Cotto was not going to be competitive with Mayweather at 140 during 2004-2006

[Real King Kong]

ko was pushing floyd vs shane @ 135, had a mag with both their mugs on it...

give me two cats at their absolute peak getting down for the crown...where the outcome isn't so cut and dry...

not a big fan of cats who just sukk floyd's balls off on every matchup where its a prime fighter involved, especially when the two fighters are from the same era, yet their paths didn't cross in their prime.....

Yea...I'm a floyd fan, but if there's anything that's kinda disappointing about his career from a more neutral perspective, it's that floyd didn't face a lot of the top fighters of his era at their peak. Regardless of what i believe the outcome would have been, it would have been awesome to see those skills put to the test. I'm left feeling like i never saw the absolute best out of floyd, which is crazy considering what he accomplished.

[Boxfan83]

Certain fights happen at the right time, or at better time than when they were first possible to make. Mayweather and Cotto were on top rank promotions when both

Campaigned at 140 pounds. Cotto held the WBO belt and Mayweather won the WBC title from Arturo Gatti after this fight.


Many complain that this fight happened too late. When I saw this fight live and saw Cotto and his handlers reaction, it showed me all i needed to know. Had this fight happened in 2004-2005, I dont think Cotto would have become the fighter he is today or accomplished things that he went on to accomplish. Henry Brusles is Cotto's stablemate. Of course they were scouting Mayweather as a potential opponent.

He would have took a beating from this version of mayweather. Cotto would have got stopped....everyone mayweather fought from late 2003 to early 2006 he stopped or dropped multiple times(corely is the only one to go the distance).

I am not saying any version of Cotto beats Mayweather BUT I think you are highly underestimating Cotto. Cotto is a damn good boxer and is very athletic. Good feet, speed, & ring intelligence/generalship. Cotto by far at least is better than anyone Floyd fought at 140 and beat or wouldve beaten everyone Floyd did at 140 probably easier. I do agree with other posters that making 140 wore cotto out a bit and it was telling in his legs a bit so I can see how people can assume Floyd would KO Cotto but the counter arguments about Floyds comp at 140 is trash. Cotto is/was/will always light years better than Demarcus Corley, Bruseles, & Gatti.

[djtmal]

Yea...I'm a floyd fan, but if there's anything that's kinda disappointing about his career from a more neutral perspective, it's that floyd didn't face a lot of the top fighters of his era at their peak. Regardless of what i believe the outcome would have been, it would have been awesome to see those skills put to the test. I'm left feeling like i never saw the absolute best out of floyd, which is crazy considering what he accomplished.

much respect for making the statement...most guys just excuse away the missed fights, or just say floyd would have beat them easy...

[therealpugilist]

Arum makes big fights in house...he just takes his sweet ass time to build them up. The thing about the de la hoya fight is it was that fight that pushed floyd over the top to be in position for that type of fight from a cross promotional perspective. If floyd stayed at toprank, i think arum would have cashed dlh out vs floyd for sure and the timing wouldn't have been much different. After that, it would have been a perfect time to make a cotto vs floyd mega fight or have a couple ppvs with both guys on them to build it. Knowing arum, he would have wrecked it by putting cotto in with margarito before the fight came off tho.

yea he does wait to use his best fighters as stepping stones instead of putting them in closer to boths respective primes.

[therealpugilist]

I am not saying any version of Cotto beats Mayweather BUT I think you are highly underestimating Cotto. Cotto is a damn good boxer and is very athletic. Good feet, speed, & ring intelligence/generalship. Cotto by far at least is better than anyone Floyd fought at 140 and beat or wouldve beaten everyone Floyd did at 140 probably easier. I do agree with other posters that making 140 wore cotto out a bit and it was telling in his legs a bit so I can see how people can assume Floyd would KO Cotto but the counter arguments about Floyds comp at 140 is trash. Cotto is/was/will always light years better than Demarcus Corley, Bruseles, & Gatti.

its not about the opponents...its about it being a PRIME mayweather

he was more aggressive, more elusive, threw more combinations....was meaner in the ring and knocked out more opponents

[therealpugilist]

Yea...I'm a floyd fan, but if there's anything that's kinda disappointing about his career from a more neutral perspective, it's that floyd didn't face a lot of the top fighters of his era at their peak. Regardless of what i believe the outcome would have been, it would have been awesome to see those skills put to the test. I'm left feeling like i never saw the absolute best out of floyd, which is crazy considering what he accomplished.

I respect this post right here

sadly he is penalized for not having a rival in his era

would have been nice to see him have a frazier to his Ali but the era he fought in didnt have a lot of all time greats near his size.

he did face some prime top guys and he dominated most of them except Castillo....Corrales, Canelo, Judah, and Hatton

[Real King Kong]

much respect for making the statement...most guys just excuse away the missed fights, or just say floyd would have beat them easy...

I'm not a fan of the "this guy woulda done this to that guy" threads...especially when they're about fights that could have been made, or been timed better from a prime vs prime stand point. If someone cares more about manipulating the circumstances to fit their agenda than they care about seeing the best possible fights, then they've crossed into fanboy territory.

[djtmal]

its not about the opponents...its about it being a PRIME mayweather

he was more aggressive, more elusive, threw more combinations....was meaner in the ring and knocked out more opponents

so was cotto, mosley, and pac...too bad we didn't get those fight tho

[Johnny2x2x]

Cotto at the full limit of 154 was a tougher fight for Mayweather than a 140 lb Cotto would have been.

[djtmal]

I'm not a fan of the "this guy woulda done this to that guy" threads...especially when they're about fights that could have been made, or been timed better from a prime vs prime stand point. If someone cares more about manipulating the circumstances to fit their agenda than they care about seeing the best possible fights, then they've crossed into fanboy territory.

we're never going to know what would happen at this point, and not everyone is going to be in full agreement with the outcomes...much respect