In all honesty, when I first heard of this bout I really wasn't expecting much. Call me crazy if you like, but I thought for sure Floyd "Money" Mayweather was going to coast to an easy victory, by focusing on defense; hit and evasion tactics like he's known for. And seriously, when looking at his opponent Miguel Cotto who could blame him? Cotto boasted a 37 - 2 record with 30 knockouts, so it doesn't take a genius to know that he hits hard even if you didn't see him fight before. So I thought for sure we were going to see a lot of running, and thankfully we didn't. Now although the Mayweather vs. Cotto was really good, people seem to be ignoring that undercard and I really don't know why. Maybe they just walked out and waited for the Main Event. I can believe that, because the house I was watching this in with maybe like 15 heads there, it was only 6 of us who saw the three fights. There was supposedly a fourth one, between up and coming Jesse Vargas against Steve Forbes, but I don't remember seeing it.
DeAndre Latimore (23 - 3 - 17 KOs) vs. Carlos Quintana (28 - 3 - 23 KOs) 10 Rounds Junior Middleweight
Going off of memory (which I'll be going off of the whole way), this one started out pretty good quickly. I was familiar with both these guys and Latimore was favorite to win. He was very aggressive in this fight, but his chin constantly fell victim to Quintana's left. Around the third round or so I was convinced this fight wasn't going the distance and it was just a matter of time. Rounds 4 and 5 saw Quintana laying it into him even deeper, and come the 6th, Quintana beat Latimore out of a corner, and landed two consecutive shots to the jaw that saw Latimore going down and not making the count. For the most part, I thought this was one-sided.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (39-0-1, 27 KOs) vs. "Sugar" Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) – 12 Rounds, Junior Middleweights
Now talk about a one-sided fight, Mosley who needs no introduction found himself against the 21 year old orthodox Alvarez who has some dangerous hands. In the first three rounds, Mosley was just getting smashed and I still believe this fight would have been a KO by the 5th at the latest, had Mosley not resorted to what I believe to be a blatant headbutt, that gave Alvarez a bad cut. The 21 year old was not the same man, as I can tell he was pretty hesitant on going in for the kill. The fight would eventually end by unanimous decision with the younger, faster, and stronger Alvarez getting the win. Mosley has seen better days, and I personally think the 40 year old should hang it up. He couldn't hang with this kid.
Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) vs. Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) for the Super Welterweight Championship
I read Mayweather's interview some time this morning, and what he said basically prompted me to write this review. He said something along the lines, that he took it to Cotto so he could give the fans their money's worth, because he could have just played defense. Now during the weigh-in, Mayweather was his cocky and arrogant self. And when the bell rang he was pretty much nailing Cotto at will. The slow-mo showed Mayweather dodging and blocking and turning what appeared to be hits into harmless glancing blows, and retaliating with stiff rights to Cotto's face. The early rounds featured a lot of that, and I know Cotto was getting his ass beat, because each and every last one of us Puerto Ricans watching the fight were quiet. You could have heard a pin drop in that apartment. We thought for sure Mayweather had him early, and so did he, because that was when he made his mistake, and he went toe to toe with Cotto and that's what saw his nose leaking in the 5th round.
Even though I was going for Cotto, I did not think he won that 5th round, but hey, I'm not a professional in this. Anyway, despite some good moments where Cotto would win a couple of rounds, the match would go the distance and Mayweather would pull off the W. Personally, I think it was Mayweather's cockiness that saw him take that hard blow. I know he had to be worried, but giving credit where it's due; he showed why he was champion and there was just no question he came out on top. That fight was nowhere near as close as Bob Arum was trying to sell it yesterday.
It was a good event overall. But Mayweather talking about he may retire because there's no more competition out there just grates on my nerves. He should just show he's a true champion and give the fans the fight they really want to see. And I'm sure everybody knows what I'm talking about.
