LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao's speed and power were way too much for Miguel Cotto's heart.

Pacquiao put on yet another dominating performance Saturday night, knocking down Cotto twice and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him at 55 seconds of the 12th round.

The Filipino star used his blazing speed and power from both hands to win his seventh title in seven weight classes and cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao's punches but he refused to quit even as his corner tried to throw in the towel after the 11th round.








The fight was billed as a 145-pound classic, and in the early rounds it didn't disappoint. The two went after each other with a vengeance and Cotto more than held his own as they traded punches in the center of the ring.

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn't badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand as Cotto was advancing forward late in the fourth round, the Puerto Rican was never the same again.






"Our plan was not to hurry but to take our time," Pacquiao said. "It was a hard fight tonight and I needed time to test his power."

Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly. It looked as if his corner was trying to stop the fight after the 11th round, but Cotto went back out to take even more punishment before a final flurry along the ropes prompted referee Kenny Bayless to call the fight to an end.

Cotto's face was swollen, blood was flowing from his nose and his cuts, and he simply couldn't stop Pacquiao from bouncing inside and throwing both hands at will.

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Fort Hood

Right-wing media respond to Fort Hood shooting by attacking American Muslims
November 06, 2009 3:18 pm ET — 189 Comments

Right-wing media figures have used the shooting at Fort Hood as an excuse to attack Islam and American Muslims in particular, with Debbie Schlussel, for example, urging readers to think of the alleged shooter "whenever you hear about how Muslims serve their country in the U.S. military." Additionally, commentators have blamed the shooting on "political correctness," with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade suggesting the implementation of "special debriefings" for Muslim American soldiers to prevent future attacks.
Right-wing media respond to attack by demonizing Muslims

Schulssel: Think of Hasan "whenever you hear about how Muslims serve their country in the U.S. military." In a November 5 post -- headlined "Shocker: Man Who Shot Up Ft. Hood Soldiers Was Muslim" -- right-wing commentator Debbie Schulssel wrote:

UPDATE: Nidal Malik Hasan isPalestinian. Figures...Yeah, I wonder if that "Palestinian" town is actually Palestinian or part of the Islamic encroachment on Israel. Either way, he had every opportunity given to him by American taxpayers. And he murdered them anyway. This isn't just the Palestinian way. It's the Islamic way. And we expect Israel to make peace with guys like this? Even in the midst of the land of plenty, look at how they behave.

[...]

And, oh, yeah, think of Major Malik Nadal Hasan (and all of the other Muslim American traitorous soldiers in the U.S. military who've shot their fellow soldiers up and killed them or otherwise helped the enemy), whenever you hear about how Muslims serve their country in the U.S. military.

Well, actually, they do serve "their country" in the U.S. military. And their country is Dar Al-Islam and greater Koranistan.

"It's Islamic terrorism, stupid. Wait, that's repetitive. It's Islam, stupid."

Geller: Shooter is in the "pious Muslim category," has "such Islamic bravery." In a November 5 blog post, Pamela Geller wrote: " 'Six months ago Major Hasan came to law enforcement attention for posting blogs supporting suicide bombing.' This puts him in the pious Muslim category." In a November 6 post, she wrote: "The pig jumped on a table and was shooting down on the crowd, which is why he could get so many off. Jihad Hasan was shooting soldiers in the back. Such Islamic bravery."

Malkin links shooter to other "Muslim Soldiers with Attitude." In her November 6 post headlined "The massacre at Fort Hood and Muslim soldiers with attitude," Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin linked the alleged Fort Hood shooter to "all those who came before Hasan," highlighting her March 2003 column on "Muslim soldiers with attitude" who are "suspected of infiltrating our military, endangering our troops and undermining national security" and referencing "Muslim sniper" John Muhammad and "Muslim US soldier Hasan Abujihaad."
Right-wing media blame shooting on "political correctness," call for "special debriefings" of American Muslims

Carlson: "Could it be that our military is so politically correct... to be careful about treatment of Muslims" that this happened? On the November 6 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson asked: "Could it be that our own military is so politically correct right now ... to be careful about treatment of Muslims that they would have allowed this to go by?"

Michelle Malkin: "Political correctness is the handmaiden of terror." Commenting on "The whitewashing of jihad by the MSM," Michelle Malkin wrote: "I've said it many times over the years and it bears repeating again as cable TV talking heads ask in bewilderment how all the red flags Hasan raised could have been ignored: Political correctness is the handmaiden of terror."

Steyn: People afraid to report suspicious Muslim activity, lest they end up "in sensitivity-training hell for the next six months." On the November 6 edition of Rush Limbaugh's radio show, guest host Mark Steyn said: "You think about the next time you see some behavior that's suspicious -- guys praying, they're doing goofy things, they're talking about Saddam Hussein, all the things that the flying imams did. And you think to yourself, 'Do I call Homeland Security? No, I'm going to be tied up in sensitivity-training hell for the next six months. Maybe it's better to just forget about it, to ignore it.' And that is becoming the problem now, that we're conditioned to ignore it."

Kilmeade suggested that "it's time for the military to have special debriefings" of U.S. soldiers who are Muslim. On the November 6 edition of Fox & Friends, Brian Kilmeade asked Geraldo Rivera, "Do you think it's time for the military to have special debriefings of Muslim Army civili-- officers, anybody enlisted?" He added: "Because if I'm going to be deployed in a foxhole, if I'm going to be sitting in an outpost, I've got to know that the guy next to me is not going to want to kill me."

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