Mayweather vs. Cotto: Challenger No Match for Money May's Diverse Skill Set

Saturday, May 5, 2012 will be the biggest day of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather’s fighting career to this point, as he prepares to prove the doubters and father time wrong against Miguel Cotto.

Cotto has fast hands and an aggressive style, very similar to that of Mayweather’s previous foe Victor Ortiz. As good as Cotto has been throughout his career at landing shots, he has never faced a defensive fighter as talented as Mayweather.

The key to any Mayweather win is effective counter-punching, which comes from the stellar defensive game that Money plays. Cotto will try to break him down, but will get punished staying in too close for too long.

Cotto told Boxing Scene about Mayweather’s future fights and how he has tried to ready himself for Money’s unique style:

"

I didn't care about hearing one more thing about that.  If people want to see that (Mayweather-Pacquiao) fight, they have to wait until I beat Mayweather. I'm a quiet guy, and I prefer to talk in the ring. I had a tremendous camp in Orlando. All the work that we put in will bring me the victory Saturday night. No matter what, I am going to use what I have to fight Floyd. I'm prepared for his style. I am going to be the first guy to beat Mayweather.

"

While Cotto can talk about style all he wants, Mayweather’s style is whatever it has to be to win a fight. Training for one style is the reason every fighter to date has walked away from his fight with Money with a loss.

Everything Mayweather does starts from his counter punches. This is a man that will let his opponents take open shots at him, dodge them and return with a combination before his opponent can even cover up.

With power in both hands and excellent stamina, Mayweather can adapt to any style in the book and thrive upon the mistakes made by his opponent. If Cotto wants to beat Money, he will have to throw a combination of everything at the undefeated star.

Mayweather isn’t undefeated because of luck. Love him or hate him, he is arguably one of the greatest boxers of all time. Cotto will find that out the hard way.

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