Mayweather vs Cotto: Biggest Takeaways from Money's Victory over Junito

Floyd Mayweather scored a unanimous decision victory over Miguel Cotto on Saturday night to move his career record to 43-0. It wasn't as dominating of a performance as most people expected, but Mayweather never appeared in serious danger.

Let's take a look at the biggest takeaways for both boxers. It was an exciting bout that should provide both guys with a nice boost moving forward.

Miguel Cotto

Cotto proved he was able to hold his own against elite competition. Not many people even gave him a fighter's chance heading into the bout, but at no point did he look severely over-matched. He defended himself well, and was able to go the distance.

Coming off a win over Antonio Margarito, Saturday's fight was really a turning point. Cotto's career was either going to continue to rise or he was going to take a big hit. Even though he came out on the losing end, I would say he still took a step in the right direction.

Being able to survive 12 rounds against one of the two best boxers in the world was an impressive feat, especially when you consider a vast majority of his fights end in knockouts. It takes incredible endurance to take consistent shots from Mayweather without going down.

The performance should set Cotto up for another high-profile match his next time out. Ultimately, that was the secondary goal if he couldn't pull out the win, and he accomplished it.

Floyd Mayweather

Mayweather actually had a lot of pressure on his shoulders heading into the fight because the expectations were so high. A loss would have been a major shock and would have given Manny Pacquiao's camp more ammo.

Luckily, Mayweather has faced his fair share of pressure throughout his storied career and has always handled it well. Saturday night was no different as he took control of the fight early and was able to cruise to victory.

While Cotto gave him a tougher test than he probably expected, "Money" didn't show any signs of nerves as he slowly asserted his dominance. It was the type of all-around performance that fans have come to expect from Mayweather.

The door remains open for a fight with Pacquiao if the two sides can finally come to an agreement, but that seems like a long shot. So another second-tier fight appears likely.