By Will Cruz: From the months leading up to the mega fight between the Pacman and Fearless Miguel Cotto up until fight night, I was as excited as everyone for these two to get in the ring. I followed both camps closely, watched every interview, training video and 2 hours of HBO’s 24/7. I have been clear before and stand by my support for Miguel Cotto as his fan for the boxer he is but more importantly his professionalism and the heart that he has shown throughout his career. The night of November 14, I had the music going, that good Puerto Rican food and those drinks that sneak up on you as you go through the night. And while the night was a bitter sweet one for all of us Cotto fans, at least from us that were gathered together that night, we instantly became Pacquiao fans for what we had witnessed.

However, I do have some observations that I picked up the day after when I put my emotions aside and watched the fight again and tried to dissect what happened on Saturday. First let me say that in no way shape or form do I intend to take away any credit from Pacquiao because at the end of the day, he came in a beat a legitimate Welterweight in his prime and did it in impressive fashion. I remember watching the weigh in on Friday and saying to myself “wow, Cotto looks cut, he looks good, but he looks skinny”. Cotto did not look drained as he had in previous fights even when he struggled to lose weight at the 140 weight division. This time it was different; he looked in fantastic shape. I had read an article in Puerto Rico’s El Nuevo Dia newspaper the week of the fight that suggested that maybe Cotto was over trained, but I had seen no evidence of that leading up to the fight. The night of the fight I thought maybe that could be the case. In Round 4, which was arguably the round of the year, Cotto had Pacquiao covering up against the ropes, I know that Pacquiao was not hurt but was testing Cotto and his punching power through those first 4 rounds, but in that round I saw Cotto do something I have never seen before; He had Manny against the ropes, tried to unload a powerful combination, but just could not do it! I was amazed when I saw this the second go around. He had no stamina left, but more importantly had no power left behind his punches. Cotto normally runs out of gas in the later rounds in previous fights, but never in the middle rounds; that is when he is at his best. I knew then that the fight was over; the only tangible advantage that Cotto had coming into the fight was his size and power. He had neither of the two on fight night. He did not look like the bigger man, and certainly was not the stronger on that night. Pacquiao was strong, fresh, and full of energy.

When the fight was first signed, Pacquiao and his Master Freddie Roach, suggested a catch weight of 145. I never had a problem with that weight and Cotto’s team did not have a problem as well which is why the fight happened. Check mate!! Roach did it again; he is smart and savvy and knew that the extra pound or two would make a difference. Cotto made the weight without killing himself, but there is a reason why he began training a month before the Pacman did. And although he made the weight easily, he substituted strength and punching power for speed of his own, which gave all the advantage back to Pacquiao.

At the end of the day, I now consider Manny Pacquiao the best pound 4 pound fighter in the world, and I have nothing but props for what he did. And as Cotto stated, he was not Oscar De La Hoya and was no Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto. In fact, as a boxing fan I am grateful to be experiencing history. He has the most amazing combination of speed, power AND boxing ability that I have ever seen. On November 14, he could have beaten anyone in my opinion. However, I am also a loyal fan, especially with my pride of great Puerto Rican fighters. Miguel Cotto is as classy and professional as I have seen in the sport; he immediately humbled himself after Pacman had humbled him and congratulated the new Welterweight champ. I’m as proud of that as I would have been if he would have beaten the Pacman. As I have stated in most of my articles regarding this fight, that night all of us fans were winners. No one was disappointed on the grand scheme of things. We witnessed two great fighters give it their very best; no B.S. just raw warriors.

Now we await the Mayweather show and whether or not he will finally step up and show everyone that he is indeed the best in the world. One thing is for sure for me, if and when that fight happens, I know who I will be rooting for; the pride of the Philippines Manny Pacquiao. I am not one to ride the bandwagon especially in sports, but I will make an exception and buy a first class ticket for the Pac-Mobile. He is the best and in my opinion even if Cotto would have come in differently on the night of the 14th, I don’t think he would have been beaten as badly, but I still think Pacquiao is a level above Cotto; the result would have been the same. I can only hope that we see more of Mr. Fearless and more rising stars with similar qualities as these two fighters. If that is the case boxing will be just fine, if not, we may have just witnessed the last true great battle for years to come. I give credit where credit is due; we owe both of these fighters much credit and can only root for these guys and acknowledge their significance and contribution to the sport this decade.