Junior Middleweight

Floyd Mayweather Jr. puts on a show. Simply put, Mayweather is an artist. Life is his canvas. In his case it's one giant reality show, filled with more drama than a thousand Real Worlds, more custom made clothing than any season of Project Runway, all punctuated with occasional bursts of sporting brilliance.

More than a great fighter, he's a superlative entertainer, in a class that few have ever approached in sports history. Muhammad Ali, Joe Namath, Mike Tyson and the immortal Hulk Hogan—Mayweather absolutely belongs in that elite class.

Before he ever stepped into the ring, smiles were on millions of faces around the world. An entourage of pro wrestler Triple H, pop star Justin Bieber and rap impresario 50 Cent? Are you kidding me? Mayweather needed all of those hands to carry his huge collection of title belts, a product of his 43 professional wins.

For the first time in recent memory, Mayweather was pushed. Miguel Cotto, himself a future Hall of Famer, was able to bully Mayweather into the ropes and do some solid work. But to the surprise of many, Mayweather never tried to dance away. Instead, he stood his ground, carefully tracking Cotto's every punch with the military grade radar system he calls eyeballs, and beat Cotto at his own game.

Cotto never yielded to Floyd's brilliance. That's something we've seen happen all to often in Mayweather fights. There is typically a moment when you can see an opponent deflate, pinpointing to the second they realize in their heart of hearts they can't win. Cotto never came to that realization. He fought until the end, and when the decision didn't go his way, he stormed from the ring rather than submit to Larry Merchant's presumably tortuous post-fight interview.

Sensing the vacuum, Mayweather conducted two interviews, one where he made amends with the legendarily cantankerous Merchant, and another where he charmed Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward ringside.

All ears perked up when he mentioned a potential bout with Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather seems open to the fight, one boxing fans have been pining for. First there's the small matter of 90 days in county jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge after an altercation with his girlfriend in September 2010. 

What will the experience do to Mayweather? Will it ground him? Open his eyes to life's absurdity? Make him appreciate what he has? Will it make Floyd more likely to pursue Pacquiao and his place among the immortals? Or less? Nothing is ever boring in Floyd Mayweather's world. I'm just glad to share it for an hour or two.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (42-0, 26 KOs) will take on Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. Despite all the buzz about this fight, in the end it may not be that competitive, proving a disappointment to fans who want to see a great match-up.

Mayweather might have been a star wide receiver for one of the best teams in the NFL if his father and namesake never taught him to box when he was young. As a fan of the New England Patriots, I would venture to bet Floyd could do a much better job as a wideout than Chad Ochocinco...if only Floyd's chosen sport was football instead of boxing.

It also might be a good thing for Floyd that some of the best boxers who might have challenged his top-tier pound-for-pound position never went into boxing. Instead, many sought out a better chance to make a higher salary in more mainstream American sports.

Meanwhile, Mayweather made boxing pay off, bringing the American welterweight division to new heights as heavyweight boxing became dominated by two Russian brothers named Klitschko.     

Miguel Cotto represents the role of the Rocky Balboa underdog, fighting for a chance to make boxing history while many experts overlook his chances to win, place or show. A victory for Cotto would absolutely revolutionize the sport of boxing as we know it. Cotto has the muscle, the heart, the quiet confidence and the raw power to win the fight, but his opponent may never let him use any of it. 

Mayweather, like "Ivan Drago" in Rocky IV, is not a machine. He can be beaten, but Cotto is not looking like the guy who can get close enough to "Money" to make a dent in Junior's defense.

Maybe he'll prove me wrong and find a way, but it just doesn't seem possible after watching Mayweather's recent performances. Floyd's last fight may have been more of a circus than a boxing match, but there was a reason Ortiz had to resort to headbutting. Mayweather was in control for nearly the entire fight. 

Before that, Mayweather laid waste to Shane Mosley in one of his most aggressive days at the office in recent memory. Suddenly he was not shying from battle but pressing the action. It was a new look to Mayweather that he's come to embrace while opening up his life to the press like no other athlete in history.

One theme that might be overlooked in the analysis of this fight is the father factor. Cotto is still recovering from the loss of his father, which is illustrated in last week's 24/7 episode.

Mayweather recently reconciled once again with his father, though they still seem to have a tense relationship. Mayweather had a special moment in the ring with his father before the Mosley fight. It was a fight in which it was hard to pick out any point where Mayweather was moving backward. 

Mayweather is in love with one thing more than money, and that's control. He knows how far he's come since he was just a kid with a dream, and he wants to make sure he never goes back to having nothing but skill and time to develop his natural talent. He can't afford to lose all that momentum with one sloppy mistake.

Having his father back in his corner helps put Floyd's mind at ease and eliminates another distraction for the press to harp on. Floyd Senior also seems to be more low key now in his son's gym than he was when Floyd Junior blew up on him. 

Everything seems to be cool with Mayweather if he's setting the schedule, the pace and the agenda. Money, power and control have allowed this undefeated, wealthy and flamboyant boxer to make his own path to fame.

Cotto is an opponent Mayweather will control from bell to bell Saturday night. The Puerto Rican warrior will go down swinging, but he'll go down. Mayweather is too good and too unwilling to slack off and let someone steal his legacy for one bad night of work.

The real question is whether or not Cotto can go the distance. 

Mayweather obviously hand-picked Cotto for May 5th because he didn't really want to risk fighting fellow undefeated fighter Saul Canelo Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KOs).

Rumored at first to be the man Floyd would face instead of Pacquiao on Cinco De Mayo, Golden Boy Promotions would instead put Alvarez in the co-main-event slot against Shane Mosley, a yardstick to see if Floyd might be better off fighting Alvarez next.

Fighting Cotto also fuels more speculation on whether Mayweather and Pacquiao will ever sign a deal to fight each other. After all, Pacquiao is one of the only men to beat Cotto other than Antonio Margarito, who was later found to have illegally altered hand wraps for their original fight. Cotto destroyed Margarito in the rematch.

Mayweather is obviously going into this fight wanting to dispatch Cotto in less time than Pacquiao did it. He'll be looking for the knockout in the later rounds. He knows he can beat Cotto, and he should, but Cotto seems to have so much more to fight for.

Perhaps that's why there's less trash talk this time out. Mayweather is more humble, a tad more restrained in badmouthing his opponent and full of praise for what Cotto's been able to do in his career. 

As much as I like to see an underdog pull off a miracle, I just don't see this fight being all that entertaining. I think Mayweather has all the tools to keep Cotto plodding aimlessly around the ring, missing every major combination, while Mayweather uses his reach and superior speed to win every round. 

The real fight to watch is the one that will be made after this one, whether Mayweather decides to finally fight Pacquiao or put in one more gem against Alvarez before signing the Pacquiao bout on a high note.

Either prospect is exciting, and if it's not Pacquiao, Mayweather will still win out. He'll be the first to admit he feeds off the haters out there. He knows having lots of friends sometimes means having even more enemies. Still, he's told reporters on countless occasions, that means he's "relevant."

For him, that's what's most important, because being relevant means he's moving forward and making money. He would never pick an opponent like Cotto if he wasn't 100 percent sure he would win that fight easily. 

Mayweather is wealthy and successful for a reason. He's smart. He's moved along in his career in a manner that always has him in the mix when the pound-for-pound-best discussion comes up.

He retired and came back even better, and he's considered the most famous fighter in boxing these days.

As his real character emerges on film, we also begin to realize he isn't always comfortable with the spotlight and would love to go to a mall without being recognized for once. He's human, and he has his faults and weaknesses as well as his strengths.

Mayweather has to win Saturday night, because he has to fight Manny Pacquiao before he retires, but he's smart enough to know timing the fight correctly is essential.

He wants Pacquiao at the end of the Philippino's career. He wants to watch Pacquiao put through another war or two before he takes his chances.

For all Mayweather's fire and brimstone assurances that he doesn't need to fight Pacquiao, in the back of his mind he knows that reaction is just going to make more fans and members of the press make more calls for the fight to be made.

He's smart enough to know that steadily snowballing hype, combined with the rate of boxing inflation over the next year or so, makes delaying the super fight the best move as far as getting the most lucrative financial return from signing that bout. 

As long as the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight is a possibility, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is relevant. Boxing becomes relevant as a result, and the sports pundits get tons of chances to keep talking about who might win the fight (if by some miracle it actually happens).

Still, there comes a point where enough money has to be put on the table for both fighters to say yes, and that day may be fast approaching if Mayweather wins on Saturday and Pacquiao beats Bradley in June. 

To quote Floyd Mayweather, “42 have tried and 42 have failed.”

Mayweather’s boastful and truthful claim can only lead us to speculate about what Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) must do to defeat his perfect (in record only) opponent.

Arguing about what advantages Cotto holds over Mayweather is pointless, in a sense. Even if Cotto is the bigger man and thus carries greater power, Mayweather will be ready. “Money” has shown well-schooled survival instincts against Shane Mosley and has also fought bigger men like Oscar De La Hoya.

Instead, it is more productive to offer a blueprint of what Cotto must consistently do throughout the fight if he is to have a shred of hope against someone as slick and defensively sound as Mayweather.

Use the Jab (and Keep Using It)

Lunging in against Mayweather without the proper timing to set up your attack is a recipe for disaster. It goes without saying that Mayweather is the most accomplished counterpuncher and defensive guru in the game.

If Cotto falls in love with power punches and head shots, Mayweather will simply time him and feast on his off-balance opponent.

This is where the jab comes in.

For the first six rounds of his fight against Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya used his jab effectively and had success against “Money.” However, when De La Hoya abandoned the jab, he was reduced to aimlessly stalking Mayweather around the ring and fell pray to Floyd’s superior footwork and speed.

Cotto needs to use his jab to engage Mayweather and force him to plant himself. By pumping the jab at Mayweather’s body and turned arm and shoulder, Cotto can gather momentum and set Mayweather up for body shots.

What Cotto needs to be careful of is not to head-hunt with his jab. If he lunges as Mayweather rolls back, he’ll be in perfect position for one of those shoulder-roll right-hand counters.

Go To the Body

Cotto’s digging hooks to the body have proven to be dangerous weapons throughout his career. The best chance Cotto has of wearing down Mayweather is by consistently going to the body every round.

Commitment is key because only an accumulation of blows and a measured attack will potentially challenge Mayweather’s world-class stamina.

In using his patented shoulder-roll defense, Mayweather is usually able to lunge back and forth, using leverage to counterpunch. Body shots could allow Cotto to get Mayweather off balance, potentially forcing Floyd to bend forward, which would then allow Cotto to bull his way in for head shots.

Cotto needs to make sure he does not get frustrated if it seems like he is not hurting Mayweather.

As we saw in the Mayweather-Mosley fight, Shane was essentially lost after rocking Mayweather in the second round. The problem was that Mosley started to mirror Mayweather in stance, hoping that he would be able to luckily time him again and finish the job. Of course, Mayweather did not make another mistake, and, as a result, Mosley’s lack of any consistent attack crippled his chances. 

Cotto must keep his composure and stick with a body attack. There is no fast and easy solution to solve Mayweather, so Cotto might as well get ready to dig in (literally) for the long haul.

Cut Off the Ring

Aimlessly stalking Mayweather is a trap that too many fighters fall into. If Cotto wants to even think about hurting Mayweather, he first needs to pin Floyd down and close the gap. Because Mayweather has superior foot speed and agility, Cotto’s ring generalship will ultimately be a product of his movement, his jab, and his body punching.  

Cotto has a tight, high guard, and this will serve him well as he moves forward. In using his jab to get close, Cotto needs to then use his body punching to slow down and help prevent Mayweather’s lateral movement. If Cotto can maintain this steady, tactical approach without getting frustrated or abandoning his game plan, he might be able to keep rounds close and set Mayweather up for mistakes.

Ultimately, I’m convinced Floyd Mayweather will win a unanimous decision. Still, I think Cotto has a chance to make “Money” uncomfortable and perhaps keep the fight reasonably close if he gets off to a fast start.

Somewhere inside Floyd Mayweather’s head, you’d like to think there is a delete or stop button. That little voice telling him to "shut up" or "watch what you say before you say it." In the foreground of boxing for the last 10 years, we’ve found that apparently there isn’t. Why is Mayweather missing the filter most contemporary pro athletes have?

Before Mayweather utters something inane, which he frequently does, you can almost see the smoke coming out of his ears before an asinine statement spills out, gets picked up, and before you know it’s zapped to a million places in the real-time, social media world we live in today.

But before Facebook and Twitter became iconic icons attached to everything we currently do and see, Mayweather had a habit of saying idiotic things.

Here’s a potpourri, past and present, of Mayweather’s 15 most asinine quotes of all-time—in descending order:

15. “I don’t duck or dodge anybody,” which is actually a phrase Mayweather has said throughout his career, yet he’s come up with myriad excuses why he’s never got into the ring with Manny Pacquiao.

14. “Who has [Antonio] Margarito beaten to deserve a shot at me? Once he beat two or three big names then we’ll fight. Me and Margarito, we’re not fighting to prove to the boxing fans who the best is. Who is Margarito? He don’t bring s--- to the table,” Mayweather used this as an excuse for not fighting Margarito. Margarito at the time was a very viable opponent.

13. “I hate Bob Arum, he ain't s---; he’s nothing but a liar, he lies about everything,” an enraged Mayweather said after breaking with Top Rank and making the move to rap impresario James Prince as his promoter in 1999. This came after Mayweather said a year earlier, “I have the best promoter out there in Bob Arum. Bob Arum is the greatest promoter in history. I love Bob Arum. I love HBO.”

12. “My team calls all the shots out of the ring, I call them in the ring,” something Mayweather repeated to me a number of times, though it’s far from the truth. Money May calls the shots. When he broke away from Bob Arum, he made the decision. When he decided to break away from his father, Floyd Sr., it was his call. Mayweather is king of the “Money Team,” his traveling entourage.

11. “Absolutely not. I took the plea. Sometimes they put us in a no-win situation. I had no choice, but I don't worry about going to jail. Better men than me have been there. I'm pretty sure Martin Luther King's been there, and Malcolm X. I have taken the good with the good so I'll accept the bad with the bad," Floyd Mayweather to Georgetown sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson on HBO’s Speaking Out Special on April 21.

10. “I’m not in the game for just the money, I’m in the game to be a legend. And to give the fans and media all around the world exciting fights,” Mayweather said prior to fighting Carlos Baldomir in November 2006 for the WBC welterweight world championship. Then Money May put on a boxing display in which, if he put his foot on the gas, would have stopped Baldomir at any time.

9. “[Shane] Mosley will never fight me. I love to fight him. But you know he don’t want a dosage of truth,” Mayweather said in 2007. The fact is, they did fight, and Mayweather won in dominating fashion. But not before Mosley took the boxing world’s breath away by jolting Mayweather in the second round, teetering for a moment.

8. “They talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he’s the second coming. Or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I’m a black fighter. Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters, they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise,” Mayweather said about HBO boxing commentators in July 2008.

7. “You know me. I’m running my mouth a lot, and I’m looking for a guy to shut me up. If you don’t shut me up, I’m going to keep running my mouth. Nobody can beat me. There is no way to beat me,” Mayweather has stated numerous times.

6. “I’ll beat the s--- out of Manny Pacquiao. He knows that,” Mayweather has said, but we may never know because something always seems to get in the way of this ever happening: Olympic-style drug testing, supposed negotiations that took place (which Mayweather’s people said didn’t take place) and Mayweather’s most recent proposal of a 60-40 split in favor of him.

5. “You know what I’m going to do, because you never give me a fair shake, so I’m going to let you talk to Victory Ortiz; I’m through put someone else up here and let them give me an interview. You never give me a fair shake. HBO needs to fire you because you don’t know s--- about boxing; you ain’t s---; you’re not s---,” Mayweather said to HBO commentator Larry Merchant during the post-fight interview after knocking out Victory Ortiz.

4. “I’m in the same shoes as Ali. They hate me when I’m at the top, but once my career is over, they’re going to miss me,” Mayweather told Dyson in the HBO Speak Out Special. Really? The same shoes as Ali? Mayweather protested for being drafted into an unjust war that threatened his life and livelihood during a turbulent racial climate when whites and blacks, in some parts of the south, couldn’t walk on the same sidewalk together? Really?

3. “That’s a slave contract,” Mayweather told then-HBO head Lou DiBella in October 1999, refusing to sign a contract for seven-fight, $12.5-million deal. Mayweather also told me when I was doing a story for Ring Magazine, “Why would I sign a contract like that. It’s slave wages.”

2. “We’re going to cook that little yellow chump…Once I kick the midget ass, I don’t want you all to jump on my d---. So you all better get on the bandwagon now...Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that mother f----- make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice…We’re going to cook him with some cats and dogs,” a Mayweather clarion public moment in September 2010, when he went on a Manny Pacquiao-rant spewing into the camera.

1. “Ali was a great fighter, but I’m better. [Sugar Ray] Robinson was a great fighter, but I’m better,” Mayweather told HBO’s cameras on 24/7 in building the hype machine for the May 1, 2010 Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight.

While Mayweather is the greatest fighter of this generation, this generation pales far in comparison to when Ali and Robinson fought. The talent pools of those eras were much, much deeper than they are now. Ali prevailed in the greatest era of the heavyweight division, and Robinson was in with killers like Henry Armstrong, Jake LaMotta, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio and Kid Gavilan.

Ali was able to get away with proclaiming himself as “The greatest of all-time,” rolling his eyes in his animated way and soliciting laughter. Sure, Ali believed it, but he also had a genuine, jovial way in expressing it, far different than the arrogant self-infatuating manner Mayweather does.

The days are nearing for the major junior middleweight clash between Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather (did you ever think we’d one day be talking about these guys as 154-pounders?), and there are some things Mayweather will need focus on if he plans on beating Cotto.

Here are five things Mayweather must execute to beat what promises to be a head-strong rushing Cotto.

5. Stay outside

Mayweather will wear 154 pounds well. In all probability, he’ll come in well under that limit, maybe at a comfortable 150 or 152 pounds. However, regardless of how in shape Mayweather always is, he’s not strong enough to butt heads, literally and figuratively, with Cotto.

Cotto will own the inside game, so expect Mayweather to stay on the fringes and pick away. Then as the fight progresses and Mayweather builds a comfort zone, he will step in closer, and then closer.

Maintaining his punching distance early will be key to “Money May’s” success.

4. Be patient

It’s been a hallmark of Mayweather’s career. Victor Ortiz had every intention of jumping Mayweather at the outset of their fight in September 2011. “Vicious Victory” may have had the right idea, but certainly
the wrong execution.

Ortiz wanted to jostle Mayweather early. Cotto may try the same tactic, and with his experience and ability he may even be able to pull it off and even land a punch or two on Mayweather.

However, over the course of a 12-round fight, it won’t work. Not against Mayweather. He’ll eventually find his punching range, stay in the pocket and be patient. There is nothing Mayweather has experienced in the ring that Cotto can do to unhinge him. Mayweather’s professional approach and overflowing confidence enable him to sit back and dissect.

3. Be leery of Cotto’s head

It could be a concern. Cotto banged heads more than a few times during his fight with Manny Pacquiao, and we witnessed the head-first tactic of Ortiz when he tried to lure Mayweather into an ugly slugfest.

Cotto is a clean fighter, but he will drop that head. It’s a concern Mayweather should have. By the sixth or seventh round, it may be academic Mayweather will have the fight won (he should by then), and a
desperate Cotto may resort to extremes and use some roughhouse methods. Starting with his head.

2. Don’t get lured into Cotto’s game

Cotto may try to muck it up and make this ugly. Jose Luis Castillo gave Mayweather probably his most difficult fight, when they met on April 20, 2002. Castillo changed things up on Mayweather, sometimes coming forward, sometimes waiting for Mayweather to come to him.

Castillo’s body attack made Mayweather feel highly uncomfortable. Cotto will try digging to the body, too, and it’s a plan Mayweather needs to thwart by making this a hideous, defensive struggle. It won’t be the most aesthetically pleasing fight, but Mayweather doesn’t care about what his performances look like. He cares about winning—and winning this fight will depend on sticking with his plan and not being dragged into any of Cotto’s ideas of what the fight should look like. 

1. Speed, speed, speed

This is what puts Mayweather in that rare realm with Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson as an all-time great. His handspeed for this generation of fighters is unparalleled. It’s what makes Mayweather special and is a leading reason why he should win this fight rather easily.

Mayweather’s critics—and they are many—can point to this and to that, but the one thing they cannot deny is how fast and accurate Mayweather’s fists are. He’ll slice and dice Cotto as if his gloves were Ginsu knives. Cotto will try every previous tactic that failed against Mayweather. They will continue to fail until Mayweather is well into his 40s, should Mayweather choose to fight that long, because of his speed-of-light hands.