By Mark Vester

In a recent interview with the New York Times , Leonard Ellerbe, advisor to Floyd Mayweather Jr., told the paper that neither he nor Mayweather were impressed by Miguel Cotto's recent eleven-round TKO win over Zab Judah. Ellerbe said that at this moment in time, Mayweather is standing by his decision to stay retired and has no interest in fighting Cotto.

“Miguel Cotto ain’t even in the same stratosphere as Floyd Mayweather,” Ellerbe said. “He’s a good little young fighter. He makes a lot of mistakes. In time, as he gets better, he’ll become a better fighter."

Ellerbe also told the New Jersey Star-Ledger that Judah was not at his best, he was coming off a long layoff, and was physically affected by the low blows that Cotto blasted him with in the first and third round.

 "What ... did beating Zab Judah mean? We've been there and did that a year and a half ago," said Ellerbe. "They fought Zab after he just got beat by Floyd, then he's suspended for a whole year ... and you can't count that little fight Zab had in April because it didn't even go a round. Zab didn't have a chance to get any work in. They caught Zab at the right time. His last fight was 12 hard rounds against Floyd (in April 2006). ... Zab is a very good fighter, better than the fighter people saw Saturday night. He was not at his best.

"I picked Zab to knock Cotto out early and he almost did that. He just couldn't sustain that attack because he'd been off too long. Cotto's been busy, like he should be."

Mayweather made $20 million dollars for his May battle with Oscar De La Hoya, and Ellerbe told The Ledger that Cotto is not at that stage of the game. Even though Madison Square Garden was sold out with 20,600 fans, he says the popularity of the event was based on the location, and not the overall market value of the fighters involved. In his opinion, Cotto needs to go out and fight a higher level of opponents and make himself popular in other areas of the country before knocking on Mayweather's door.

"That was a regional fight Saturday night. It'll be interesting to see what the pay-per-view numbers are, but it was a great fight. He makes way too many mistakes to even remotely think of stepping up in the ring with Floyd Mayweather. Cotto needs to do what all young fighters do, go out and win a bunch of fights against top fighters before barking the big dog's name," Ellerbe said. 

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