Did Cotto deserve to finish, or did Pacquiao deserve his knockout?

His corner should have stopped it. It's clear he was "moving" too much and getting hurt, they let him look bad and get hit.

 

shoulda been stopped in the 9th round, he was getting beat up on that round

U gotta understand it only takes 1 shot to get killed via bleeding of the brain

After 9th round it is like Cotto was playing Russian Roulette

 

If it only takes one shot to getting killed via bleeding to the brain then should every boxing match be stopped before one punch even lands.

Cotto was getting hit less in the 12th than in the 9th. If they didn't stop it then, they shouldn't have stopped it in the 12th. I thought he earned the right to finish the fight with some dignity, under his own steam. It was obviously going to be a lopsided loss either way, but I think it may have been better for Cotto, mentally, if the fight had not been stopped.

 

I agree 100%. Just like to add, during the time it's happening, without hindsight, you never know what's going to happen. The fighters almost always die AFTER the fight, and often the next day.

 

ref shoulda stopped it in 9th... but since he let him continue till the 12th, IMO ref should have just let him reach the final bell

 

easy for u to say, i bet u wouldn't last 2 rounds vs Manny Pacquiao all over you or if you are a heavyweight and Mike Tyson pounding all over you, Dignity and Pride is useless if you get brain damage or dead

And yes it only takes 1 shot to get seriously hurt and that's the painful truth about this and they chose to do this knowing the consequences and you have to protect the fighters either via Ref/Doctor or your corner

Now explain having pride/dignity if u don't have your health

 

cotto's corner was about to throw in the towel in the 11th.

 

I think Bayless was waiting and waiting for Cotto's corner to stop it. When he realized they weren't he decided to step in the first time that things looked bad. (Although things probably weren't quite as bad when Bayless stopped it as it probably looked to him). He could have given Cotto more of a chance to finish, but either way it didn't make much difference, and it saved Cotto a couple of headshots.

I don't particularly care. A stoppage was a good thing that should have been done, even if the particular moment when it was stopped didn't require it.

 

Joe Santiago didn't even know what he was doing

 

Good stoppage, Bayless may/may not have been a round short.
But the stoppage was defo called for.

 

It should've been stopped earlier, Cotto should fire Santiago after this mess.

 

I tend to agree. I picked Cotto to win because I thought he would impose his strength, power and will on Pacquaio and really rough him up bad inside and in the exchanges. When I saw that it was Pac who was winning the exchanges and it was Pac who was imposing his strength and will, Cotto didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, because in terms of speed, workrate and general stamina he was at a severe disadvantage against Pac. He was completely doomed when it became clear that it was Pac who was the stronger man and who was coming forward.



You only get Pacquaio's respect if you go to war with him. Pacquaio loves a brawl. He does not shy away from them. . .in fact that's the way he fights, deep down. Cotto attacked way too infrequently and with not enough power nor damage to earn Pac's respect. As a result, it was Pac who was taunting Cotto in the middle of the ring in the later rounds. Cotto refused the challenge and continued running because he was already a beaten man.

 

I would think Ref Ken Bayless allowed the fight to get to the 12th because he wanted to see if Cotto would put a last ditch effort comeback with a KO. Seeing that Cotto did not or could not even try, he made the right judgement by stopping the fight.

 

At first I thought Cotto deserved his finish and I was suspiscious as to the reason why Bayless stopped it when Cotto didn't look hurt, beaten but not legless. I thought reason for stoppage might have been Vegas preferred to hand Pac a tko rather than UD. I'm a bigger Pac fan than Cotto fan, just want to make that clear (though Cotto is on top of my list of fav boxers). Anyway, I thought this up until I rewatched the fight. I watched it two more times and Cotto is just running from Pac with no hope of coming back but not engaging to turn the fight around, when he does engage he loses the exchange badly and runs again. The crowd, and Pac himself, is getting ruffled. It seems to me now that the ref saved the dignity of the fight itself by calling it a tko. A last round of the same **** would have left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. So now I say yes, good call by Bayless.