Did Floyd dodge Cotto in 2007/2008?

[GRUSTLER]

What part of the post is my opinion?

Mayweather fought Judah instead of Margarito. Did he not?

He fought Baldomir instead of Margarito? Did he not?

Despite the fact he wasn't with TR for the Baldomir fight, he didn't even entertain a fight with Margarito. He took the Baldomir fight instead.

Like I said, I understand the reasoning why on both occasions.

Judah - He had a verbal agreement with him. He honoured it. Did he have to? No, he didn't. He could have fought Margarito instead if he wanted to. He chose not to

Baldomir - He was on bad terms with Bob Arum. Still, he could have fought Margarito if he really pleased. He chose Baldomir instead.

Those are not facts. Do you know for sure that Arum was offering Margarito to Floyd before Floyd verbally agreed to fight Judah? NO.

How do you know the nature of their fall out? He chose Baldomir because he was supposed to get the fight with Oscar AFTER he left Top Rank but didn't work out at first. He was away from Top Rank. Floyd whole motivation was to get a fight with De La Hoya. Don't you get it? Judah when they had a verbal agreement was the undisputed WW champion. Baldomir beat him and became the Lineal Champion. Floyd beat them both to become the Lineal champion. Why would he fight Antonio Margarito when he wanted Oscar? Oscar De La Hoya>>>>>>> Antonio Margarito. You are asking me questions I can't answer because I don't know IF or COULD. All I know is the facts and the facts are that Floyd left Bob Arum because Bob didn't want to get him De La Hoya and Margarito was apart of that deal. Why would he fight Margarito if Bob didn't want to get him 20MIL for Oscar? Does this make sense to you?

[The_Sandman]

In my opinion, yes he did. It wasn't because he was "scared" or "felt like he could lose" but Mayweather just didn't want to box during that time. He could have fought De La Hoya in a rematch and made a ton of money, but he passed on that.

Regardless, Mayweather still should have fought Cotto. This fight would have been huge at the time and Cotto was the clear number one challenger.

If anything, this is nonfight kind of showed me that "being the number 1" contender doesn't actually matter. Resumes really don't matter. It's whether the two fighters want it or not and Mayweather did not.

Cotto could have been more urgent, I agree, but this one falls on Mayweather. He called quits on the sport in a division was stacked. It's fine he didn't fight Williams, but he should have fought Cotto in May 2008. It was the perfect time to make the fight.

The fight now is four years too late.

Whether Mayweather wanted to fight Cotto or not, Cotto was under Bob Arum. Either way, Floyd vs Cotto wasn't going to happen at that time.

[The Big Dunn]

In my opinion, yes he did. It wasn't because he was "scared" or "felt like he could lose" but Mayweather just didn't want to box during that time. He could have fought De La Hoya in a rematch and made a ton of money, but he passed on that.

Regardless, Mayweather still should have fought Cotto. This fight would have been huge at the time and Cotto was the clear number one challenger.

If anything, this is nonfight kind of showed me that "being the number 1" contender doesn't actually matter. Resumes really don't matter. It's whether the two fighters want it or not and Mayweather did not.

Cotto could have been more urgent, I agree, but this one falls on Mayweather. He called quits on the sport in a division was stacked. It's fine he didn't fight Williams, but he should have fought Cotto in May 2008. It was the perfect time to make the fight.

The fight now is four years too late.

Imagine if this were 1987, I wonder if pewople would be complaining that Leonard waited 5 yearas to fight Hagler.

[IronDanHamza]

Those are not facts. Do you know for sure that Arum was offering Margarito to Floyd before Floyd verbally agreed to fight Judah? NO.

How do you know the nature of their fall out? He chose Baldomir because he was supposed to get the fight with Oscar AFTER he left Top Rank but didn't work out at first. He was away from Top Rank. Floyd whole motivation was to get a fight with De La Hoya. Don't you get it? Judah when they had a verbal agreement was the undisputed WW champion. Baldomir beat him and became the Lineal Champion. Floyd beat them both to become the Lineal champion. Why would he fight Antonio Margarito when he wanted Oscar? Oscar De La Hoya>>>>>>> Antonio Margarito. You are asking me questions I can't answer because I don't know IF or COULD. All I know is the facts and the facts are that Floyd left Bob Arum because Bob didn't want to get him De La Hoya and Margarito was apart of that deal. Why would he fight Margarito if Bob didn't want to get him 20MIL for Oscar? Does this make sense to you?

So you're saying Margarito wasn't an option for Mayweather when he fought Zab Judah?

He absolutely was.

Margarito was offered to Mayweather at the time he fought Zab Judah and he fought Zab Judah instead.

Mayweather didn't fight both to become Lineal Champion. He beat Baldomir to become Lineal Champion.

Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir, Mayweather's win over Judah had nothing to do with him becoming Lineal Champion and he could have fought Margarito instead of Judah if he pleased.

I have no idea why you keep bringing Oscar up. I have already said I don't think anyone argues that Mayweather avoided Margarito for Oscar.

