Come on now.. I dont remember any other fight of his where he stood there in a clamshell defense on the ropes and in the center of the ring sometimes letting someone tee off on him. I was trying to figure out what the **** he was doing but then he explained in the post fight interview with Larry Merchant then it all made sense. Im not saying Cottos shots didnt hurt, but after sparring with a big mofo like Porter im sure he was used to it.
It was definitely a ploy to get Cotto to open up. Maybe it was 20% wanting to test the power, but he also wanted Cotto to come out of his defensive shell/mindset.
Yes he was testing his power, there are many moments in the fight where Pac intentionally allowed Cotto to land to his body and gloves as he blocked to see if he has any steam. Cotto has serious power till he got caught in the 4th, that's when it all went downhill and his legs could barely deliver enough.
he had to brawl. he couldn't hit cotto with flush shots, he has to open him up by brawling and making cotto miss, he got many hits in the process, but still worth it. as you pointed out, the first round cotto was waiting and waiting, just like how marquez did it, then when pac was finished and is obviously outbalanced, cotto throws swinging combos. it's a critical thing for many to make cotto initiate exchanges, and when cotto did, he got hit flush
Now that you mention that... Shawn Porter. I was like damn, that kid looks good how he could box Pac up like that in the 24-7. Now, it all makes sense. Damn that Roach, he had a plan all along?
This is what i was thinking, when Cotto stayed patient behind the jab he was getting the better of things, even in rds 3 & 4 outside the knockdowns, if Pac had not kd Cotto in those rds i'd have had it 3 rds to 1 in Cotto's favour after 4 with Pac only taking the 2nd. However he did and the one at the end of the 4th rd really was the catalyst for what was to come, i only gave Cotto rounds 5 and 10 after that, the rest Pac including a couple wide!