Pacquiao sensational in 12th round stoppage of Cotto!

Last Saturday night Boxingchronicles.com was once again on hand at Miami Mike's Sports Zone in East Hanover, NJ, when pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao scored a 12th round TKO over defending champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV to claim the WBO welterweight title. Pacquiao's triumph could best be described as historic, as the pride of the Philippines has risen from 110lbs, and has now become a volatile force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division.

Criticism that Pacquiao is a little lightweight who can not take a powerful welterweight punch has been dispelled. In the first round, Cotto was able to keep Pacquiao at bay with his jab and land a number of telling blows that had the Pacquiao contingent concerned. From the second round on, Pacquiao turned up the tempo and began to find his punching range as he settled into a rhythm.

Pacquiao scored a flash knockdown of Cotto with a right hand in round three, but Cotto was not seriously hurt. In fact, Cotto seemed to be winning the fourth round, when Pacquiao stunned him with a left uppercut with only ten seconds remaining in the round. From that point forward, Pacquiao proceeded to gradually wear the Puerto Rican down with brutal power shots, particularly when he had Cotto on the ropes.

By the eighth round, it was apparent that the bloodied and battered Cotto had put forth a courageous effort, but at that time he was in complete retreat and trying his best to play out the clock and survive until the final bell. Pacquiao reigned a series of explosive flurries on his beaten foe in the twelfth and final round, prompting referee Jay Nady to call a hault to the contest 0:55 seconds into the round. With the monumental win, Pacquiao picks up his seventh world title.

The attention of the boxing world now turns to the long awaited clash between Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr.