Manny Pacquiao never would have expected to have to wait nine years for his next knockout after dominating one of his toughest opponents.
The Filipino fighter is lauded for his lightning-quick and brutal strikes, with few fighters able to withstand his furious flurry of hits in the ring.
Since Manny Pacquiao won his first world title at 19, few fighters have been as impressive and dominant in the ring as “PacMan”.
That is why it is all the more shocking that the eight-weight champion spent nine years searching for his next knockout after one of Pacquiao’s most impressive wins.
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Manny Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto after 12 rounds of domination
In 2009, Pacquiao was arguably at his peak. He was coming off a streak of impressive wins over top contenders like Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya and was looking unbeatable.
He was considered the pound-for-pound king, given his status as a six-weight world champion already in his career.
However, PacMan wanted more, and his latest target was the tough and skilled Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto, who held the WBO Welterweight title that Pacquiao targeted.
The fight between the two top boxers took place on November 14, 2009 in Las Vegas, and gave the Filipino the chance to become a seven-time world champion, an unprecedented achievement that had never been done before.
It wouldn’t be easy, as Cotto was the reigning world champion who had only one loss to his name, with the step-up in weight looking like it may be too much for Pacquiao to compete.
However, that didn’t seem to make a difference at all. Pacquiao dominated Cotto in 11 of the 12 rounds, losing only the fifth one on the judges’ scorecards.
That didn’t matter, though, as the Filipino batted Cotto all throughout the fight, leaving him a bloodied mess from the punishment PacMan inflicted on him.
The final round brought the knockout, as the referee decided that he’d seen enough. A brutal onslaught from Pacquiao exposed Cotto, who could do nothing to avoid the devastating fists flying towards him with such power late in the fight.
Cotto’s wife even left the arena, not wanting to see her husband receive any more punishment. 55 seconds into the final round, the referee stepped in and awarded Manny Pacquiao the victory via technical knockout.
Pacquiao won the WBO Welterweight title. He landed 336 punches compared to Cotto’s 172, and the judges all agreed that he won the fight cleanly, had it gone the distance.
With such a dominating win, nobody expected to wait another nine years for another Pacquiao KO.
It took Manny Pacquiao nine years before landing his next knockout victory
Despite back-to-back-to-back wins over De La Hoya, Hatton, and Cotto, Pacquiao’s knockout streak came to an abrupt end after his win in Las Vegas.
He followed it up with four big wins to retain his Welterweight belt and win the Super Welterweight title before Pacquiao suffered the most controversial loss of his career.
Despite most people claiming he won the bout, Pacquiao suffered a split decision loss to Timothy Bradley, which was followed up by a defeat against Juan Manuel Marquez.
He swapped wins and losses with a variety of opponents, including in Pacquiao’s superfight with Floyd Mayweather, but all of his wins came via decision, as the Filipino failed to put away any of his opponents.
That changed in 2018, nine years after his devastating drop of Cotto in Las Vegas. At 39 years of age, Pacquiao impressed fans in Malaysia by knocking out Lucas Matthysse in the seventh round of their clash to win the WBA Welterweight title.
A three-punch combination, which ended in a massive left hook, saw Matthysse crumple to the floor, unable to continue as Pacquiao picked up his first KO win in years.
As of 2025, that is his last victory in that manner, although that could change with Pacquiao’s comeback fight against Mario Barrios.