Mayweather chooses... Cotto

Wednesday afternoon gave boxing its final verdict: Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao won’t be fighting any time soon, and the larger possibility that the fight may never happen looms.

However, fans are in for a treat as Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) decided to take on Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) - albeit a few years late - in a match on May 5th that should provide more flair than his most recent four fights.

This fight interests me on two different levels. One, Cotto is one of the biggest fighters Mayweather will face and the undefeated fighter has decided to go up a weight class to fight him. Two, Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) was lined up to fight Cotto and it's surprising that Mayweather was able to snatch him away.

To me as shocked as I am at my first point, people need to understand how Mayweather usually only fights to his terms – similar to the reasons why he wouldn't agree to a 50/50 split with Pacquiao on money. Mayweather hasn't fought anybody as big as Cotto since Oscar De La Hoya, or a fighter as skilled. Ricky Hatton entered his 2007 fight undefeated, but he went up in weight to fight him and was clearly overmatched. The same goes for Juan Manuel Marquez, who went from Lightweight to fight Mayweather at welterweight before moving up with Pacquiao. Mosely was the only true welterweight fighter, and he was out of his prime by the time he fought Mayweather.

"That's one thing Floyd made perfectly clear to us," Leonard Ellerbe said, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. "He didn't want to fight him at a catchweight, he wanted to fight him at the weight. Sometimes, you don't get full credit when you fight at a catchweight. Floyd wanted to make sure Miguel was comfortable."

I've said this before on Twitter, and I'll say it again. It's not outside my realm of imagination to believe Mayweather is in money trouble and needed to garner a big fight to make cash before entering his 87-day jail sentence in June. He is prone to spending a ton of money, and he shows his gambling winnings on Twitter all of the time, however, how much money is he losing while gambling and lawyer fees, etc.

Mayweather had zero interest in fighting Pacquiao in the past – even Cotto in his prime – because they weren't up to his undefeated level and he didn't feel like he had to fight them. Yet now, he goes on Twitter and bashes Pacquiao as much as possible to make the fight happen? It's not about the fans, otherwise this fight would have happened three years ago. I have no substantial proof that money is Mayweather's reason for moving up in weight to fight Cotto, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was.

Also, it's been swept under the rug by some media organizations that cover boxing, but Cotto was set to fight Pacquiao in a rematch as they were negotiating a 147-pound catchweight. Cotto didn't want a catchweight but Pacquiao did for the size difference, as they did last time they fought. I'm assuming Cotto didn't want to go down in weight because that would mean loss of power for him and possible muscle, in which he was technically knocked out in the 12th round, where he was fighting strong early in the bout.

I'll admit I wanted to see Mayweather fight Cotto several years ago because I thought Cotto was the best young fighter and would be a tough matchup for him. I still believe Mayweather will have his hands full, but if he wants to make it a defensive fight, similar to his one versus De La Hoya, then he will be able to earn a win. However, that fight will be largely boring and unpleasing to the fans. If he wants to provide some fireworks, Cotto has an opportunity to give him his first loss. But, Cotto hasn't seen a fighter as fast as Mayweather either.

For those that don't think this will be a big fight, Pacquiao and Cotto earned 1.25 million pay-per-view buys and $70 million in domestic revenue, which with Mayweather's power will make it even higher. Cotto is a good fighter, and should only have one loss on his record as it's largely regarded that Antonio Margarito cheated with hand wraps in the 2008 fight. Those two rematched in December, and Cotto won handily against Margarito and showed more spirit than in previous fights I have seen from him.

As for Pacquiao, get ready to see him fight Timothy Bradley (28-0-1, 12 KOs) in June, which will set up another scenario – if both Pac-Man and Mayweather win – where they could fight in November and provide the fight of the decade. If those two can't come to terms, assuming both win, for a fight in November, I think it's time to write off that those two will never clash in the ring.