PACQUIAO SINGING / PACMAN KING OF VIOLENT SPORT / COTTO CLASSY IN DEFEAT

MANILA, NOVEMBER 21, 2009 (STAR) Martin & Manny in a duet - Martin Nievera and Manny Pacquiao did a duet during the Pacquiao-Cotto after-fight party in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

A ‘singer’ in his own right, Manny ably acquitted himself beside Martin.

This photo came out in the Vegas Confidential column of Norm Clarke, one of Vegas’ most notable and recognizable celebrities.

RELATED STORY FROM YAHOO!SPORTS NEWS:

Manny Pacquiao Singing and Boxing
Pacquiao talks and sings to Yahoo! Sports about his fight against Miguel Coto Saturday night in Las Vegas. Here is the video clip of the interview: http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/box/YSports_Boxing/16619478

FROM GMANEWSTV:

After ‘bittersweet' win, Pacman is king of violent sport GMANews.TV GMANews.TV - Monday, November 16, 2009

As a victorious Manny Pacquiao was hoisted into the air last Saturday night in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila), the image sent waves of jubilation throughout a global Filipino community.

But the bloodied face of his vanquished opponent Miguel Cotto elicited more mixed emotions, reminding many that the one international sport that a Filipino has conquered in recent years is a violent spectacle where the object is to inflict pain and to “knock out" the opponent. Miguel Cotto’s face is left bloodied and swollen by the constant pounding of Manny Pacquiao. AP “I'm happy Manny won," said Lissa Romero on Facebook, “but I really, really hate boxing and how it hurts people."

Just the day before the title bout, a Pacquiao protégé and fellow Filipino boxer, Z Gorres, collapsed in a Las Vegas ring after being declared victorious. While already considered stable, Gorres, who is a rising star in the boxing world, is still in a medically-induced coma after surgery to relieve swelling in the brain.

That’s why boxing commentator Chino Trinidad, a friend of Pacquiao who covered the Las Vegas fights and broke the story of Gorres’ condition, declared the next day’s hammering of Cotto a “bittersweet victory."

“Maybe the story of Mr. Gorres will somehow temper this misplaced euphoria," wrote Ping Galang on Facebook.

For sure, the more common sentiment in cyberspace was one of smug nationalism, and a sense of relief at triumphant news after a season of destructive storms. There were also numerous taunts and jokes at the expense of the defeated Cotto, like this one on Twitter: #cottosface looks like he asked jay z if he could borrow his lips for a night.

The preponderance of that kind of remark provoked this tweet from Karen Lumbo: #cottosface is a trending topic. Theres gotta be something wrong with that.

Among the last to taunt Cotto or any boxer for getting hurt would be the new welterweight champion himself.

Pacquiao grows pensive when the subject of inflicting serious injury comes up. “We always talk about the danger of boxing," says Trinidad. Referee Kenny Bayless directs Manny Pacquiao to his corner after knocking down Miguel Cotto in the 4th round of their WBO welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. AP Pacquiao has told American reporters about his friend Eugene Barutag, a fellow General Santos boxer who went to Manila with Pacquiao to make their fortune. Barutag’s dream died with him when he fell unconscious in the ring in 1995 and never woke up.

Pacquiao was little known then and was Barutag’s only close friend in Manila. “Tatlong araw 'di natulog si Manny kasi siya lang ang nasa lamay ni Barutag sa Malabon," (Manny did not sleep for three nights because he was the only one at Barutag's wake in Malabon) Trinidad recalls.

Seeing death in the ring may help explain why Pacquiao seemed to back off near the end of the Cotto fight from inflicting even more pain on his wounded adversary.

With cuts around his eyes and bleeding during much of the fight, Cotto could have been seriously hurt if the referee didn’t stop the bout in the 12th and last round. Ringside observers said a trainer more experienced than the 30-year-old Joe Santiago in Cotto’s corner would have thrown in the towel three rounds earlier.

In the ninth round, the wife and one of the children of Miguel Cotto were conspicuously seen exiting the arena. They had seen enough. Manny Pacquiao hoists his newly-won WBO welterweight belt after literally beating up Miguel Cotto Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila.) AP The predominantly Filipino crowd cheered on Pacquiao to inflict more punishment. However, some Pacquiao partisans, while savoring the victory, were also repulsed by the bloody spectacle of an obviously defeated opponent willing to accept more punches.

Child education expert Feny de los Angeles-Bautista makes sure that this communal joy at seeing a foreign opponent bloodied is properly explained to the students at her school, Community of Learners.

“I take great pains to discuss the pros and cons and the contradictions with kids," she explains, “just to make it a point that they understand that it is such a physical sport and the risks to life are tremendous."

“What I pointed out to my family tonight," she said hours after the title fight, “is that I was impressed by Pacquiao's restraint in those final moments when he did not move in for the kill and overdo things." - GMANews.TV

Cotto classy in defeat Posted Nov. 15, 2009 at 12:30am By Doug Fischer

Buzz up! Ever gracious in defeat, Miguel Cotto congratulates Manny Pacquiao while the Filipino icon prays in a corner following his dominant victory Saturday night.

Cotto lost his welterweight title to Pacquiao but remains the consummate boxing professional. Photo / Chris Cozzone-Fightwireimages.com

LAS VEGAS -- Miguel Cotto is no longer a welterweight titleholder.

