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The 35-year-old boxer tangled with Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a crowd-pleasing 12 round brawl that looked nothing like most of Mayweather's previous fights. In fact, Cotto seemed to have the matchup going exactly how he wanted until "Money May" turned up the intensity over the final four rounds.
Cotto has always been a warrior, so we shouldn't have been surprised that he was game to go the distance with Mayweather. But he also roughed up the man many consider the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, using a stiff jab to cause a lot of bleeding from Mayweather's nose and mouth.
He kept the pressure up on Mayweather for the entire 36-minute clash and acquitted himself well, despite entering as a seven-to-one underdog.
Leading an entourage that included 50 Cent, WWE star Triple H and Justin Bieber, Mayweather made his way to the ring in his usual style. He was flashy in every aspect.
Cotto came out surrounded by family and close confidants, and it was clear from the beginning that he wasn't going to just be another victim for the undefeated Mayweather to walk over.
The two men traded shots for most of the first five rounds, with Cotto giving as good as he got. Mayweather landed more punches, but the bigger, stronger Cotto was landing the harder shots.
He came forward the rest of the way and tried to pin Mayweather against the ropes and into corners, but to no avail. Mayweather's punches were too sharp, and he continually found holes in Cotto's defense.
By the 12th round Cotto was clearly gassed. He expended a ton of energy in the early rounds hunting down Mayweather and that effort took its toll. In the final stanza Mayweather strafed him with two stinging uppercuts in rapid succession that were easily his best punches of the fight.
Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) took the final four rounds on my card, the last three were lopsided. He took a unanimous decision with official scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 117-111.
I had scored the bout 116-112 for Mayweather.
Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) may have lost the fight and his WBA super welterweight title, but he gained even more respect than he already had in the boxing world. He went toe-to-toe with Mayweather and gave him his best fight in years. He looked fantastic and brought the best out of his undefeated opponent.
nice, i like this analysis it was well worth the read, keep it up.
ReplyDeleteIm going to be interested in what you have to say about the Khan Peterson fight and the drugs failure so make that one extra special would you.