By Allan Fox: Sergio Martinez and Juan Manuel Marquez believe that WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto isn’t coming into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the best moment of his career. They see Cotto as having taken too much punishment, and they feel his best was at least two or more years.

Martinez said to ESPN “I believe Mayweather will be victorious by points because of the way has fought recently…If he [Cotto] comes well prepared and trained, he can give a good fight. But Mayweather will do enough to win.”

Agreed. Cotto can give Floyd a lot of problems if he comes into this fight in good shape ready to fight 12 hard rounds. If he fights with aggression early on, Cotto could maybe steal this fight from Mayweather, but it’s going to take a consistent effort from Cotto. He can’t fade and run like he did in the Antonio Margarito first fight or the fights against Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley. Cotto has to stay active and take the fight to Mayweather to have a chance to pick up the win.

Marquez said to ESPN “I believe the first rounds will be difficult for Mayweather, but he will win by decision…He will win on the scorecards by a clear margin. I saw three or four points.”

That’s a lot closer than what many people are seeing this fight. Some boxing fans are looking at a possible stoppage win for Mayweather. If not that, then a lopsided 12 round decision. I’m personally on the fence. I think Cotto can win this fight if he does well in the first six rounds, and builds up a sizable lead. I do think he’s going to fade but if he can put enough rounds in the bank in the early going, he could win two or three rounds in the second half of the fight to possibly get the decision. He won’t be able to match Mayweather’s boxing skills, but his power could win Cotto a lot of rounds if he lands clean shots.