Mayweather vs. Cotto: Why Money's Defense Will Win in Decision

When Floyd Mayweather meets Miguel Cotto on May 5, fans should prepare to see a clinic in defensive boxing. Mayweather's counter-heavy style will prove to be too much for the hard-charging Cotto.

Mayweather enters the fight as a huge favorite and rightfully so—his undefeated record speaks for itself.

Cotto, who has only lost twice in his career, faces the tall order of trying to figure out Mayweather's elusive style.

Despite the similar records, Mayweather's hand speed and footwork are far ahead of Cotto's.

Cotto will certainly need to avoid getting into a technical punch-counter punch rhythm in this fight as predictability is the worst trait when bringing the fight to Mayweather.

If Cotto wants to shock the world with an upset, his best strategy will be to turn the fight into a brawl with a high-volume attack that overwhelms Mayweather.

Unfortunately for Cotto, Mayweather is one of the greatest—if not the greatest—defensive boxer in history. Overwhelming Mayweather with a high-volume of punches just isn't enough, Cotto will need to find a way to cut off the ring and corner Mayweather—something his quick footwork and slick defense won't allow Cotto to do.

This isn't to say Cotto won't have any success with this strategy.

It's easy to envision Cotto winning the early rounds by chasing down Mayweather and landing punches, throwing more than Mayweather can evade.

However, as the fight wears on, we should see Mayweather take over as Cotto grows weary of constantly trying to catch him.

This is why Mayweather will win by decision.

While many experts are predicting a KO/TKO win for Mayweather, Cotto should have enough success in the early rounds to survive the later rounds.

Cotto has lost by knockout before, his only two losses in his career were knockout losses to Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquaio.

However, Margarito and Pacquaio are both much more aggressive than Mayweather and were willing to be more aggressive than Cotto in their efforts to end the fight.

If there's one thing we know about Mayweather, we know he will do anything to ensure he wins.

In this fight, that means depending on his defense and counter-punching to outpoint Cotto. Mayweather won't be looking to put the kind of pressure on Cotto that it will take to end the fight early.

Mayweather should cruise to a unanimous decision victory with his trademark defense and speed.