At 35-years-old Floyd Mayweather Jr (43-0, 26Ko’s) has still got it. Taken to the limit by fellow future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30Ko’s), Mayweather pounded out a unanimous decision victory winning the WBA light middleweight title. In doing so, he earned the right to call himself an eight-time world champion, and kept his undefeated record intact.
Scores of the bout were 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110.
It was a competitive affair in the early going with Mayweather using his ring-savvy to take the advantage in most rounds. Not long into the bout Mayweather’s nose was bloodied, something seldom seen by boxing fans in his illustrious career. One can assume the damage was done by effective work with the jab that Cotto, 31, exhibited throughout the night.
The pro-Cotto crowd was given lots to cheer about throughout the bout as their man also gave fans something they rarely see, a competitive Floyd Mayweather bout.
While Mayweather was putting the early rounds in the bank, each round Cotto was seemingly getting closer and closer to boxing’s cash cow. Mayweather fought much of the fight sitting against the ropes counter punching, ala Muhammad Ali’s famous “rope-a-dope.”
In round eight Cotto went on the full offensive leaning his weight on Mayweather as he proceeded to pound away with vicious body hooks and following up to the head. For the first time in recent years, Mayweather appeared uncomfortable in the ring.
Cotto would continue to fight a confident fight, but as the rounds wore on his punches started losing their steam and Mayweather continued to score with fast combinations and the use of his famous sharp right hand leads.
Mayweather had a very strong final round as he continued to put his punches together and rocked Cotto late in the round to finish a terrific fight on a good note.
Next up for Mayweather is a three month prison sentence starting this June.
For Cotto, it was the first decision loss of his career. While he did not get the win, he fought like the champion he is, and gave the fans a terrific fight.
On the undercard WBC 154 pound belt holder and possible future boxing superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1, 29Ko’s) pounded out a unanimous decision victory over a 40-year-old “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-8-1, 39Ko’s). Alvarez, 21, used his strength advantage and youth to outgun the older challenger hitting him cleanly with big power punches throughout the bout.
The scorecards saw “Canelo” winning by scores of 119-109, 119-109, 118-110
For Alvarez this bout looked to be another step in the progression of a promising career, but a lot of work still needs to be done before the 21-year-old star is ready for a prime top dog.
For Mosley, at 40, he has not won a fight since 2009 and one has to think it nearing time to call it a day on a great career that saw him win world titles in three different weight classes.
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