Even with his May 5 title defense fast approaching, WBA super world light-middleweight champion, Miguel Cotto, remains confident he'll go down in the history books, as the man that handed Floyd Mayweather his first professional loss.
"I do not care that one commentator out there think that Mayweather will knock me in four rounds or some blogger thinks this fight is a waste [of time] and Mayweather should fight somebody else," Cotto said in a recent interview. "At this point in my career, I know what to focus and what to let go. I have the fortune of being surrounded by a lot of love and support, and it is these people that motivate me. My priority is to go there, fight the best fight that I can and win. … I know what I'm capable of and that is to win. With this fight I'm in the best place I've ever been, training has never been better, then there is no doubt that I will leave as the winner. You can count on that!"
Without a doubt, Mayweather will be Cotto's toughest opponent so far, but I won't completely rule out the possibility of an upset. Cotto will have a decent size advantage when the two square up at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, and it'll be in his best interest to try and bully Mayweather with it.
However, Cotto seems to be at his very best when he boxes his opponents (as opposed to fighting them), and I just can't see anyone out-boxing Mayweather. Cotto will have to rely on his well-documented punching power (30 of his 37 wins coming via KO), against the smaller man, and he'll need to do a lot of work inside.
When it comes to the technical aspects of boxing, Mayweather is definitely in a class of his own, suavely avoiding punches while delivering precise shots of his own. As always, Floyd is confident he'll keep his unblemished record intact, and he vows to put on show on Cinco de Mayo.
David is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing practitioner that has watched and studied MMA for the past 7 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
Sources:
Jhonny Gonzalez, "Miguel Cotto: There is No Doubt, I'm Beating Mayweather"
Fight and fighter information from BoxRec.com
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