Manny Pacquiao has won his seventh title in seven weight divisions. He also just made boxing history. Miguel Cotto ended up with bloodied shorts, proof that a lot of blood had gushed out of a face wound. Through a technical knockout, he lost his WBO welterweight belt to the world’s greatest pound-for-pound boxer today.

Pacquiao’s coach, Freddie Roach, boasted that his ward will take Cotto down on the 5th round. Pacquiao predicted one or two more rounds than that. Hillary Clinton predicted his victory. But Cotto was not an easy fight.

The battle, dubbed Firepower, lasted all of the 12 rounds. Well, a tad short of the 12 actually. The referee called for the end of the fight 55 seconds into the last round. While Cotto lost his balance and touched the floor twice early on in the fight, the Puerto Rican lasted that long with the Pacman who is known to take down his opponents well before the middle of the fight.

Pacquiao’s entire extended family plus his wife’s extended family were all in the audience, transported from their respective provinces in the Philippines.

The Pacman admitted he was cautious getting into the bout, saying that the Puerto Rican boxer may be his toughest fight ever. But a concert he scheduled at Mandalay Bay – his own concert – practically right after the fight only proves that Pacquiao was confident he will crush Cotto.

Overall, it was not a fight as exciting as the previous bouts Pacquiao had with Mexicans, or the surprises he pulled on Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton. But Cotto was in top form and posture, and although he ended up with bloodied white shorts, he remains to be the fighter that was able to wrestle the biggest share, among all other Pacquiao opponents, of the prize pie with the Pacman. In big-time boxing, nobody loses.

The New York Times/TIME/BBC