Mayweather vs. Cotto: Key Weapons for Each Fighter

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto both possess qualities they hope to take advantage of in their championship bout tonight. The fighters will clash at MGM Grand Garden for Cotto's Super Light Middleweight title and the WBC Diamond Championship.

As usual, the fighter that is able to highlight his skill most effectively will win.

Mayweather is the clear favorite in this fight, and he should be. But there is always a game plan to explore, and there is always a chance.

Those chances come down to trying to emphasize a fighter's best weapon against his opponent. Let's take a look at the key weapons both Mayweather and Cotto bring into tonight's fight:

Mayweather's Weapons

Pure Speed

It starts and ends with his most dominant trait. He has arguably carried this advantage over all 42 of his professional opponents. He will again have a huge edge in speed and quickness tonight. Floyd is 35 years old, but he has yet to show a significant decline in this area.

Even if he shows a slight drop-off here, he should still be noticeably faster than Cotto.

Ring IQ

Mayweather is a genius between the ropes. His critics may call him a numbskull outside of the ring, but they are blind or lying to themselves if they don't recognize his boxing brilliance.

No fighter in the sport today adjusts midfight as well as Mayweather. The only one close to him in this category is Bernard Hopkins.

We have seen Mayweather hit and even shaken early in fights. Zab Judah, DeMarcus Corley and Shane Mosley landed solid shots on Money in previous bouts. But we have always seen him make the adjustments to eliminate that threat.

That is no accident, or product of mistakes by his opponents. That is Floyd using a gift that few others have ever possessed.

Cotto's Weapons

Power

Cotto's only chance to defeat Mayweather is by KO. He has as much chance to win a decision in this fight as I have of becoming a model for a shampoo company (check the profile picture).

He definitely possesses the power to take most any fighter out in the 140- to 154-pound range. His challenge will be in finding the range and opportunity.

Floyd is a very good defensive fighter, with superior instincts. This will make that task very difficult for Cotto. But anyone can get caught; if that happens, Cotto must pounce and finish him.

There will be a very small window of opportunity for Cotto to win this fight. The later it goes, the more his chances fade away—just like my hairline.

Heart

Cotto has the heart of a champion. He has displayed it countless times. He will need this quality tonight—especially in the later rounds.

While Mayweather isn't a huge puncher (26 KOs in 42 fights), he is an accurate puncher and Cotto's defense has always been suspect.

This should equate to Cotto taking a good amount of punishment in this fight. If he presses on, he will keep his glimmer of hope alive for a late-round stoppage.

Conclusion

In this fight, Floyd's advantages supersede Cotto's in such a way that it's hard to imagine Cotto getting an opportunity to reap the benefits of his power and heart.

If you can't outsmart Mayweather or get inside his speed advantage, the power will never come into play. Unfortunately for Cotto, I think that will be the story of the fight.

Check out my round-by-round prediction for tonight's fight here.

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