As expected by most boxing fans, Floyd Mayweather Jr. won’t be fighting Manny Pacquiao on May 5 before he heads to jail. He’ll be taking on WBA Jr. Middleweight Champion Miguel Cotto instead at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Mayweather recently called Pacquiao out for a fight via Twitter and also called him a punk, but after disagreements about the date and money it was obvious the fight between two of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers wasn’t going to take place this spring.
Mayweather also had to apply for a boxing license in Nevada, but that was taken care of when he received one in early February. However, it’s just for one fight since it’s a conditional license. Mayweather heads to jail to serve his 90-day sentence for domestic violence on June 1 and will have to apply for another license if he wants to fight again when he’s released.
There’s a slight possibility he could meet Pacquiao later in the year. But, first he’s going to have to deal with a decent opponent in Puerto Rico’s Cotto, who recently stopped Antonio Margarito in a rematch in New York. The undefeated Mayweather, with a record of 42-0 and 26 KOs faces one of the world’s better boxers in Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs).
Cotto was also listed as a possible opponent for Pacquiao, but it looks like the Filipino will be taking on Timothy Bradley instead on June 9. Pacquiao has fought Cotto already and stopped him in the twelfth and and final round in November 2009. Mayweather and Pacquiao called off negotiations after the American wouldn’t agree to a 50-50 revenue split. However, he claims Pacquiao could have made about $40 million if he agreed to Mayweather’s terms.
After it was announced that Cotto would be Mayweather’s next opponent he reverted to insulting Pacquiao on Twitter by calling him ‘Miss Pac Man.’ There’s also a defamation lawsuit scheduled for a Las Vegas federal court concerning Mayweather's accusations of Pacquiao taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Maywetahter claimed that Pacquiao’s dodging and ducking him and didn’t intend to fight him. However, many fans see the opposite as being true since Mayweather knew a May showdown with Pacquiao would be almost impossible to pull off on such short notice. Then when arrangements did start to progress he backed out by refusing to go with the 50-50 split.
The Mayweather vs Cotto fight will take place in the junior middleweight division, which has a limit of 154 lbs. This means Mayweather will have to step up from welterweight and the pair will also take Olympic-style illegal drug tests before the fight. Mayweather said it will be a good challenge to take on Cotto at a higher weight. He said it will motivate him to train harder and it’s the type of test he thrives on. Cotto said he wants to take on the best boxers in the world and is sure he’ll beat Mayweather convincingly in an exciting fight.
Written by Ian Palmer via FeedCrossing
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