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WBA super welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, left, of Puerto Rico and Floyd Mayweather Jr. during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, May 5, 2012.
Sunday, May 6, 2012 | 2 a.m.
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. climbed the ropes and raised his hands victoriously Saturday night, certain that he had just claimed win No. 43 in his historic career.
The judges agreed, handing Mayweather a decisive unanimous victory against Miguel Cotto. A few rounds earlier, though, this moment was anything but a sure thing.
Mayweather got trapped against the ropes. He left himself open to some combinations. He bled.
And then Mayweather did what he always does. He won.
“When fights are on pay-per-view, you want to give the fans what they paid for, and that's excitement,” Mayweather said. “It comes with the territory when you fight a future Hall of Famer like Miguel Cotto. I had to fight hard, suck it up.”
The judges scored the victory 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 in favor of Mayweather, giving him the WBA super welterweight title. He moves to 43-0 while Cotto falls to 37-3.
Always confident, Mayweather earned that moment in the corner of the ring at MGM Grand Garden Arena. He also earned another, significantly different, moment that will come on June 1, when Mayweather begins a nearly three-month prison sentence for domestic abuse.
Many speculated that the impending incarceration would affect Mayweather in the ring. With that question answered, the focus moves to how it may affect him moving forward.
The time in prison rules out a fight in September. If he’s going to fight again this year, which Mayweather has said he wants to do, it would most likely be in December. And wouldn’t you know it, Manny Pacquiao should be looking for a fight around the same time, too.
Until the fight happens or both men are in retirement homes, it will always be a question before, during and especially after each man’s fights. When he was interviewed in the ring after the victory, Mayweather didn’t even need to hear the name Pacquaio; he brought it up himself.
“Let’s give the fans what they want to see. Let’s give them Mayweather-Pacquaio,” Mayweather said.
That sounds nice, but this is most likely a posturing move from the man who now owns belts in eight different classes.
Earlier this week, Mayweather did everything but say Pacquaio uses steroids, instead talking about the Filipino champion’s head size and notable moves through different weight classes. Mayweather cited those points as reasons he’d rather protect his health than risk it against someone he believes has cheated.
But in the ring Saturday night, Mayweather said his former promoter Bob Arum is the one holding all this up, not him. He took it a step further in the post-fight press conference.
“The truth is, Bob Arum is not going to let the fight happen,” Mayweather said.
Mayweather said he talked directly to Pacquaio and offered him $40 million. This is the same back-and-forth volley between the two camps, which each want to get the court of public opinion on their side. It will take only a manner of hours for Arum to counter with a question about the split for the fight, which their side demands be 50-50.
The talking points from the last two years, tweaked and repeated over and over.
While that’s still the same, Mayweather’s fight Saturday was different. He didn’t play much defense, instead trading blows with and trying to attack Cotto.
“It didn’t surprise me what Mayweather was trying to do in that ring,” said Oscar De La Hoya, who was promoting the fight. “… We’re going to see a Mayweather who wants to trade with fighters. He wants to be exciting.”
Said Mayweather: “It’s a recession. You guys paid your hard-earned dollars … so I said (expletive) it, I’m going to give you guys what you want to see.”
Cotto didn’t appear at the post-fight press conference because he was taken to a local hospital. Mayweather threw 687 punches, connecting on 26 percent overall, 17 percent of his jabs and 34 percent of his power punches. Cotto’s face looked swelled in the ring, but he did not appear to need immediate medical attention as he talked with Mayweather for awhile and then retreated with his family and trainers to his locker room.
In front of a crowd of 16,047 in person and millions more elsewhere, Cotto gave Mayweather as good a challenge as he’s seen in several years. Cotto put Mayweather in the corner and on the ropes often, hitting him then with a barrage of shots. It was Mayweather’s ability to finally avoid those boxed-in positions that allowed him to attack in the center of the ring and land the bulk of his punches.
“Cotto is a future Hall of Famer. He’s no pushover, and he came to fight,” Mayweather said. “He didn’t come just to survive. He came to fight. I dug down and fought him back.”
Mayweather has been adamant that he’s not worried about going to prison, even telling HBO Sports’ Larry Merchant in the ring that “it comes with the territory.”
If that idea offends you, you’re not alone. It certainly won’t be received well by those in the community who were already upset that Mayweather’s sentence was postponed for his fight. While the fight was a much-needed boost to the Las Vegas economy, many would say that shouldn’t factor into a judge’s decision.
That’s the past, though. The sentence is ahead of him, days that Mayweather views as an obstacle he must overcome. Will it change him in any significant way? And what will it mean for his future fights?
Mayweather said that without a Pacquaio fight, “there’s really not anybody out there for me to fight.” The possible challengers once he’s released will all be young, unproven contenders that aren’t on Mayweather’s level.
