By Ramonito O. Legaspi: Floyd Mayweather snatched the WBA junior middleweight belt from Miguel Cotto after 12 rounds via unanimous decision last Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. But it was not an easy win for Mayweather. Cotto was relentless in his attack.
In the 5th round, Mayweather’s nose started to bled after Cotto landed a sharp left straight on his face. Cotto forced him to fight toe to toe. Without backpedaling, Mayweather dealt with Cotto’s onslaught. Every time Cotto pinned him down, Mayweather returned fire with pinpoint accuracy.
But Cotto continued to press his attack peppering him with body shots and landing clean shots upstairs. Known for his superb defense, he was able to duck and block Cotto’s punches but a good number of them found its target. It was a rare moment to see the “Pretty Boy” bloodied and looked battered. Mayweather appeared vulnerable, but the disparity in speed and accuracy helped him to connect more telling shots than Cotto. He won. But it was not an easy win. Cotto fought a good fight, but Mayweather fought better. He remains unbeaten in 43 fights.
Will he remain undefeated for the rest of his boxing career?
Boxing fans are used to seeing Mayweather unscathed in most of his fights. His shoulder roll, speed, rhythm, and quick reflexes make him difficult to hit. But last Saturday’s fight, he was not as elusive as in his previous fights. He tasted Cotto’s power several times. No one had hit Mayweather with as many punches as he could, except Cotto.
We may recall that Cotto took a beating from Pacquiao. The referee stopped the fight in the 12th round when it was clear that Cotto could no longer withstand the fierce attack of the Filipino superstar.
One may argue that if it was Pacquiao fighting Mayweather last Saturday, the decision would have been on Manny’s favor. Boxing fans would have been on their toes throughout the fight as Pacquiao pressed forward strafing Mayweather with power shots from different angles without losing steam.
Cotto has decent speed and power but they pale in comparison to Pacquiao’s. Cotto comes to fight. He is relentless but tends to fade in late rounds, whereas Pacquiao keeps his intensity level from the opening bell until the end continually stalking his opponent.
If Cotto was able to push Mayweather to his limits, then it seems plausible that Pacquiao could do much better. He would not only push Mayweather to his limits. He would break Mayweather’s threshold and would hand him his first defeat.
They think that since Mayweather took a number of shots from Cotto, it would be a long night for the former (Floyd) if it was Manny applying pressure. His bobbing up and down, his shoulder rolling with elbows pointing toward an incoming attack, and his counter-punching were not enough to avert Pacman’s unrelenting offense. Manny would rock him and knock him out.
The logic of Pacman’s fans is this. If Cotto managed to push Mayweather to his limits, then Pacquiao being superior to Cotto would be able to push Mayweather to his limits even more. He would ram into Floyd’s defense breaking his resilience. Therefore, Pacquiao could beat Mayweather emphatically, so they say.
But Pacman’s fans must have failed to consider some factors which helped Cotto fought a competitive fight. First, Cotto was at his natural weight (154 lbs) last Saturday night, whereas Mayweather only weighed 147 lbs on the fight night. When Cotto fought Pacman, it was pegged at 147lbs, a catch weight. Second, Cotto has recovered from the physical and psychological trauma inflicted by Antonio Margarito in their first fight. In their second fight, Cotto stopped Margarito in the 10th, a sweet revenge. Third, Cotto has increased his level of confidence with his winning-streak after losing to Pacquiao. Fourth, he has a new trainer, Pedro Diaz, the former coach of the Cuban national coach. He had helped steer his team to championship fights in the Olympics. Last, he was determined to beat Mayweather and wanted to be remembered as the first boxer to demolish the American superstar.
Furthermore, style makes fight. Cotto knows how to deal with a counter-puncher; Pacquiao doesn’t. Manny fought an excellent counter-puncher in Juan Manuel Marquez thrice. In the eyes of some boxing pundits, he didn’t beat Marquez convincingly.
Mayweather’s supporters can then make a case against Pacquiao. If the Pacman had struggled thrice against Marquez, then he would be in big trouble against Mayweather, a consummate counter-puncher.
But they must have ignored the fact that while both are counter-punchers, each employs a different style in dealing with his opponent’s punches.
Marquez handled Pacquiao’s punches well by immediately firing back almost throwing the same number of punches as Pacquiao every round. Mayweather, on the other hand, seems uncomfortable with an opponent who can throw bunches of punches. He is naturally economical in his punches. He bobs and weaves, he rolls his shoulders, he uses his elbows to block incoming punches, and then takes a potshot at his opponent.
Hatton was quite effective in the early rounds bull-rushing Mayweather. But Hatton got careless in the 10th round. Mayweather knocked him down with a counter-shot.
Against Cotto, Mayweather tried to slug it out. Perhaps, he chose to trade punches with Cotto because he wanted to knock him down, the way Pacquiao did. Or, he couldn’t simply revert to his natural style of avoiding to trade punches while taking potshots at him, because Cotto’s decent speed and power didn’t allow him to do so. Thus, he was forced to stand his ground and engage. He ended up taking Cotto’s power shots. While Mayweather did manage to keep his unblemished record (43-0), Cotto made him vulnerable. ‘The Pretty Boy’ looked battered and bruised.
If Floyd would fight Manny, the former would face a dilemma. He has two options both of which prove futile. Either he refuses to engage or he slugs it out with Manny. If he refuses to engage thinking he can counter-shot Manny, he lets him throw lots of power-shots. The fight then may go the full 12 rounds as Floyd bobs and weaves, rolls his shoulders and then takes potshots at him. But Pacquiao’s incessant attack makes Floyd’s counter-shots ineffective. And even if it lands effectively, Manny can take it. If he withstood the power-shots of Margarito, Cotto, and even Clottey, then he can withstand whatever shots Mayweather dishes out. If Floyd slugs it out, he will not last the full distance of 12 rounds as Pacquiao is most effective when his opponent gets into the heat of the battle and trades punches.
Therefore, either Mayweather lets the bout go the full 12 rounds or he’ll not last the full distance. Either way, Manny Pacquiao will emerge as the clear winner and will be remembered as the first boxer to destroy Floyd Mayweather.
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