Even if Mayweather fought and beat Cotto

[Taeth]

I'm not saying Cotto isnt' a great fighter...

I think he beats
every 147 pounder out there right now, but I don't think he would ever beat Mayweather. Cotto is a great fighter, but his style isn't suited to fighting a guy who moves and has the ability of Mayweather, Cotto is lucky Malignaggi didn't move more, and that Mosley didn't either because when they did Cotto got a lot less done, and Mayweather is vastly superior fighter to either of them when moving backwards, and Judah for that matter. None of them use the amount of movement Mayweather does, none of them have his defensive skills, or ability to change directions quicky(except Judah, but he hardly ever throws his left hand, and he doesn't keep moving).

Mayweather hasn't foughten the top p4p guys he could have, but in terms of who would give him a tough fight I think Oscar and Hatton presented very real problems for MAyweather, Hatton it was his inside fighting, footspeed, constant pressure and I think the fight would have been a little toughter wihtout Cortez, and Oscar presented hand speed, experience, size, power, great chin.

Cotto is an interesting matchup for Mayweather, but in the end Mayweather would stay outside Cotto's distance, block nearly everything Cotto threw and gradually taken over the fight landing stiff right hands and left hooks. I think it would be a UD wiht Mayweahter winning 116-112 ish.

[boozeboxer]

Well it is one thing saying Mayweather would beat Cotto, it is quite another him actually doing it.

[zhubin]

I'm not saying Cotto isnt' a great fighter...

I think he beats
every 147 pounder out there right now, but I don't think he would ever beat Mayweather. Cotto is a great fighter, but his style isn't suited to fighting a guy who moves and has the ability of Mayweather, Cotto is lucky Malignaggi didn't move more, and that Mosley didn't either because when they did Cotto got a lot less done, and Mayweather is vastly superior fighter to either of them when moving backwards, and Judah for that matter. None of them use the amount of movement Mayweather does, none of them have his defensive skills, or ability to change directions quicky(except Judah, but he hardly ever throws his left hand, and he doesn't keep moving).

Mayweather hasn't foughten the top p4p guys he could have, but in terms of who would give him a tough fight I think Oscar and Hatton presented very real problems for MAyweather, Hatton it was his inside fighting, footspeed, constant pressure and I think the fight would have been a little toughter wihtout Cortez, and Oscar presented hand speed, experience, size, power, great chin.

Cotto is an interesting matchup for Mayweather, but in the end Mayweather would stay outside Cotto's distance, block nearly everything Cotto threw and gradually taken over the fight landing stiff right hands and left hooks. I think it would be a UD wiht Mayweahter winning 116-112 ish.

I agree with several of your points. I also don't think Cotto could beat Mayweather. Cotto, in my opinion, fought a past prime Shane Mosley to a draw. If a slower Shane can pose problems for Cotto, a much faster and better defensive fighter like Floyd would out point him for victory. I also agree with your original post...Floyd can beat the top dogs...and some people wont be satisfied. Some people just don't like Floyd and others might not like him but really think his career resume isn't spectacular. I count myself in the latter group. I certainly am not a fan of Floyd as a person, but i respect his skills as a boxer tremendously. However, i just don't think his resume compares to some of the all time greats. This could be because of the era he has been fighting in (this era just doesn't compare to the days of hagler, hearns, duran, leonard), it could be that he has chosen his opponents carefully and smartly (especially in recent years), or it could be a combination of these two things. But as it stands right now...Floyd has fought some very good fighters, but the biggest and most noteworthy victory in his career is a 35 year old Oscar. Sure, he took a risk against Oscar in going up in weight...and credit should be given to him...but can we truly call that a career defining fight? The point i most strongly disagree with you on is your praise about his fight against Hatton. No disrespect to Ricky, he has a lot of heart and spirit...but i just don't see how any knowledgable boxing fan thought he had a more than slim chance against Floyd. He was undersized and knows how to fight only one way...both things being perfect for a fighter like Floyd. So with all due respect to Hatton and his fans...i give Floyd very little props for defeating Hatton. That was an "event" fight...plain and simple. The hype should not have blinded people into thinking Floyd accomplished something spectacular. That fight reminded me of Floyd's fight with Gatti. Sure, Hatton is a better fighter than Gatti...but like Hatton...Gatti was tailor made for a fighter with Floyd's skill...and like the Hatton fight...Floyd got waaaaaay to much credit for beating Gatti. I think a lot of people just want Floyd to beat great young fighters who could make things interesting. Could Floyd fight and beat Cotto, Williams, etc.....sure. But at least those fighters aren't over the hill, undersized, or one dimensional. Those aren't simply EVENT fights sold through hype as something more.

[Chino]

I'm not saying Cotto isnt' a great fighter...

I think he beats
every 147 pounder out there right now, but I don't think he would ever beat Mayweather. Cotto is a great fighter, but his style isn't suited to fighting a guy who moves and has the ability of Mayweather, Cotto is lucky Malignaggi didn't move more, and that Mosley didn't either because when they did Cotto got a lot less done, and Mayweather is vastly superior fighter to either of them when moving backwards, and Judah for that matter. None of them use the amount of movement Mayweather does, none of them have his defensive skills, or ability to change directions quicky(except Judah, but he hardly ever throws his left hand, and he doesn't keep moving).

Mayweather hasn't foughten the top p4p guys he could have, but in terms of who would give him a tough fight I think Oscar and Hatton presented very real problems for MAyweather, Hatton it was his inside fighting, footspeed, constant pressure and I think the fight would have been a little toughter wihtout Cortez, and Oscar presented hand speed, experience, size, power, great chin.

Cotto is an interesting matchup for Mayweather, but in the end Mayweather would stay outside Cotto's distance, block nearly everything Cotto threw and gradually taken over the fight landing stiff right hands and left hooks. I think it would be a UD wiht Mayweahter winning 116-112 ish.

Wow! I think that makes maybe 2 or 3 of us in the whole forum that can't see Cotto winning no matter how much we want that to happen. I can see Mayweather winning by an unquestionable UD, not so sure if he could win by KO/TKO but didn't we all think the same when he faced Hatton?