By John F. McKenna (McJack): World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s), who faces undefeated superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) on May 5 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, is in the midst of developing a game plan with which he hopes to defeat Mayweather.
Part of Cotto’s strategy will be to use a lot of head movement, move in and attack Floyd behind his jab and use constant pressure to overwhelm him while banging away at the body when the opportunity presents itself. Miguel, working together with his trainer Pedro Diaz, plans to pressure “Money” Mayweather in a way that will nullify his counter punching abilities.
It all sounds rather simplistic doesn’t it? Cotto was able to devise a strategy which enabled him to decisively defeat Antonio Margarito last December. But fighting a badly faded Margarito and possibly the greatest fighter of this era in Mayweather, is a horse of a different color. There is no comparison, and the fact that Miguel was able to come back and defeat the fighter who bludgeoned him into submission in 2008 means little when you are going up against a fighter who is light years ahead of the current Antonio Margarito.
That is not to say that Cotto is not a very good fighter, he surely is. But the problems he will face when entering the ring against Mayweather cannot be overstated. At 35 years old Floyd is still at the top of his game. There is no evidence to suggest that his amazing speed has begun to diminish. Whatever else you say about Mayweather he treats his body as if it is a temple. He does not smoke, drink or take drugs and is always in great condition even when he is not training for a fight. Taken together with the fact that Floyd has not taken the amount of hits that you would expect a 35 year old fighter to have taken then it is clear that he is still in his prime.
Mayweather is also a very cerebral fighter who carefully analyzes any prospective opponent before he chooses to fight him. Floyd is a master strategist, always calculating and sizing up his opponent and most importantly is able to make the necessary adjustments during a fight to achieve victory.
For Miguel Cotto it is not a hill that he has to climb when he engages Floyd MayweatherJr on May 5, he will be attempting to climb Mount Everest.
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