Yours truly sat somewhere in the not-so-cheap but genuinely lousy seats for Manny Pacquiao’s 12th round TKO of Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Arena, the former’s 7th title over an unprecedented 7 weight classes. As remarkable as the fight was — and make no mistake, Pacquiao completely reversed the tide of the match from the 2nd round onwards, putting the bigger, more powerful Cotto on the defensive to the point where his Puerto Rican opponent was barely hanging on over the final few rounds — Manny’s greatest recent achievement might’ve occurred outside of the ring. From Spot.ph :
œYour freedom is our freedom. We don™t want to be here for a long time, [either]. And we want to watch Pacquiao™s fight, Father Michael Sinnott quoted his kidnappers, GMANews.tv reports. Sinnott said his captors wanted him free as soon as possible.
Sinnott was abducted by armed men in Pagadian City, Mindanao on October 11 and released on November 12, just a few days before Pacquiao™s fight versus Miguel Cotto. The 79-year-old Irish priest, who was recovering from open-heart surgery the day he was abducted, said his kidnappers found it hard to take care of him.
On the other hand, critics of Malacañang Palace said Sinnott was released in time for the arrival of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Palace said it was just a coincidence and that no ransom was paid for the priest™s release, despite a video of Sinnott that surfaced on October 31 saying that his captors were demanding $2 million in exchange for his freedom.