Floyd “Money” Mayweather Taking the Safe Way Out with Miguel Cotto

This weekend, when the masses are celebrating Cinco de Mayo, there will be many that will be forking over $69.95 at home or paying a cover at their favorite bar to watch the supposed pound for pound best boxer in the world demolish another opponent. I'm talking about the Floyd Mayweather Jr./Miguel Cotto fight of course.

Before any naysayers try to say that Cotto is this, that, and the other thing and really does have a solid chance to defeat Mayweather let me just say this. I'm like you. I would love to see Cotto knock the swagger out of Mayweather so hard that 50 Cent starts singing Sinatra. Is it going to happen? No.

Odds are 7 to 1 against Cotto and that is probably being a little generous. However, there is a little hope for the anti-Mayweather crowd out there, and it comes in the form of Manny Pacquiao.

With the fight scheduled for Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the two fighters are making the media rounds this week to promote the fight. Mayweather, rather than focus on the fight at hand, has been talking about Pacquiao and why he will not fight him.

Long story short—Mayweather is concerned about his health. Since he seems to think that there is no way that Pacquiao could do what he's done without taking some kind of performance enhancing drug. To him, family is what matters most so he refuses to put himself in the position where he may suffer a permanent or long-term injury.

For a fighter to say that he is concerned about any kind of injury is simply ludicrous. He fights; even the best fighters take a lot of hits. When you take a lot of hits for years the chances of long-term damage building up is pretty darn good no matter who you fight. For someone who is going to jail for two months due to domestic violence charges the whole ‘family' argument doesn't really work.

The real story involves an ego that is out of control and can't handle the possibility of losing. So rather than take a chance on losing to another quality fighter, he doesn't take the chance to win and prove that he is as good as he thinks he is. He's chicken.

It would be great to think that Cotto could do what no one has done since Bulgarian Serafim Todorov did it in the semifinals of the 1996 Summer Olympics—defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr. I wouldn't hold your breath though.

Article by Travis Pulver