Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV - Top Pound-for-Pound Fighter of the World Manny Pacquiao made history as he defeated Miguel Cotto for the WBO Welterweight Championship belt to become the first boxer to hold seven titles in seven weight classes, 15 Nov.
The fight started with Cotto the aggressor, landing combinations of punches to the face and body. In the succeeding rounds after sizing up and finding his range Pacquiao started landing solid jabs, but Cotto managed to protect his guard and counterpunch effectively. In the fourth round, Pacquiao caught Cotto in the chin and scored his first knockdown of the fight. As the fight progressed, Cotto started to wear down and found it difficult to catch up with the speed of Pacquiao. In the eighth round, Cotto got caught again by a solid jab putting him up against the canvas and giving Pacquiao his second knockdown. From there Cotto gassed out and hasn't been able to recover, fighting and punching by sheer instinct. Near the end of the eleventh round Pacquiao scored yet another knockdown and in the last round he caught Cotto up against the fence and put up a slugfest. With Cotto being unable to defend himself and fight back, the referee stopped the fight giving Pacquiao his well-deserved victory.
The victory over Cotto gave Pacquiao his record seventh title. The previous record was held both by Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya with six championship belts. Pacquiao's next opponent is still in the talks, but his recent victory puts him up inevitably against the former Top Pound-for-Pound Fighter Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in what could be the Fight of the Century.
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