Who Wins and Why? Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto
By: Boxing Writer Scott Canipe
On May 5, 2012, Miguel Cotto will be defending his WBA junior middleweight title. He faces the incomparable Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. Mayweather is regarded, by most, as the pound for pound best fighter in the world and has been referred to, as such, for the last several years by many boxing experts. The venue will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As both Cotto and Mayweather kicked off the press tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 27, 2012 the anticipation started to build up regarding this intriguing event. Both have established amateur backgrounds and both are highly distinguished in their professional careers leading up to this point.
Although this fight is billed as “Ring Kings,” the theme of this fight appears to be, “Does Miguel Cotto Have a Chance?”
As reputable, and as good as Cotto is, most do not believe that he has what it takes to win this fight. Who can blame them? Floyd Mayweather looks untouchable in most of his fights as he effortlessly wins round after round, embarrassing his opponent with each passing stanza. He is truly the greatest and best fighter of the 21st-century.
Notwithstanding, It could be argued that the Cotto that will face Mayweather on May 5 will be much better than the one that encountered Manny Pacquiao, the number 2 pound for pound pugilist. It is reasonable that Cotto was drained somewhat fighting at a catch weight of 145 pounds when he faced Pacquiao. This time Cotto will come in much stronger and hydrated at 154. Plus, he is coming off of a dynamic performance over Antonio Margarito which will give him some boosted confidence.
Will Miguel Cotto’s comfortable weight and burgeoning confidence make a difference in the fight? Consider the following analysis:
How They Matchup
Miguel Cotto – He is a four-time world champion in three weight divisions (light welterweight, welterweight and light middleweight). Cotto has been relatively active in the last 2 years. He is coming off of three TKO wins over Yuri Foreman, Ricardo Mayorga, and Antonio Margarito since his devastating TKO loss to Manny Pacquiao in November, 2009. Miguel Cotto is 31 years old.
- Amateur Record: 125 Fights, 102 Wins and 23 Losses – (4x Puerto Rican National Champion, Represented Puerto Rico and the Sydney, Australia Olympics, but lost to the eventual gold medal winner, Muhammad Abdullaev of Uzbekistan, in his very first bout.)
- Professional Record: 39 Fights, 37 Wins and 2 Losses, 30 KO’s
- Age: 31
- Height: 5’7”
- Weight: 154
- Reach: 67″
- Notable opponents faced: Zab Judah W TKO 11; Shane Mosley W UD 12; Joshua Clottey W SD 12; Manny Pacquiao L TKO 12; Antonio Margarito L TKO 11 and W RTD 10 in the rematch
5 Strengths of Miguel Cotto
- Resourcefulness– Miguel Cotto can box from a distance or on the inside. He boxed effectively from the outside against “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito II. Cotto can also close the distance and throw tremendous shots in close quarters as he did with Zab Judah. He can use this versatility to create diversity in his attack. This can keep Mayweather constantly thinking as he tries to figure out Cotto’s style.
- Strong body puncher– Miguel is a vicious body puncher and is very accurate to say the least. He throws an assortment of powerful left hooks, right hooks and uppercuts that have devastating effects on his opponent’s midsection.This, arguably, could be the most effective tactic that Cotto possesses going into this fight. Mayweather has a habit of lying against the ropes throughout many of his fights. This is where Cotto’s strong body punching can have an effect.
- Power jab– Miguel Cotto throws a very strong jab. It is not the quickest; however it is very accurate and carries respectable power. His timing is very good. He, essentially, out-boxed the quicker Shane Mosley with the left jab. If Cotto can close the distance and time Mayweather, his jab can be effective in this fight. Whenever, Floyd Mayweather faced Oscar De La Hoya, every time De La Hoya jabbed, he got the better of Mayweather. However, Oscar has longer arms than Mayweather and Cotto has shorter arms, so Cotto will definitely have to close the distance and use timing to make his power jab effective.
- Cotto’s strength– Coming in at 154 pounds, Miguel Cotto will be very strong and probably stronger than Floyd Mayweather. This superior strength will put Cotto in an advantageous position, especially, on the inside. But once again, he MUST close the distance to impose this strong point.
- Switch hitter– Cotto is a natural southpaw, but he fights from an orthodox stance. Therefore he can transition from both stances quite efficiently. He is a solid “switch hitter.” This attribute gives Cotto opportunities to land and keep Mayweather guessing as he tries to figure out his patterns and style.
