The Intertwining Lives of Mayweather, Pacquiao, and Cotto

Regardless of what anyone says, the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto clash is about more than just the two fighters inside of the ring. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s impact on the bout has been well documented, as people abound are buzzing about the possibility of the Grand Rapids native squaring off with the evening’s eventual winner.

Following his September 19th schooling of Juan Manuel Marquez, Mayweather has found a way to remain in the headlines at all costs, even at Pacquiao’s expense. Most recently the two men traded verbal barbs with one another, with the Filipino claiming Floyd had no interest in fighting him, while Mayweather went another route altogether in stating that the Philippines produced the best enhancement drugs, an obvious knock on Pacquiao.

While the battle of the tongue has served for interesting banter, before a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao clash can become a reality there is work that needs to be done. Pacquiao’s November 14th assignment against Cotto is certainly no walk in the park and the outcome of the bout will most likely affect how Mayweather’s career plays itself out from this point forward. One man who has had much time to analyze the bout and its surrounding characters is Mayweather’s uncle Jeff, one of the busiest trainers in the Las Vegas area. When taking a look at Cotto’s current state, Jeff is somewhat skeptical of how much the Puerto Rican can bring to the table.

“Basically it’s a situation where Cotto has been in a lot of tough fights.” Mayweather points out. “He’s been in some wars. He’s been busted up in recent fights so I’m not sure how his skin is going to hold up for this fight. Don’t get me wrong. It’s unfortunate what happened in the Margarito fight. Maybe just getting beat lessened him as a fighter. The same velocity and power that he had prior to his fight with Margarito just isn’t there. It’s sad that he was cheated out of it instead of rightfully being beaten.”

Using the word cheat is a bold accusation but one that Mayweather doesn’t shy away from. While Margarito was caught with elements of plaster of paris in his gloves before his bout with Shane Mosley earlier this year, there was no such proof that he had ‘loaded gloves’ for the Cotto fight. Despite not having any real evidence to go off of, Mayweather still believes that something was up when Margarito was in the ring with Cotto.

“Its one of those things in boxing that you get away with what you are doing wrong until you get caught,” Mayweather says bluntly. “I think that the Margarito situation is the same. It seems like to me that Cotto was having his way with this guy and all of sudden the tables just turned, almost like it was scripted like Pro Wrestling. Just seemed so bizarre to me and I feel that Cotto was most likely cheated out of a rightful victory.”

It may never been known whether Margarito cheated against Cotto but the outcome will never be in doubt, as Cotto took a tremendous amount of punishment on his way towards an 11th round TKO loss. While that defeat has seemed to take something out of the Caguas native Mayweather still believes that Cotto has a lot of fight left in him.

“Once a fighter suffers a loss like that they are never the same,” Mayweather points out. “That was the case with Ricky Hatton, Jermain Taylor, Jeff Lacy, and the list goes on and on. Some guys just are never the same. I feel that Cotto isn’t the same but I don’t think he’s a finished fighter. He’s far from finished.”

The attention was then turned to Manny Pacquiao and the relevance of his recent wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton. In both contests Pacquiao battered bigger man in shocking fashion, raising his status in the game to an all-time high. While those victories cemented Pacquiao’s standing as the sport’s hottest commodity, Mayweather isn’t as quick to jump on the wagon.

“Manny Pacquiao has had two big wins recently but they were guys who Floyd already beat,” Mayweather states, paying some respect to his nephew, who had beaten both men prior. “After Mayweather beat Hatton he wasn’t the same. He looked horrible after that fight. Ricky Hatton was never a great fighter anyway. I also think he went in there with the wrong mindset against Pacquiao. Just because he was the bigger man he felt that he could just bum rush Manny. That was the wrong strategy and the fight was over before it got started.”

Hatton’s strategy was indeed wrong but you can’t deny how electric Pacquiao’s performance was. Against De la Hoya Pacquiao was impressive in a different manner, as he picked apart the multi-division titlist like a surgeon. While the performance was beyond noteworthy, Mayweather again can’t fully buy into the hype.

“De La Hoya came into that fight at 145 pounds, a weight that he hadn’t made in twelve years,” Jeff notes. “He fought a drained fighter. When Floyd fought De La Hoya he fought him at his weight, 154 pounds. That’s what some people don’t realize.”

When weight comes into play it should be mentioned that Mayweather Jr. himself had weight issues in his last contest, as he came in two pounds over the contracted catch-weight limit of 144 pounds against Marquez. Instead of trying to make the weight, Floyd made a calculated move, giving up $600,000 to the side of Marquez instead of trying to burn off the excess pounds. While you will come across very few people willing to part with more than half a million dollars, Jeff feels his nephew made the right move.

“I think he did the right thing,” Jeff says with firm belief. “Of course that is a lot of money to give away but at the end of the day he was trying to maintain his legacy and he did what was right. He might not have been able to perform at a high level if he had to lose the weight. I think he did what was right and necessary.”

If Mayweather is to continue doing what’s right and necessary in the sport he will hopefully square off with the winner of Pacquiao-Cotto, as either matchup would be one the fans are open to. While nobody truly knows what ‘Money’ Mayweather is up to on a day to day basis, Jeff certainly feels that he nephew will be watching the contest with a close eye on November 14th.

“I think that he is basically going to be watching and waiting for either one of them to win,” Jeff says stating the obvious. “Basically he is going to mentally prepare himself for whoever wins. He knows that if Pacquiao wins the fight would be huge, much bigger than if Cotto were to win.”

Huge seems like a fitting word when describing the recent impact Pacquiao has had on the sport. Still, while a win over Cotto would only enhance his career it would be hard to imagine him getting any more love or adoration than he already does in his native Philippines. Every once in while in the sport a fighter captures the attention of the masses through his accomplishments and Pacquiao is currently on such a run. When asked his thoughts on the undying loyalty that Pacquiao has received, Mayweather seems to just shrug his shoulders.

“It’s ridiculous but at the same time it’s not because you’re talking about a guy from a third world county,” Mayweather says as he states the facts. “His people really love him plus you have to factor in that he’s already a marketable guy. I’m honestly not surprised at all of the attention he gets. Sometimes it almost seems like Manny Pacquiao against the world.”

On November 14th the Filipino superstar won’t have to worry about facing the world but he will be locking horns with a tremendous fighter in Miguel Cotto. For all the talk surrounding the fight and its surrounding drama, everything will hopefully come to a climax when the two get down to business. While the fight has many factors and intangibles to weigh in on, Mayweather is simply going off of his gut instinct when stating that an upset may be brewing.

“To be honest it’s a very tough fight to pick. I think that if Cotto makes the weight without any trouble I believe he gives himself a great chance of actually winning the fight. I think that of course Cotto has the advantage in size and power but Pacquiao has the big advantage in speed. Lately Cotto’s defense has become suspect. Cotto is also very economical and doesn’t let his hands go a lot and he may need to change that up against Pacquiao. For some reason lately I’ve been leaning towards Cotto. I still think he’s a very live fighter."

Source: examiner.com