Mayweather vs. Cotto: Why Bout Will Be Better Than People Expect

Once we all move past the angry and bitter feelings we have toward Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao for once again failing to agree on terms to a superfight, I think we'll all see that Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto still has the potential to be a fantastic fight—one that Cotto may have a better chance of winning than you might think.

I mean, Freddie Roach thinks Cotto has a fighter's chance, though the odds of Roach ever saying anything positive about Mayweather are also pretty low at this point. Still, he made some valid points (via David King of Yahoo!):

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"As for styles, it is an interesting fight," Roach added. "It's a good technical boxer fighting with a counter-puncher. Mayweather is strong physically, but I think Cotto is a bit stronger. Mayweather is definitely much faster, as was Pacquiao. Miguel has to be very careful about the kind of fight against a counter-puncher like Mayweather. I think his new coach will know how to fight him because he is Cuban and that is the style of almost all Cuban fighters [counter-punching]. With a good strategy, Cotto will do very good job."

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And Mayweather has only gone up to fight at 154 once in his career, when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 at that weight.

Cotto's experience, drastically improved technique, strength and solid jab could potentially be the perfect counterbalance to Mayweather's speed and counterpunching.

If nothing else, I think Cotto's improvements and his advantage at this weight class will make this a far more compelling fight than people are expecting.

Even if it's nowhere near as compelling as Mayweather vs. Pacquiao would be.

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