Brick City Boxing

By: John Novoselac at ringside, Doghouse Boxing (Nov 15, 2009) Photo © German Villasenor, Doghouse Boxing

Over 12 absolutely action packed rounds, Manny Pacquiao proved himself to be a force in the welterweight division with a 12th round TKO victory over Miguel Cotto.

Cotto came out fighting behind a stiff jab and disciplined approach, that included some nice body shots, and came out of the first round looking to be able to handle the Filipino fury.

However, the 2nd round saw Pacquaio's left hand fiding its target, and proved to be the harbinger of things to come as a war erupted. 45 seconds into the third round saw a Pacquiao straight left shot put Cotto down shockingly. Cotto appeared to shake it off and set some traps later in the round in the corners, with no real success as he ate counters for his trouble.

[More:]

The 4th round proved problematic for the Puerto Rican champion as he once again tasted the canvas late in the round, and was in serious trouble. It was a round in the trenches with both men landing very hard shots, and Cotto looked to be leading until the right - left combo sent him down.

Cotto tried to rough Pacquiao up in the 5th and rallied late despite a flurry by pac to end the round. In the 6th Pacman re-established his momentum and never looked back. He pounded away at Cotto and the champ started to show some real signs of trouble. Pacquiao's speed was simply too much.

By the 8th round Cotto was looking to counter and boxing off the back foot. Pac continued to stalk like a man looking for his lost dog (or possibly eaten by his father). Pacquaio set traps of his own in the 9th, brutalizing Cotto's body on the ropes with vicious combos. By the 10th, Cotto was in full on retreat mode, the safety defense if you will.

The Rican slugger was bleeding badly by the 11th, and appeared to be looking to simply survive. The end came somewhat surprisingly after a flush right hand shot 55 seconds into the 12th, when referee Kenny Bayless called a halt to the contest.

The capacity crowd certainly got its money's worth tonight, despite an atrocious undercard that hardly anyone sat through. This fight delivered on its promise of non stop action, and once again the Filipino contingent comes away we even greater hubris. Pacmania is runnin' wild, folks.

Questions or comments,
e-mail John at: jnovoselac@yahoo.com