhammad Ali’s famous rope-a-dope. The great dare once again turned out to be very effective when it allowed Pacquiao to be within striking distance of his prey and made it possible for him to unload his killer left hook that took all Cotto’s remaining confidence away for good.

Pacquaio dished out 276 power punches, while absorbing only 93 from his hard-punching welterweight opponent. That major discrepancy in the number of punches landed is a testament to the Pinoy’s overwhelming advantage in speed in both hands and feet. Cotto, together with his team and supporters, thought that he was the stronger man, but Pacquiao proved him otherwise. Standing in front of the “Boricuan Bomber” and taking some solid shots that could have sent other fighters not named Manny Pacquiao to the canvass, the world’s best fighter pound for pound didn’t wince and stood his ground. Cotto, on the other hand, was decked twice before referee Kenny Bayless mercifully embraced the battered and wounded Puerto Rican to stop the carnage.

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) has continued to exceed expectations. Over time, he has proven his critics wrong. But then again, the Pinoy pride, albeit on top of the world for quite sometime already, is definitely not done, yet! There’s still some more fish to fry.

Comments are highly appreciated. You can write them below or send them to reylanloberternos@yahoo.com.ph

P.S. I would like to give a shoutout to my sister who is celebrating her birthday today, November 16th. Happy birthday, Van!

Hereunder are some pictures taken at our place during the Pacquiao-Cotto showdown.