Mayweather vs Cotto: Money May Will Give Cotto a Beating to Remain Perfect

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will put his perfect 42-0 career record on the line against Miguel Cotto this Saturday, and he'll be looking to keep it perfect.

It should be a good fight, but ultimately, Money will walk out of the ring just as perfect as he entered it.

This bout won't be the complete tossup that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will be when (okay, if) it ever comes to fruition, but it's not going to be completely one-sided either way. Cotto is a very good fighter who is coming off a dominant victory against Antonio Margarito and he has the goods to give Mayweather a battle.

Giving Mayweather a battle is one thing. Hurting him is another thing entirely, and it's something that is exceedingly difficult to do.

It's hard to hurt Money May, of course, because he doesn't let himself get hurt. There's a reason 42 have tried and 42 have failed (though the true number is 41), and it's because it's incredibly hard to land punches against Mayweather.

Cotto has to know that he has nothing to lose against Mayweather, so I expect to see him come out and throw punches as aggressively as he did when he was at the top of his game as a fighter. He's not going to beat Mayweather by hanging back and fighting more defensively, as that's Mayweather's style and he's better at it than any fighter in the world, Cotto included.

The difference will be Mayweather's speed, which is another thing Cotto can't match. He's not going to be caught off-guard by any of Cotto's attacks. On the contrary, he'll see them coming a mile away and he'll adjust accordingly. Cotto's power advantage, if he even has one at light middleweight, won't be worth all that much in the ring.

The only way Mayweather is losing this fight is if he's distracted and it's no secret that he'll have a pretty good excuse to be distracted. He'll have to report to prison on June 1st, and that very well could be weighing on his mind as this fight is in progress.

But I doubt it. Mayweather is not a model citizen outside the ring, but he may as well be a robot inside the ring. He's methodical and he's quick to take advantage of weaknesses when they arise, as he showed against Victor Ortiz in September.

This fight will not end with a knockout by either fighter. That's something that favors Mayweather, as it's just hard to envision Cotto doing enough damage to impress the judges.

It will be a close match, but Mayweather will take it.

Prediction: Mayweather by unanimous decision.