MAYWEATHER WINS A WAR WITH COTTO; JUDGES SCORECARDS FAIL TO REFLECT THE CLOSENESS OF THE FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 06 May 2012
Floyd Mayweather Jr kept his unbeaten record intact by scoring a unanimous twelve round decision to win the WBA super welterweight title from a brave Miguel Cotto in a fight where the judges scorecards failed to reflect the closeness of the bout before a sell-out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Sunday, Manila Time.
In a fight telecast in the Philippines by Solar Sports over ABC 5, judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Dave Moretti both had Mayweather winning by a wide 117-111 margin while Robert Hoyle had an even wider spread for Mayweather, 118-110.
Several others including Top Rank promoter Bob Arum felt it was much closer while respected Los Angeles Times boxing writer Lance Pugmire had Cotto winning on his unofficial scorecard 115-113. Pugmire agreed with Arum that after nine rounds the Puerto Rican was ahead 86-85 although Arum said Cotto faded in the so-called championship rounds and Mayweather deserved to win.
At the end of the fight Mayweather went to Cotto and told him ?You?re a hell of a champion. You?re the toughest guy I ever fought.?
Significantly, on November 14, 2009 Cotto was dropped twice by pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao who won the WBC light middleweight title by a 12th round TKO in a fight in which he dominated Cotto forcing referee Kenny Bayless to wave it off 55 seconds into the round. Pacquiao had earlier dropped Cotto in round 3 with a right hook and round 4 with a left uppercut and when Cotto took a bad beating in round 9, his wife left the arena because she couldn?t stand it.
Mayweather?s hand-speed and almost impenetrable defense plus his ability to counter with flurries while coming off the ropes, using a solid overhand right and a cracking left uppercut often stopped the game Cotto in his tracks but he refused to back off and kept coming forward relentlessly, hoping to land one big punch to end it all.
Cotto?s best chance came in round eight when he ripped into Mayweaher with a series of telling body shots and punches to the head that appeared to stun Mayweather and excite the fans but Mayweather weathered the storm and skillfully fought his way out of trouble.
In a post-fight interview with Larry Merchant with whom he had a testy exchange after his fight against Victor Ortiz, Mayweather was gracious to a fault, apologizing earlier to the veteran boxing commentator, telling him "I knew I was going to have to come into the ring and fight him and execute the game plan. Miguel Cotto is a future Hall of Famer. He came to fight and he made me work hard. But I dug down deep and fought him back."
Mayweather enjoyed a record-breaking payday with a guaranteed $32 million purse and much more to come once the pay-per-view numbers are in, while Cotto earned $8 million for night of decidedly hard work and more than a display of gallantry where he often cut off the ring and maneuver Mayweather against the ropes where he got to work with some vicious combinations.
Cotto was unhappy with the decision. Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review Journal quoted Cotto who said ?The judges said I lost the fight and I can't do anything about that. I have to take my defeat. I trained my best and did my best, and I brought my best in the fight. "I am happy with my fight and performance, and so is my family. I can't ask for anything else."
Mayweather?s next stop will be the Clark County Detention Center on June 1 where he is scheduled to begin serving a three-month sentence after pleading guilty to a domestic battery charge. Mayweather looked at the prospect calmly, noting that "In life, you go through ups and downs. Things happen. you just try to learn from them and then you move on."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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