Floyd Mayweather Risks Losing Untainted Record to Miguel Cotto in Early Rounds

Unbeaten champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will do everything in his power to preserve his unblemished professional boxing record which is a rare accomplishment that legitimatizes his claim to boxing supremacy.

By choosing Miguel Cotto, who is coming off three successive wins against rated opponents, Mayweather is risking his "O" with the veteran Puerto Rican slugger.

Since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2010, Cotto trained hard to improve his craft which resulted in his three-fight winning streak.

Mayweather, on the other hand, has not experienced real full-length fight since winning over Shane Mosley in 2010. His last fight with Victor Ortiz was a short-lived match that ended in Round 4, which was caused by a power shot he delivered over the defenseless Ortiz.

Because of the early stoppage, Mayweather's fight with Ortiz can be considered only as a sparring fight inside his own gym which could not have shaken the ring-rust he had accumulated over his almost once-a-year ring appearances.

In contrast, Cotto fights like a well-oiled machine on account of his three-fight major victories since losing to Pacquiao.

Cotto is expected to go for an early knockout, knowing Mayweather's forte of winning via points rather than a KO, which is evident in his previous fights.

Boxing observers say Cotto lacks stamina and fades away in most of his fights starting on the second half of his past 12-round fights.

But Cotto has awesome power and killer punches in the early rounds and, as expected, his trainer will urge him to go for the kill inside six rounds. 

Obviously, Mayweather will take extra measures to prevent Cotto's early assault, and if he can survive the attack in the first six rounds, he will most likely win the fight on points and with possibility of a KO.

Still, Cotto will give everything in his arsenal to go for an upset. And he knows that if he wins over Mayweather, he will have another crack at Pacquiao for what could be his most lucrative fight ever in his professional career.