Mayweather vs Cotto Predictions: Why Miguel Has No Hope of Taking Down Money

Unfortunately for Miguel Cotto, his biggest strength plays right into the talented hands of Floyd "Money" Mayweather and his biggest strength.

Strength versus strength is intriguing, but Mayweather's strength is world class.

Cotto's isn't. 

It's worth noting that Mayweather's toughest opponent thus far was Oscar De La Hoya, the only other boxer he's gone up against at junior middleweight. That's a positive sign for Cotto fans, but Mayweather isn't buying that notion:

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"I couldn't care less about what the weight is," Mayweather told HBO. "I'm in there to f*** you up.

"I know he ain't going to do damage to me. He is a very quiet guy, but he's in there to f*** me up too. I got to go in there and do damage. I was built for this — I like the smell of the gloves."

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(You need to take anything Mayweather says with a grain of salt, but I have trouble not including his quotes)

Mayweather—uh, if you read in between the lines—has a point.

De La Hoya, although passed his prime at the time he fought Mayweather, had the necessary skills to bother Floyd.

The Golden Boy had a long reach and he was able to keep Mayweather off balance with an array of jabs. Cotto, instead, relies more on strength because his reach isn't as long. He won't be able to use De La Hoya's strategy effectively, and therefore the weight class argument really has no legs.

Cotto's strategy, instead, will be pressing the issue, as ESPN's Diego Morilla puts it. 

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"Keeping the heat on Mayweather is a dangerous proposition because it involves the investment of large amounts of sweat, likely giving some blood, and usually leads to tears. But for the opponents in some of Mayweather's most complicated fights (Jose Luis Castillo and Oscar De La Hoya, for instance), the tactic has occasionally paid off. Cotto needs to unleash a steady stream of leather bound for Mayweather's head and body through the entire fight. He will miss more than half of his punches, but keeping Mayweather busy on the defense will give Cotto a solid foundation to build momentum and gain some control of the fight."

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But therein lies the problem for Cotto.

If he wants to win, he has to come after Mayweather with a steady barrage of big punches. However, that means Mayweather will have to rely on his defense.

And in case you were wondering, Money's defense is sort of good. Like, "arguably best ever" good. If Cotto comes after him with some type of reckless abandon, Mayweather is going to defend and counterpunch him to death.

Well, maybe not to death, but it sure will seem like it. 

For the record, I'm on board with Cotto being aggressive against Mayweather. He can't afford to sit back. Going after Mayweather is his only chance. It's just unfortunate, at least for "Junito", that that strategy is going to be his undoing. 

After the fight, Mayweather will again be able to claim, 43 have tried and 43 have failed. 

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