[GRUSTLER]

Whether Mayweather wanted to fight Cotto or not, Cotto was under Bob Arum. Either way, Floyd vs Cotto wasn't going to happen at that time.

I don't understand how that falls on Mayweather? What logic is that? Cotto was the challenger. I remember when Lennox Lewis went to a Rid**** Bowe fight and got up in his face to push for a fight. Cotto never did anything to show that he wanted the biggest fight of his career. Ricky Hatton showed it by calling Floyd out after he KO'd Castillo and JMM showed it when he called Floyd out. Even Margarito showed he wanted the fight more than Cotto did. Bob Arum has built his fighters reputations off of Mayweather's name and him being scared of Top Rank fighters. I would have loved to see them fight when they were both undefeated but it just didn't happen. What I do know is at 140 Arum hid Cotto away from Floyd and Hatton and said Cotto wasn't ready AND at the time Cotto was a champion AND Floyd was moving up from 135. Why would I believe Floyd was ducking Cotto when Cotto wasn't even ready to fight Floyd as a champion in a division Floyd was moving up to? Dudes are crazy saying Floyd ducked Cotto.

[The Big Dunn]

So you're saying Margarito wasn't an option for Mayweather when he fought Zab Judah?

He absolutely was.

Margarito was offered to Mayweather at the time he fought Zab Judah and he fought Zab Judah instead.

Mayweather didn't fight both to become Lineal Champion. He beat Baldomir to become Lineal Champion.

Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir, Mayweather's win over Judah had nothing to do with him becoming Lineal Champion and he could have fought Margarito instead of Judah if he pleased.

I have no idea why you keep bringing Oscar up. I have already said I don't think anyone argues that Mayweather avoided Margarito for Oscar.

Dan:

Mayweather beat Zab for the IBF title to unify the belts. Zab didn't pay the fee so the IBF belt wasn't on the line when he fought Baldo. He had a contract signed with Zab before Zab fought Baldo. Since Baldo won, and floyd had bought out the TR deal, he fought Baldo for the wbc and lineal titles, then zab for the IBF title.

Once he bought out his TR contract and filed suit against Bob there was no realistic Margo fight.

[The_Sandman]

I don't understand how that falls on Mayweather? What logic is that? Cotto was the challenger. I remember when Lennox Lewis went to a Rid**** Bowe fight and got up in his face to push for a fight. Cotto never did anything to show that he wanted the biggest fight of his career. Ricky Hatton showed it by calling Floyd out after he KO'd Castillo and JMM showed it when he called Floyd out. Even Margarito showed he wanted the fight more than Cotto did. Bob Arum has built his fighters reputations off of Mayweather's name and him being scared of Top Rank fighters. I would have loved to see them fight when they were both undefeated but it just didn't happen. What I do know is at 140 Arum hid Cotto away from Floyd and Hatton and said Cotto wasn't ready AND at the time Cotto was a champion AND Floyd was moving up from 135. Why would I believe Floyd was ducking Cotto when Cotto wasn't even ready to fight Floyd as a champion in a division Floyd was moving up to? Dudes are crazy saying Floyd ducked Cotto.

So like I said, whether Floyd wanted the fight or not, or Cotto wanted the fight or not, it wasn't going to happen because Cotto was under Bob Arum.

[GRUSTLER]

So you're saying Margarito wasn't an option for Mayweather when he fought Zab Judah?

He absolutely was.

Margarito was offered to Mayweather at the time he fought Zab Judah and he fought Zab Judah instead.

Mayweather didn't fight both to become Lineal Champion. He beat Baldomir to become Lineal Champion.

Judah was coming off a loss to Baldomir, Mayweather's win over Judah had nothing to do with him becoming Lineal Champion and he could have fought Margarito instead of Judah if he pleased.

I have no idea why you keep bringing Oscar up. I have already said I don't think anyone argues that Mayweather avoided Margarito for Oscar.

Judah and Mayweather had a verbal agreement when he was the undisputed champion at 147. Why would Floyd fight Margarito when Zab was the undisputed WW at the time? Floyd could have deaded the fight but he kept his word and Zab just took less $. "Avoided" sounds like you're trying to say he was scared of Margarito. The fight didn't happen with Margarito because Bob Arum didn't want to get Floyd the fight with Oscar bottom line.

[GRUSTLER]

Imagine if this were 1987, I wonder if pewople would be complaining that Leonard waited 5 yearas to fight Hagler.

Exactly. Leonard retired and invited Hagler to come have dinner and drinks at his restaurant. Got Hagler drunk to spill all of his secrets about is weaknesses and then called Hagler out. Both men cosigned this happening.

[The Big Dunn]

Judah and Mayweather had a verbal agreement when he was the undisputed champion at 147. Why would Floyd fight Margarito when Zab was the undisputed WW at the time? Floyd could have deaded the fight but he kept his word and Zab just took less $. "Avoided" sounds like you're trying to say he was scared of Margarito. The fight didn't happen with Margarito because Bob Arum didn't want to get Floyd the fight with Oscar bottom line.

Not to mention that Margs had recently lost to Daniel Santos.