Five Facts About Miguel Cotto That Mayweather Can Exploit
- Lack of blistering speed– I would not consider Miguel Cotto slow. However, his speed is definitely not as quick as some of the other elite fighters in his weight class. He does not possess great hand or foot speed. There will be a huge difference between the quickness between Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto. It will be glaringly obvious. This will be to Cotto’s detriment.
- Easy to be hit– Although, his defense has improved; this is still an area where Cotto lacks. Often times he comes in squared, which makes him easier to be hit. The lack of great defense and squaredness of Cotto’s stance will provide great opportunities for Mayweather to land both counterpunching and leading shots.
- Cuts and bruises– Miguel Cotto has shown in previous fights that his face has shown a tendency to bleed and swell throughout fights. Antonio Margarito I (though questionable), Joshua Clottey and Manny Pacquiao left Cotto’s face a bloody and bruised mess. This cutting and bruising is accentuated when punches land with greater speed. The velocity in which Floyd Mayweather will land upon Miguel Cotto’s tender skin could slice his face up something reminiscent of a Freddy Krueger horror movie.
- Late round stamina problems– Based upon some of Cotto’s previous fights he appears to lose steam, especially if the fight does not go his way. This could spell doom for Cotto as Floyd is a master of figuring one’s style out and then coming on as the fight progresses. Floyd’s conditioning is unparalled!
- Advancing and retreating– Miguel Cotto will either come forward or try to use his legs and box. None of this will work against Floyd Mayweather.First of all, when Cotto advances he holds his hands up high and Floyd will be able to penetrate his defense by throwing shots straight down the middle – uppercuts and right hands.
Secondly, as Cotto uses his legs and retreats, he has a habit of dropping his left hand. Floyd, with his greater reach and reflexive speed will catch Miguel with a straight right hand time and time again.
Floyd Mayweather: Mayweather is 35 years old. He has been relatively inactive during the last 2 1/2 years. Mayweather is coming off of wins over Shane Mosley (UD 12) and Victor Ortiz (KO 4). Mayweather’s record boasts 42 wins, 0 losses, and 26 knockouts.
- Amateur Record: 90 Fights, 84 Wins and 6 Losses – (3x Michigan State Golden Gloves Champion, 3x National Golden Gloves Champion, 1995 National PAL Featherweight Champion, United States Amateur Featherweight Champion, 1996 Olympic bronze medalist)
- Professional Record: 42-0, 26 KO’s
- Age: 35
- Height: 5’8”
- Weight: 150
- Reach: 72″
- Notable opponents faced: Diego Corrales W TKO 10; Jose Luis Castillo W UD 12 (x2); Arturo Gatti W RTD 6; Oscar De La Hoya W SD 12; Ricky Hatton W TKO 10; Juan Manuel Marquez W UD 12; Shane Mosley W UD 12; Victor Ortiz W KO 4
Five Strengths of Floyd Mayweather
- Defense – Floyd Mayweather possesses one of the most creative and impenetrable defenses that the Sweet Science has ever witnessed. He slips, ducks, dodges and shoulder rolls his way effortlessly out of harm’s way. Many of his opponents have stated “I tried and tried and tried, but I just can’t hit him.” This is going to give Miguel Cotto trouble all night long. This great attribute will frustrate Cotto, therefore, taking him out of his game plan from a mental/focusing standpoint. In other words, if you cannot hit Floyd Mayweather, you get discouraged.
- Remains calm under pressure – Floyd has a surreal ability to remain very relaxed and poised in the face of pressure and when he is hurt. Shane Mosley, Zab Judah and DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley all have severely hurt Floyd in their fights. Floyd simply remained calm and never lost his cool. He came back and dominated those guys in spectacular fashion.Miguel Cotto is a strong puncher and he could conceivably catch Mayweather with one of his thudding shots. Even if Cotto staggers Mayweather, it is highly probable that Floyd will dig deep and utilize his recuperative powers so that Cotto will not be able to take advantage of the situation.
- Counterpunching abilities– Floyd Mayweather is the best counterpuncher in boxing today. He has brilliantly dazzled his opponents and frustrates them after they throw their shots and he comes back and counters with great accuracy. Given the fact that Cotto has a tendency to be tenacious in his approach will give Floyd Mayweather tremendous opportunities to counterpunch with great effectiveness.
