Las Vegas, Nevada – Miguel Cotto did all he could to defend his WBA super welterweight crown against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Saturday night in front of a jam-packed MGM Grand Arena crowd for boxing’s Cinco-de-Mayo treat.
Cotto landed clean lead lefts, worked Mayweather’s body, threw various combinations, and even danced in the ring at times like Mayweather did on TV’s “Dancing with the Stars”. Cotto did all he could in penetrating Mayweather’s shoulder roll defense, pinning him against the ropes and landed some good shots that bloodied the undefeated braggart’s nose.
In the end, however, it was not enough to thwart Mayweather’s talent, skill and heart as he kept his record unblemished with a 12-round unanimous decision victory in an action-packed showdown between two of the sport’s biggest Pay-Per-View draws. The judges’ cards, which read 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110 after the bout, weren’t indicative of how closely the fight was contested.
It took a valiant late salvo from Mayweather and a declining Cotto who was starting to succumb to fatigue in the latter rounds, to seal the 43rd W in Money’s resume.
Mayweather-Cotto brought out the stars in an event boxing desperately needed. Pop star Justin Bieber and rapper Lil Wayne celebrated with Mayweather in the ring after his victory, as some of Hollywood’s biggest names sat ringside.
Mayweather did not make good of his promise of a one-sided domination, and with Cotto’s performance against Mayweather, fans couldn’t help but clamor for a Manny Pacquiao showdown anew. Pacquiao made quick work of Cotto two years ago in a dominating performance that saw the rugged Boricua kiss the canvas twice, but also struggled against Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight after Mayweather easily dispatched him in 12 back in 2009.
Will we ever see it happen? Not even Manny, or “Ninong” knows when I asked him two weeks ago in Baguio. Mayweather did tell HBO’s Larry Merchant after the fight that he still wants to make a Pacquiao fight happen, and rehashed his old tunes about random blood tests and the money split. “Let’s make a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happen,” he said.
