LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao had a hat perched jauntily on his head, a bandage wrapped neatly around his right ear. His real work done for the night, he was heading down the Las Vegas Strip to sing a few songs with his band.
Everyone was invited, but there was a catch. “Of course, you have to buy tickets for the concert,” Pacquiao said.
Not a problem. Anyone who watched Pacquiao cement his place in boxing lore on Saturday night by giving Miguel Cotto a terrible beating would have gladly paid a few more dollars to see him in action again, even if it was with a microphone in his hands.
Across town, his opponent was at hospital, getting some tests to make sure Pacquiao’s fists did not cause any permanent damage. Cotto was not taking any chances, and all it took was one look at his bloody and misshapen face to know it was a wise decision.
Across an ocean, a grateful country celebrated the kind of hero they never dreamed possible. For a few brief hours the devastation of a typhoon was forgotten, and even the Filipino army took a break from chasing rebels to cheer Pacquiao on.
They used to have him as their own. Not many people outside the Philippines paid much attention to the little fighter with the big hands even as he kept moving up in weight over the years and winning belts along the way.
But now they’re going to have to share Manny Pacquiao. Greatness comes with a price, and it’s hard to argue that Pacquiao has not now earned a spot among boxing’s greats.
Maybe not Muhammad Ali great, as promoter Bob Arum was trying to claim when he said Pacquiao was better than any fighter he’d ever promoted, including Ali. But it is Arum’s job to build Pacquiao up, especially with negotiations for a possible megafight with Floyd Mayweather Jr expected to begin this week.
Still, no fighter has won titles in seven different weight classes, even in an era where titles are as common as platinum blondes in the MGM Grand casino.
And no fighter in recent times has had the kind of year Pacquiao wrapped up by stopping a game, but outclassed Cotto 55 seconds into the 12th round of their welterweight title fight.
He leapt into the global boxing consciousness 11 months ago by making Oscar de la Hoya quit, giving him such a beating that he retired. He followed that by knocking Ricky Hatton stiff in the second round with a left hand that left Hatton contemplating his mortality. And then came Saturday night, when he put on six more pounds to fight the supposedly harder-punching Cotto.
When it was all over, Pacquiao had another belt and his large entourage probably had a few more members. Cotto had inflicted some damage of his own, marking Pacquiao’s face and causing his right ear to require a bandage, but Pacquiao wasn’t going to miss his own party.
He warmed up by crooning a few verses of Sometimes When We Touch at the post-fight press conference, then headed out the door for the stage at the Mandalay Bay, his entourage just behind.
The singing was so-so, though no one was going to say that to the champ. On this night he had earned the right to do whatever he wanted.
The singing was so-so, though no one was going to say that to the champ