Following the dominant fashion in which he was beaten by Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, he may have also lost his status as one of the best fighters, pound for pound, in the sport.

However, the classy boxer-slugger from Caguas, Puerto Rico remains one of the true professionals of the sport.

Cotto’s professionalism was evident during the thrilling early rounds of the fight when he out-jabbed and counter punched Pacquiao better than any fighter since Juan Manuel Marquez.

It showed during the middle portion of the fight when Cotto switched to stick-and-move tactics in order to survive Pacquiao’s power after being dropped and badly hurt in the fourth round.

His professionalism was in his desire to continue fighting when it was clear, particularly after he barely made it out of a brutally one-sided ninth round, that he could not beat his stalking antagonist.

But it was never more evident than immediately after the fight, when Cotto respectfully acknowledged that he had been beaten by the better fighter.

“Miguel Cotto always fights the world’s best fighters and Manny is one of the world’s best,” Cotto told HBO’s Larry Merchant during his in-the-ring post-fight interview.

That’s Cotto. He’s as gracious in defeat as he was humble after his 34 pro victories. In the time he compiled what is arguably a hall-of-fame resume, Cotto proved to be the best Puerto Rican fighter of the decade.

He defeated 11 fighters who held world titles, including future hall of famer Shane Mosley, on his way to developing into one of the best welterweights in recent years.

He was the underdog in Saturday’s fight, but many trainers and elite fighters believed that Cotto had the ability to score the upset.

And why not? Cotto, the naturally bigger man, is a heavy handed, versatile boxer with underrated technique and counter-punching ability.

People who know boxing know that Cotto is a very good fighter. On Saturday night he lost to a great one, but only after electrifying the sellout crowd in the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena with his aggressively effective boxing in the early rounds.

Cotto had a brilliant first round, one of accurate jabs and body-head combinations that kept Pacquiao honest.

The second round is arguably the round of the year. The two welterweights traded hard, pin-point combinations for three blistering minutes.

Round three was another thrilling round. Cotto was dropped but two of the official judges scored it 10-9 for Pacquiao because the proud Puerto Rican dominated the rest of the round.

Three rounds into the fight, members of the ringside press wondered if they were witnessing a “great” fight.

After the fourth, when Cotto was floored by a monstrous left cross after working Pacquiao over for much of the round, members of the media were sure they were watching one for the ages.

However, Pacquiao took his foot off the gas pedal in the fifth round, stemming the momentum of the bout. And when the Filipino icon resumed his attack in the sixth, walking Cotto down and buckling the bigger man’s legs before the bell, the “fight” basically ended.

It became a rout as Pacquiao, confident in his ability to take Cotto’s best shots, found a home for his right hook and continued to rock the game titleholder, who got on his toes to avoid getting knocked out.

Cotto didn’t run. He was still able to score sporadically with his jab and with occasional single counter punches, but there was an ironic role reversal as Cotto assumed Pacquiao’s early rounds gameplan of moving to his left and avoiding getting caught along the ropes.

It wasn’t the most entertaining choice of tactics. Many fans and more than a few in the media would have liked to see Cotto make an all-or-nothing rush in the middle rounds of the fight and either blast out Pacquiao or go out on his shield trying.

But Cotto made the most-professional choice. He tried to create distance with his footwork, clear his head and hope that a frustrated Pacquiao would get sloppy in pursuit. The same tactics worked against Mosley when the dangerous veteran pressed him in the final rounds of their bout.

It didn’t work against Pacquiao, who kept his head and continued to punish Cotto. By the ninth round Cotto’s face looked almost as battered as it did at the same point of his fight with Antonio Margarito.

Cotto boxed as well as he could in the 10th and 11th rounds, losing those stanzas as referee Kenny Bayless watched closely.

Bayless stepped in and ended the fight 55 seconds into the 12th round, making for an anti-climatic ending to what started out as the fight of the year, but the referee did what Cotto’s corner probably should have done after the ninth round.

“Miguel looked good early on,” Cotto’s trainer Joe Santiago said after the fight. “Pacquiao took some good shots, which was a surprise.

“He hit a lot harder than we expected and he was a lot stronger than we thought.”

Cotto didn’t make any excuses.

“I always try to bring all I can to my fights,” he said. “It didn’t go my way tonight. The jabs I threw landed, but I didn’t not protect myself.”

The truth is that he couldn’t protect himself.

After two brutally late-round stoppage losses and a series of tough fights against the likes of Mosley, Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah, many question whether Cotto should continue to risk his health in this punishing sport.

Fans aren’t asking what’s next with Cotto; they’re asking what’s left.

They won’t find out the answer to that question any time soon. Cotto, who was admitted to the trauma unit of UMC hospital for a complete body scan immediately after the fight, will be taking a long and well deserved break from the sport.

He told Santiago that he wanted to “continue fighting.”

If Cotto returns, it’s doubtful he will be able to recapture the form he exhibited in his victories over Carlos Quintana, Judah and Mosley -- or in the early rounds of his losses to Margarito and Pacquiao -- but fans can be certain of two things when he steps into the ring:

He will give his all and he will conduct himself as a professional.

Doug Fischer can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com