Mayweather Must Survive Cotto's Early Assault or Risk Losing by KO

Unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather must survive Miguel Cotto's relentless assault in the first five rounds or he risks losing his "0" in the loss column of his professional boxing record.

Mayweather and Cotto are facing each other in the ring Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. At stake is Cotto's Super welterweight crown.

Mayweather has a relatively good percentage of KO wins but most of them happened during the early part of his professional career. 

Since his controversial win over Zab Judah in 2006, Mayweather has won most of his fights via either split or unanimous decisions. 

Mayweather is a very skillful boxer who can survive his opponent's attack with his defensive stance.

On Saturday, Cotto is expected to go full speed in the first five rounds and chances are, Mayweather can neutralize Cotto's assault either by running away or by using his trade mark defense as shown in some of his recent fights.

Cotto, who remains focused on his training and conditioning, has the power to put Mayweather down in the early rounds.

Mayweather said he isn't taking Cotto lightly as he prepares for Saturday's fight.

"I've never overlooked a guy, never taken a guy lightly," Mayweather said. "You've seen how I train. I'm preparing myself, mentally and physically, for war."

Indeed, Mayweather has done his best in training camp but observers say he is being confronted with so many distractions including the possible low turnout of tickets and PPV subscriptions.

Mayweather has been busy marketing and promoting the fight to ensure that it makes the sort of money that his fights are known for.

Cotto, on the other hand, has devoted most of his time to training and conditioning. With restored confidence after thrashing Antonio Margarito, plus the comfort he has at 154 pounds, Cotto has what it takes to give Mayweather the first loss of his unblemished career.

But if Cotto fails to break Mayweather's defense early on, he will suffer the consequences. If the fight goes the distance, Cotto's chances diminish.