Floyd Mayweather: Miguel Cotto Victory Would Revive Boxing

Miguel Cotto may only have a puncher's chance against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday, but a victory against Mayweather would lift the sport of boxing from the unconscious, dormant state its been in for so long.

An upset over the undefeated Mayweather would be just the knockout the boxing world could dream of. It has the ability to propel the sport, adding humility to Mayweather's resume and potentially giving us all the Manny Pacquiao matchup we've been hoping for.

It may seem premature to talk about this before the Cotto fight. After all, if Cotto loses, this article is irrelevant. But that is exactly what the potential Mayweather-Pacquiao bout has done to the sport of boxing. It's a glimpse of something potentially spectacular and, in contrast, everything else seems mundane, boring and predictable.

If a loss is tacked on to Mayweather's sterling 42-0 record, you would have to think Mayweather would approach a potential Pacquiao bout with much more urgency. After all, right now he could legitimately be called the top boxer in the world. But, if he loses, Pacquiao regains that crown in my mind.

There needs to be something to pressure the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps at this point. I'm fairly convinced they don't care if the fight ever happens. If Mayweather lost, he would face all kinds of questions.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, has already endured his fair share of questions after his last two underwhelming performances against Shane Mosley and longtime nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.

It's not like there haven't been some great fights with Mayweather-Pacquiao in limbo. It's that everything else seems too pale in comparison to a fight that would display the top two boxers in the world.  

Cotto would not only become the people's champion if he defeated Mayweather, he would potentially be the man who changed the course of history.

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