Mayweather vs Cotto: 3 Things We Learned About Junito in Loss to Mayweather

Even though Floyd Mayweather knocked off Miguel Cotto via unanimous decision on Saturday, we still learned a lot about Junito.

On the scorecard it may have looked like Money breezed through the fight, but that was far from the truth.

In fact, Dan Rafael of ESPN reports Mayweather called Cotto "the toughest guy I ever fought."

So despite the loss, Cotto obviously impressed a lot of important people and gave the boxing world a few things to come away from this fight with.

Lets take a look at what exactly we learned from his loss. 

Junito Can Put on a Show

Most casual fans are disappointed in any fight that isn't Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, but this was just as good as that matchup could have hoped to deliver. 

Mayweather is better at defense than anyone else in the world, but that didn't stop Cotto from coming at him with a fearlessness no one has ever displayed.

Money batted down a lot of Cotto's punches, but Junito still landed a ton, including a pinpoint jab that gave Mayweather a nasty nose bleed. Cotto had Mayweather on the ropes several times, and even though he didn't come away with the victory, he certainly made fans believe a Mayweather defeat was actually possible.

Cotto's relentless, attacking style is something that will continue to earn him a lot of fans.

He's fun to watch.

He'll Have Lots of Potential Fights Lined Up

Because of his ability to put on a show, everyone and their mother is now going to want to schedule a fight with the budding star. Junito continues to grow more and more popular, and he'll likely be able to fight whoever he wants.

A rematch with Mayweather is certainly an intriguing possibility, and would pull in suitcases full of money, but a jump to middleweight is also an enthralling idea.

Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez might not draw the same type of publicity, but boy would it a dangerously awesome fight.

That's right—so awesome it's dangerous.

Miguel Cotto is Very Good

Don't pay attention the scorecard, especially the judge who scored the fight 118-110, because that was laughable. 

Through eight rounds, this fight was still up in the air.

It was that close.

Cotto came in with the perfect game plan and executed it exactly how he wanted. He's the first boxer in a while to even scuff up Money's pretty face, let alone come close to beating him.

In a year or two, people will look back on this fight and see an "L," but that's not accurate—Cotto deserves more credit. On Saturday, he was the second-best boxer.

Not the worst. 

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