By Saad Farooqi: Yesterday, I watched Manny Pacquiao batter Miguel Cotto relentlessly from round 6 onwards. What was mostly an even fight by round 5 became a lopsided beatdown of a once dangerous Puerto Rican boxer. To take nothing away from Pacman, he was sensational in the ring. The last man to batter Cotto like that could have needed loaded gloves to do it. Speed, power, accuracy, footwork–the Pacman was a boxing clinic last night.
That boxing clinic, however, was demonstrated by both men.
When one says Ali is the greatest fighter (regardless of whether one agrees or not) of all time we aren’t thinking of young Cassius Clay hammering Liston into submission. We aren’t thinking of the dance master blitzing his opponents from countless angles and directions. To tell the truth, we think Ali/Frazier or Ali/Foreman. We think of a heavier, slower aging boxer his skills no longer glossed with youth and speed. The Ali we call the greatest is the boxer who stepped in the ring against an opponent no one gave him a chance to win and then winning it. That was what made him the greatest: courage. It was him proving to boxing pundits that you can never measure human spirit or guess what it is capable of.
To not give Pacquiao credit for his performance is stupidity. He deserves credit and nothing in this world, no amount of bleeting or excuses from his detractors can change that.
The boxing clinic that I spoke of, however, was not so much as Pacman’s amazing talent and technique as much as it was his determination and character, both before and after the bout. The boxing clinic I spoke of was Miguel Cotto, coming back round after round and fighting a fight Cotto knew he had no chance of winning. Oscar De La Hoya took half the beating Cotto did and quit in his corner. Ricky Hatton was clubbed with just one blow from Pacquiao. Cotto took hundreds of them and came back for more. And the boxing clinic was there in watching a defeated champion embracing his victor.
And that’s what boxing is all about: courage and character. Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao showed that throughout their fight. It’s not skill or power or technique that defines a boxer as much as it does his courage to do what most men and women won’t even dream about. Last night I got an answer to my question.
In my heart, there is nothing but respect for both of them.
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