Mayweather vs. Cotto Highlights: Miguel Deserved Money's Respect for Tough Fight

Miguel Cotto is a very good fighter, and he proved that by going 12 rounds with arguably the best boxer of our time in Floyd "Money" Mayweather.

Cotto put up a great fight and stretched Mayweather to his limit and you could tell that "Pretty Boy" Floyd was extremely impressed with the way Cotto handled himself between the ropes.

When you're impressing Floyd Mayweather, you know you must be doing something right, especially if you're the guy punching him in the face and trying to ruin his spotless record—which is now at 43-0, mind you.

The telling moment of the bout came in the sixth round where Cotto caught Mayweather with a jab to the nose that made him bleed. The two fighters then shared this moment, as described by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com:

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Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs), who made $8 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view profits, got Mayweather's respect in the sixth round when he landed a pinpoint jab to his nose, drawing blood. After the punch, Mayweather nodded his head to Cotto out of respect.

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All-in-all, it was that moment that really describes how good this bout was. There is no doubting that Mayweather still has what it takes to be the best of the best and he proved that by winning the decision in 12 rounds at 35 years old.

This isn't to take anything away from Cotto though, as he gave Mayweather arguably the fight of his career. He came at him, he didn't back down and he pushed him the whole 12.

Here's what Mayweather had to say about Cotto after the bout, via Rafael's article:

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"You're a helluva champion," Mayweather said to Cotto in the ring after the fight. "You're the toughest guy I ever fought."

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This is still Floyd Mayweather we're talking about right? The very same fighter that is known for his brashness and his trash talk?

Somehow, Cotto was able to give him a good enough fight to earn his respect in the ring and even though he didn't get the win, I have to believe that the sign of respect and the comments after the fight will be a huge boost to Cotto.

He's a great fighter and he deserved every bit of respect that he got.