They won’t be able to make him earn his moment in the corner of the ring, arms raised high, a divisive champion once more.
Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or taylor.bern@lasvegassun.com. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
Prison. It's a Thug's Life.
He's going to jail not prison actually. County jail. Prison is for felony convictions.
I wonder if Mayweather really like to fight Pacquaio? He's been blaming Pacquiao, Arum, olympic drug testing, purse distribution, etc.
Mayweather is undefeated but Pacquiao is the only boxer who won in eight weight category, meaning he has fought the best and proven himself to be better than Mayweather. No fighter in history has ever done that.
Why would Mayweather make these demands and when Pacquiao agrees, he makes another demand?
The only viable reason is that he is scared of Pacquiao and does not want to lose his so called "undefeated" status. If the fight never happens, the question will always loom in Mayweather. He was undefeated because he did not fight and was afraid to fight Pacquiao.
If Mayweather really, really wants to fight Pacquaio, he should stop making demands and sign the contract, without any excuses.
Both are great fighters, and once and for all, may the best fighter win. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!
If you saw the amount of people in town for the fight, it was amazing!!!! People all over the place for days spending big money. . I could only imagine a Mayweather VS Pacquaio fight. Mayweather brings in millions and millions of dollars for our economy, people in Las Vegas should thank him. Also, like Tuasdad said, he's not going to prison, he's going to jail. The sun should correct that word. Thank you Mayweather for another great weekend in Las Vegas!!!
Anthony, while i'm very grateful for the economic boost our town receives from any event, this fight included, i'm going to stop short thanking Mayweather. He does not fight for the good of the people. While his fight brought money into our local economy that wasn't his goal. His goal was the $32 million check he cashed Friday. Plus whatever ppv cut.
I'm going to stop short of thanking Mayweather. The fact that this fight was even allowed to happen is shame to this city and the criminal justice system. Just because the city is broke and needs the money doesn't mean we should lower or standards. The fact that they allowed him to postpone serving his 6 months for a fight that had not even been scheduled, for a guy doesn't need the money and could do the same after serving the 6 months is a sad thing.
Unfortunately for us Pacquiao vs. Mayweather (if it ever happens) would never happen in Vegas. It'd go to Dallas, TX. The promoters would make a lot more money since that fight would sell 5 times the tickets they could in Vegas (by sheer number of seats available). I wish it would happen here but it's money and it'll happen in Dallas if it ever happens at all.
How exactly did we "lower our standards" for allowing the fight to take place and then the jail sentence. Who cares? The loss of his freedom for the period ordered by the court is the penalty... some of you wanted the added pound of flesh from him in loss of income. I just don't get it... you're just jealous.
Courts work around work-schedules for those employed all the time when good cause can be shown; to have done otherwise in this case would've been bad public policy. We could never build enough prisons or have long enough sentences to satisfy some of you people.
@Bob, the same kind of example that celebrity actors/actresses are portraying. Why are Paris, Lindsay, Charlie Sheen, etc allowed to roam around like they've done nothing but good for the society.
Is Floyd making headlines outside of boxing? Yes. If you were offered $500k to say some things about other individuals to start drama, would you? probably. It's the same for Lindsay, Brittney, Paris. One gets caught with drugs, shockingly enough not long after, the other two are involved in something to make headlines. It's what keeps people talking about that individual, making them more and more famous.
I'm not saying if he did what he did (domestic assault) was right, but sadly, if it was to make some headlines and get some money, then he does need to find a new "agent."
Smartone you're clearly not in touch with how the courts work. Take it from somebody who is often in our municipal courts, we lowered our standards for Mr. Mayweather. The only reason they allowed the delay in serving his sentence is because of the financial impact it would have on the city. The court sometimes does work around you with certain criminal charges. They'd much rather let you serve time on weekends so you don't lose you day job. Pretty much every second offense DUI gets something something like that for their suspended sentence from their first DUI, usually 28 days.
If Mayweather was a normal working man who could show that not being able to fight on May 5th would not only cause him to lose money but actual put him in dire straights THEN it would be in line with what the courts normally do in certain cases. The fact that MR. Mayweather is just fine burning 100 bills and blowing his millions on blings is indication enough that putting off this fight would have only been a slight inconvenience.
The delay in serving his sentence is not comporable to general court practices due to the fact that he has substantial wealth and could easily have a fight only a few months after his sentence that made the same money.
I'm not the guy who complains about celebs getting off easy. It's quite the oppposite most of time. When people complained about Paris Hilton or Lohan getting special treatment, that's because they've never been in court. They didn't get special treatment. Everybody and their mother gets a slap on the wrist for first offense possesions and dui's that's the norm. What happened with Mayweather is not the norm. Because the city needs money doesn't mean we should send the message that if you're an entertainer we will bend our rules. If the economy was not where it was this would not have happened. Guaranteed.