- Reflexive speed– Floyd Mayweather isn’t just quick, he possesses what I refer to as, “reflexive speed.” Those reflexes give him the ability to be great at counterpunching, leading and dominating fights with everything that he does. Cotto is going to have to deal with this and it will not be easy.
- Intelligence– Mayweather is probably the most intelligent fighter in the world today. He was basically born with boxing gloves on and he knows virtually every trick of the trade that makes him such a complete fighter. Floyd Mayweather appears to have an uncanny ability to figure out his opponent’s style and then simply outclasses them as the fight goes on. Cotto has faced smart fighters in his career, but the ring intelligence of Floyd Mayweather is far superior to any opponent that Miguel Cotto has ever going up against.
Five Facts About Floyd Mayweather That Cotto Can Exploit
- Comfort Zone– Floyd’s output average is around 40 punches per round. That is an average of about 480 punches over the course of a 12 round fight. When Floyd is in this comfort zone, he is very relaxed and operates in his own rhythm. One of the ways to beat Floyd is to take him out of this comfort zone. This is typically done by applied pressure and making Floyd fight at different tempo. Cotto could take advantage of this, but he must be in superb condition and not get discouraged when he’s eating counter punches.
- Lying on the ropes – Mayweather has a habit of going backwards to the ropes. As his opponent advances and throw shots, Floyd, for the most part, shoulder rolls out of harm’s way and pinpoints a counter right hand. Some fighters have found success in connecting on Floyd. Floyd’s left hand typically dangles by his waist with his right tucked just below his chin. Many times, previous opponents such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Jose Luis Castillo, and even Emmanuel Augustus had Floyd up pinned against the ropes and they scored effectively.With Miguel Cotto being a great body puncher, he could really apply the pressure and dig in downstairs to Floyd’s midsection and arms. The key for Cotto, here, is not to get discouraged because he will be vulnerable for many counterpunching opportunities.
- Slow starter– Floyd Mayweather likes to take his time in the opening rounds. He uses his boxing acumen to figure out his opponent style and patterns. Cotto could take advantage of this in the early rounds and apply a lot of pressure and go for the early knockout before Floyd Mayweather gets warmed up and make the necessary adjustments. Zab Judah actually had great success with this approach when he fought Floyd. He applied a lot of pressure to Mayweather in the first 4 to 5 rounds of their encounter. Zab, however, fizzled out and Floyd came back and dominated.
- Exploit the shoulder roll– When it comes to this fancy defensive move, Floyd Mayweather’s execution of it is as good as it gets. He normally comes back with a straight right hand counter that lands with incredible accuracy. There is a way to take advantage of this, but it must be done with timing, pivots, feints, and acute awareness.
The key for Cotto is to feint a right-hand or left jab and then pivot to his left (Floyd’s right). This will put Miguel in a position where he can land left hooks and right hands to Floyd’s body. For there is a lot of exposure of the midsection after Floyd does the shoulder roll. Cotto must constantly feint and pivot to his left and not stand in front of Mayweather to accomplish this strategy.
- Exploit the right dip – Floyd has a pattern of bending at the waist by dipping quickly to his right to avoid punches. He does it so quickly that it’s hard to time it. Cotto could, as in the previous strategy, feint a left jab, pivot to his left and immediately leverage a left hook to the body or a hybrid left hook/left uppercut. If he could do this with proper timing, he may catch Floyd as he does this defense “dip move.” The key to this is proper position, and that is done by pivoting to the left.
The Outcome
Anyone that knows boxing and has followed these two great fighter’s careers knows that Floyd Mayweather is definitely an all-around better fighter then Miguel Cotto. Floyd possesses greater speed, old school skills, defensive wizardry, superb conditioning, and superior ring intelligence. That being said, Cotto is a live dog and does have a chance. He has a heartbeat, willingness and two fists. But, he will have to be at his very best and have lady luck on his side come May 5, 2012.
If Mayweather is at his best and has not slipped any at age 35, he will thoroughly dominate Miguel Cotto. Cotto simply doesn’t have what it takes to keep Floyd from winning rounds.
Look to see Cotto come at Floyd at have some success early, but by round four Mayweather would have adjusted to his patterns and then the fight becomes one-sided. Mayweather will then began to pile up the points and by about round seven Cotto’s face becomes a bloody mess. Referee stops contest in the 9th round. Floyd Mayweather remains unbeaten and calls out Manny Pacquiao in the post-fight interview with Max Kellerman.
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