Mayweather vs. Cotto: Why Mayweather Has Nothing to Gain from Overhyped Fight

Aside from increasing the amount of money in his already well-stocked bank account, Floyd Mayweather has nothing to gain in his fight against Miguel Cotto on Saturday night.

Mayweather's career record stands at 42-0 and it's been a long time since he was seriously challenged in a fight. Everybody knows he can beat fighters like Cotto, who doesn't bring enough versatility to the table to threaten the five-division champion if he's at his best.

When push comes to shove, the only fight that would help Mayweather improve his legacy would be a potential battle with Manny Pacquiao. At least that fight would provide some suspense instead of "Money May" being a huge favorite all the time.

Both sides have continued to dance around the super fight for various reasons, even though the purse would be gigantic. It's a fight that could have a lasting impact on the sport if the camps would ever get serious and finalize an agreement.

These smaller bouts aren't doing anything for Mayweather and are hurting the sport as a whole since fans aren't going to spend their hard-earned money on a lopsided main event.

If Mayweather dominates Cotto and remains undefeated, it doesn't change anything. He's still viewed as one of the best fighters on the planet and Cotto continues to look like a solid, yet unspectacular fighter that can't handle elite competition.

Everybody knows that heading into the fight, so there's really no reason to buy into the hype. That would simply be a snooze fest.

If you turn the tables and Cotto pulls off the upset—which is unlikely—Mayweather takes a gigantic hit. He suffers his first career loss and people will start questioning his decision to not reach an agreement with Pacquiao. It would also give the "Pac-Man" camp more reason to dodge talks since they can easily say Mayweather doesn't deserve the fight.

So, no matter what the result is on Saturday night, Mayweather doesn't come out as a winner. If he wins the fight, nothing changes for him and the fans lose. If he loses the fight, his stock drops considerably after being the main man for so long.

It's just another reason why Mayweather and Pacquiao need to figure out their differences and set up the bout everybody has been waiting for.