Manny Pacquiao (Hatton) Vs. Manny Pacquiao (Cotto) @ 144: Who Wins And How?!

how can you ask who wins in a fight between the same person

 

They were the same person from the very same year.
Manny of 126 was the best he's ever been, followed by 130, 135, 122, Welterweight divisions, 112.

 

No doubt Pacquiao wins

 

Draw, then they both duck Floyd afterwards, stating "It's up to my promoter"

 

That's what I'm saying. They are the same person and fighter. It's not like Pacquiao became a different fighter after the Hatton fight and into the Cotto fight. It was like 6 months difference. Pacquiao also took no punishment in the Hatton fight. Now if you're asking who would win between Cotto version of Pac and the post Cotto version of Pac I'd say the Cotto version of Pac wins especially after the Margarito fight. But isn't that kind of obvious though lol? Most prime versions of a fighter would beat their own past prime versions.

 

126 version of Manny is underrated and the 140-147 version of Pac is overrated.

First against Hatton that was a stylistic matchup made in heaven for Pacquiao. A come forward pressure fighter who relies on being more physical than his opponent. That's Pac's dream fight. Still a solid win for Pac, but definitely the huge stylistic advantage for Pac. Second Pac doesn't have a single KO at 147 and higher. Pac is also too small to beat pretty much any ATG Welterweight.

126 Pac was Pac at his best. Which most people disagree with, but they're wrong. He was physically optimal at 122 and 126, but he lacked the technical refinement at 122 that he gained at 126. Contrary to belief, Pacquiao was 95 percent finished product technically by the time of MAB I at 126 pounds. The thing is Pac never became a technican anyways. He annihilated Barrera when MAB was thought to be pretty much not beatable by anybody, but Morales. 3K battery was ranked #4 in the world and Pacquiao is running over him like a mack truck. Drops him numerous times with 1 punch. And finishes with a 1 punch KO. And then against Marquez who got a draw against an ATG at his peak. And Marquez being a natural counterpuncher with very good stamina, power and chin was the ultimate stylistic threat for Manny. And Pac still won that fight if not for the judges error.

As soon as Pac moved to 130 he was in for a rude awakening. At 122-126 his size, strength and power was an asset. He enjoyed the advantage of being the bigger man or at the very least not facing a significant size disadvantage. Morales showed him that hey at 130 now you're messing with the big boys. Morales basically said to Pac "Unless you land the perfect shot or wear me down with a lot of accumulation, you just can't deck me. This is SFW division". And from that point on Pacquiao became more of a volume oriented guy instead of both a volume and 1 punch guy he was at 122 and 126.

I cringe when people say Pacquiao was not a true banger. Well in part that's true. At 112, 130, 135, 140 (perfect shot not withstanding), 147 and 154 he was not a concussive puncher. At 122 and 126 he was every bit a legit banger.

 

You first claim that Pac at 126 was the best version, but then go on to say he enjoyed a size advantage over his opponents. So was it him that was better there, or his opponents that were just smaller?

In my opinion Late2008/2009 Pacquiao was the best version and was him at the peak of his career. His fights with D Diaz, ODH, Hatton and Cotto.

He was coming off good, but not great performances over JMM and Barrera at that time, and was appearing to have plateaued. But then had an insane ressurgence, was fighting from crazy angles, relentless pressure, lightning speed, and power in both hands. He absolutely destroyed 3 future hall of famers (ODH was way past it, I admit).

He had added some weapons to his game, from what he had in the 120's and 130's, and that was the best he ever was.

 

Yes he did, but he had even more of those attributes at 126. Fighting smaller men is the whole reason why most guys peak at the lower weights. When you fight bigger guys they absorb your power better and you have to deal with their strength and power.