Mayweather vs. Cotto: Money May Must Go for Big Knockout

Floyd Mayweather can't let himself be content with what could be an inevitable easy unanimous decision. He needs to go for the knockout. 

Mayweather doesn't need to do this to improve his legacy or prove anything about his skills as a boxer. He needs this to build up the buzz and hype behind his name. 

In the past, Money has kept himself on the tips of boxing fans tongues with not just his tremendous performances, but also his mouth. 

He's always finding a way to grab a boxing headline. Anytime Manny Pacquiao worked himself into a headline, there was typically some kind of provocative comment from Mayweather to follow. 

The big difference following this fight is that he will be going to prison. Mayweather is scheduled to serve a 90-day jail sentence beginning on June 1st, and his prison cell isn't likely going to provide him access to his Twitter account. 

Now, it's not like boxing fans are going to forget about him while he's locked up, but he isn't going to be able to pump up his brand. 

He needs a dominant performance to do this for him—and a knockout of the ultra-tough Cotto will do just that. 

In his 39 professional fights, Cotto has just two losses. Both came by TKO but not after an intense battle. The first was an 11-round TKO to Antonio Margarito, coming after many believe Margarito used illegal hand wraps to aid his punching power. 

The second came in the 12th round to none other than Manny Pacquiao. 

Money will be well-served to top this. If he can dispatch of Cotto before the 12th, it will give his camp that much more ammo to make his case as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. 

This will keep the hype on Money running high, even though he won't be around to help propel that. That public perception will ramp up the pressure on Pacquiao to accept the fight with Money on Floyd's terms, and that's with Money taking more than 50 percent of the cash for the fight.