Floyd Mayweather: Miguel Cotto Fight Doesn't Kill Manny Pacquiao Dreams

When Floyd Mayweather squares off with Miguel Cotto on Saturday night in Las Vegas, there will be more on the line than just an undefeated streak and a world title.

Mayweather is fighting for another chance to cement his status as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time.

While some fans will crush Mayweather’s attitude or lifestyle, his extensive resume speaks for itself. This man is one of the best fighters the sport of boxing has ever seen, but his career is missing the coup de grace—a win over Manny Pacquiao.

As focused as "Money" may be on Cotto, he knows that he must win to keep the chances of the fight of the century actually happening alive. While many fans think there is no chance it will ever happen, Mayweather has been outspoken that he isn't done fighting and won’t be anytime soon.

Mayweather told Boxing Scene about his career’s significance minus the Pac-Man fight and how he still has plenty of fight left:

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If it really was all about Pacquiao then I didn't have to fight all 42 opponents. All I had to do was come to the sport of boxing and fight one guy then I would have gone down as the best, just one guy. So I guess the 42 guys that I've faced didn't count…I want to stay active, I want to fight again in 2012 before the year is up. I want to constantly go out there and test my skills and I want to continue to push myself to the limit. I still plan to retire at 37 - but I want to fight plenty of times before then.

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At this point of his life, Mayweather has to realize that this will not last forever. He also knows that Pacquiao has other things on his plate and will be walking away sooner rather than later.

This is arguably the most talked-about fight that never happened in the history of boxing, and both men realize this has gotten to the point where if it doesn’t happen, it will put an asterisk on both of their careers.

Mayweather will beat Cotto on Saturday, and Pacquiao will beat Timothy Bradley on June 9, so rest assured that the superfight talk begins on June 10. Let’s hope we actually get it this time.

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