Miguel Cotto (left) challenged Floyd Mayweather, which only brought out the best in Mayweather, who landed 179 punches to Cotto’s 105. Photo by The Associated Press
Undefeated Mayweather cashes in after tough fight with Cotto.
Miguel Cotto made Floyd ‘Money” Mayweather earn his $32 million paycheck to capture Cotto’s WBC Super Middleweight title with a physically fought unanimous decision before a sold out anti- Mayweather crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night.
“He’s a tough competitor,” Mayweather said. “He came to fight; he didn’t just come to survive. I dug down and fought him back.”
While improving his unblemished record to 43-0, Mayweather controlled the fight throughout with punishing jabs and wicked overhand rights to the side of Cotto’s face that was red at fights end.
Meanwhile, the partisan Cotto crowd got some relief when the champion bloodied Mayweather’s nose in that fight and brought them to their feet with scattered flurries in the seventh and ninth rounds of what judges agreed was a one-sided affair.
Even though the judges had a lopsided score (117-111, 117-111, 118-110), Mayweather said that he had to dig down deep because Cotto brought the fight to him, which most of Mayweather’s opponents fail to do, and fail miserably.
Mayweather’s defense has made him great, but in this fight Cotto was able to land a number of punches, and at times he worked over Mayweather in the corner of the ring.
As the fight progressed, Mayweather’s face showed that he was taking an uncharacteristically high amount of punches, but like a great fighter, he turned up his volume of punches.
Mayweather is a fighter that usually backs away while counter punching, but as Cotto kept landing punches, Mayweather fought back by becoming the stalker, backing Cotto up at times. Mayweather’s jab was pistol sharp, and the results were Cotto’s face looking much more bruised than Mayweather’s, and in the final round Mayweather closed the show by landing a few big shots, one that buckled Cotto’s knees.
The role reversal showcased Mayweather’s hand speed and punching power, which is normally not on display because he is normally a counter puncher. The results were that Mayweather landed 179 punches compared to 105 landed by Cotto.
This was the toughest fight that Mayweather has had in years, and he proved many doubters wrong who believe that he hand picks easy opponents. Cotto is one of the best fighters in the world, and he brought the fight right to Mayweather for 12 rounds. That brought the best out of Mayweather, who did not rely on his defense. He won this fight with accurate punches, and a lot of them.
Cotto taking the fight to Mayweather made this match look tougher than it really was, but Mayweather was never in any serious trouble although he fought in close quarters with the younger and heavier Cotto, whose efforts caused him to use so much energy that he lacked the ingredients to capitalize.
“You’re a hell of a champion,” Mayweather told Cotto in the ring afterward. “You’re the toughest guy I ever fought.”
With Hall of Fame fighters Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Mike Tyson watching from ringside along with entertainment heavies like P-Diddy, Mayweather made the most of his final appearance in the ring before he is scheduled to serve an 87-day jail sentence for domestic violence against the mother of his children.
While many in the crowd and watching on world wide pay-per-view paid handsomely to watch Mayweather against Cotto, they would much rather see him tangle with Manny Pacquaio, who faces undefeated Timothy Bradley just when Mayweather will be serving time.
A potential mega fight between Mayweather and Pacquaio has been the hottest topic in boxing over the past couple of years, but the issues of Olympic style drug testing, which calls for blood testing, and the pay split, have kept these two boxers at odds.
Pacquaio wants a 50/50 split, which Mayweather is not willing to give him. Mayweather feels that he is the bigger draw, so he should make a higher percentage of the money. He made $32 million from his fight against Cotto, but to make the reported $50 million for the mega fight, he needs Pacquaio. There is no other opponent that would allow Mayweather to make that type of money.
As for the drug test, Mayweather had a simple message for Pacquaio.
“If you’re the best, then take the test!”
It has been reported that Pacquaio is willing to take the blood test, but not within a couple days of the fight.
In an undercard match up to the Mayweather fight, local boy, or shall we say old-man Sugar Shane Mosley fought what was undoubtedly his last fight losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Mexican 21-year old phenom Canelo Alvarez, who improved to 40-0. Do not feel too bad for Mosley, because he made $600,000 for that match.
Check out the Sentinel Sports Section on Facebook and Twitter.
Sentinel Sports Section Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Los-Angeles-Sentinel-Sports-Section/137328139648009
Sentinel Sports Twitter page:
