By Shaun Brown: For many a fight fan, the prospect of boxing pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather facing Puerto Rico’s finest Miguel Cotto has been nothing but a dream for us all.
With Oscar De La Hoya (rematch) and Antonio Margarito lined up as their respective opponents, aligned with recent comments from Roger Mayweather: “If it makes dollars, it makes sense. We’ve got to wait and see how he looks vs Margarito to determine how big a fight between him and Floyd would be.” Do we dare start to believe that this dream could become a reality?
In all of this the Golden Boy himself, De La Hoya, will have a more integral part to play in the prospective meeting of the two than he would have dared to imagine. It’s all predictions at this point of course. Neither the ‘Pretty Boy’ or ‘Junito’ have spent much time during media calls calling one another out. Maybe they wont have to. If Mayweather Jnr defeats De La Hoya as expected and Cotto comes through the potential minefield that is Margarito, what route does either victor have left to go down except to face one another? But just to throw another spanner into the works: What if Cotto is to be De La Hoya’s final opponent in December? He has made no secret that he wants to end his career by fighting a modern p4p star and although he has said he does not want to fight a Puerto Rican due to his wife’s nationality, the list of possible opponents is starting to look rather minuscule. If Oscar is to say goodbye to boxing then fighting Cotto on the biggest stage would be a fantastic farewell.
So time to look at my hypothesis or dream, which would be a more accurate description. Cotto beats Margarito in a grueling 12 rounder. Mayweather Jr. earns another points victory over De La Hoya and Cotto himself earns a points victory over De La Hoya. Therefore all roads lead to Mayweather vs Cotto and how about the two men taking part in an infamous trilogy spread over 2009? Firstly in March they fight in Las Vegas with Cotto gaining a slightly controversial decision over the p4p number one. Outraged by this Mayweather calls out Cotto for weeks and even insists that he’d fight Cotto in his native Puerto Rico! The summer blockbuster ends with Floyd gaining his revenge but the promoters and the fans insist on a rubber match. Fast forward to December 2009 at Madison Square Garden and the two men engage in the final fight of one of the greatest trilogies of all time. I can just imagine all you fight fans now in a daze.
In all seriousness one fight between these two future hall of famers would be enough for all of us.
The money of course would have to be right and Floyd Mayweather would want big bucks to be even remotely tempted by the fight. I don’t think the financial side of things would concern Cotto too greatly. For him, I think it’s safe to say that he will fight anyone who is brave enough to stand in front of him.
Come the end of 2008 and if all results go as predicted by most, then I cannot for the life of me see any other opponent for either man. There is no rematch out there for them to give or take and I firmly include Hatton and Mosley in that argument! Will Berto, Clottey, or the winner of Quintana v Williams really tempt Floyd to come out and play? I don’t think so. Lets also forget the ridiculous idea of him meeting Manny Pacquiao at some stage too.
I just refuse to believe that Floyd Mayweather, rightly regarded as one of the greatest fighters of the last twenty years will walk away from the sport that has made him his vast wealth without taking on the challenge of Miguel Cotto.
To quote Roger Mayweather: “….before Floyd’s career is over, he’ll fight Cotto”.
We can but dream.
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