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LAS VEGAS -- Five things we learned from Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto card at the MGM Grand:
1. There's good, there's very good, and there's great
With every fight, Mayweather is moving up the all-time list. For
years, one knock on his record was that, as good as he frequently
looked, we didn't know how he would react when he was rocked or when he
was in a real dogfight. We know now. When Shane Mosley hurt him badly in
the second round of their fight two years ago, Mayweather turned it
around and dominated every minute of every subsequent round. When Cotto
dragged him into the trenches Saturday night, Mayweather engaged him,
firing off the ropes; and when it looked like the effectiveness of that
technique was waning after Cotto's blistering eighth round, Floyd
changed strategies completely and sailed away with the final third of
the bout.
There are plenty of reasons that those fans who don't like Mayweather
will find to support their position. But his skills and ability
shouldn't be among them. We are watching a genuinely great boxer in his
pomp. Whatever our feelings of him as a person, we should allow
ourselves to enjoy and marvel at his talent.
2. Seriously, enough's enough. It's time
For all the talk of "that" fight, for all the yapping from both
sides, the prospect of Floyd Mayweather fighting Manny Pacquiao has, in
the buildup to Saturday's contest, rarely if ever seemed more remote.
But now, more than ever, it has to happen. Cotto was the best of the
rest and he has been summarily dispatched. Outside of, say, Sergio
Martinez or perhaps, in the case of Pacquiao, a fourth meeting with Juan
Manuel Marquez, there's nobody left. Assuming Pacquiao makes it past Timothy Bradley Jr. on June 9,
Mayweather-Pacquiao has to be next. Even as he poured cold water on the
prospect of the fight ever happening, Mayweather admitted that "there's
really nobody else out there for me."
3. Miguel Cotto was sold short
Even among those who gave Cotto credit for his skill and experience,
who offered the caveat that against almost any other likely opponent, he
would be favored, the Puerto Rican star was given next to no chance.
One person who didn't sell him short, at least publicly, was Mayweather,
and as he stood at the postfight news conference with his face
uncharacteristically marked up, it was clear why. Cotto fought with
enough intelligence and persistence that, through eight rounds, the
outcome of a Mayweather fight was genuinely in doubt. He fought an
almost perfect game plan; it's just that on this night, against this
man, it wasn't enough.
4. Canelo Alvarez is a work in progress
There was much to be impressed with in Alvarez's victory over Mosley:
He was unruffled, he was steady, he didn't panic when an accidental
head-butt opened up a cut over his left eye. He planted his feet and
threw compact punches with plenty of torque that thudded off Mosley's
head with real impact. At the same time, there are still some areas for
improvement, as is to be expected from such a young fighter. Alvarez
could stand to be more active, to throw more punches, to start earlier.
When he threw combinations, they were beautifully effective; he just
didn't throw them enough. A case could be made that, after almost
folding Mosley in half with body shots in the ninth, Alvarez should have
taken it up a notch and tried to finish him. But for all the doubts and
incomplete grades, this fight also highlighted the talent that is
there, and the reception from the crowd underlined the stardom that
assuredly awaits Alvarez as long as the wins keep coming.
5. The ride is over for Shane Mosley
Whatever doubts had been raised about Mosley's commitment to battle
after the disappointing performances against Pacquiao and Mayweather,
the 40-year-old erased them with his determined effort to stand and
trade with the younger, stronger Alvarez. But while he was not afraid to
pull the trigger, Mosley's punches lacked the speed and snap that were
his trademark when he was at his peak. He looked at times almost as if
he were punching through treacle. It is often said that the last thing a
fighter loses is his punch, but Mosley had nothing in his arsenal with
which to deter his younger foe. As Mosley admitted, when the young kids
start beating you, maybe it's time to turn to promoting. Mosley has had a
terrific career. It's time for that career to end on the relative high
note of making a defiant last stand.
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