By Edgar Perez: Nothing has revealed the difference between the mentality of Cotto and Pacquiao supporters versus the mentality of those that make excuses for Mayweather like the aftermath of Mayweather coming in two pounds over the agreed upon weight for the weigh-in of his match with Marquez. Cotto and Pacquiao stand in sharp contrast to Mayweather, men that have shown integrity both in and out of the ring, fighting the best out there whenever the opportunity presents itself and making no excuses.

Perhaps Mayweather’s behaviour is acceptible for the low moral standards of some writers, who have turned this into an indictment on catchweight fights rather than rightfully call out this fault. Instead, they use this as an opportunity to attack Pacquiao’s character, suggesting that Mayweather is only playing the same game that Pacquiao is playing with Cotto. They are encouraging Cotto to turn the tables on Pacquiao, suggesting to Cotto to come in over the expected weight like Mayweather did for Marquez.

Well there are distinct differences between the two situations. In a catchweight bout, two boxers make a gentlemen’s agreement in which one guy goes up in weight while the other goes down in weight in order to make a fight that would not otherwise be possible. If the boxer coming up in weight does not go up, he does it to his own possible disadvantage. If the boxer coming down in weight does not go down, he does it to the possible disadvantage and physical detriment of the other boxer. What Mayweather did was wrong. It was unsportsmanlike no matter how you feel about catchweights.

The idea of the legitimacy of catchweight bouts is NOT what should be judged here rather the character of Floyd Mayweather Jr. This prevailing attitude that the ends justifies the means is poisoning our society. Since when does not fulfilling one’s responsibilities agreed to in a binding contract, become a sign of protest? Even though he paid the $600,000 penalty, Mayweather violated the spirit of the agreement which is now obvious he had no intention of honoring. The only thing Mayweather accomplished by going back on his word is to let everyone know that he can’t be trusted. Do you think for one minute that Pacquiao would now agree to a fight with Mayweather without at least the $1 million penalty for each pound over the agreed upon weight that is written into the Cotto fight? Based on Mayweather’s track record, it might be $2 million per pound.

As for Cotto, true boxing fans can only hope that he does not follow Mayweather’s foolish example.