LAS VEGAS — For once, Floyd Mayweather set the bluster and bombast aside as he looked forward to his battle Saturday with Miguel Cotto for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Association super welterweight world title.
“Miguel is a true warrior, a tough champion, and to go down in the Hall of Fame as one of the best, you have to face the true champions out there,” Mayweather said as the two met the press Wednesday.
The American’s gracious words were a stark contrast to the kind of vitriol he has directed at Manny Pacquiao — the Filipino fight king who has evolved into Mayweather’s nemesis even as a mega-fight between the two has repeatedly failed to materialize.
The mention of Pacquiao was enough to set Mayweather off on a diatribe Tuesday, although he insisted he bore Pacman no ill will.
“Just speaking my mind,” Mayweather said. “When you have two fighters who get to this level there’s no losing. That’s the ultimate goal is for the top fighters to meet each other. Somebody got to win and somebody got to lose when you get to this level.”
Cotto, meanwhile, has been unapologetic in the build-up to the fight even as pundits bemoan the fact that it’s not a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown.
“I didn’t care about hearing one more thing about that,” Cotto said in a Los Angeles publicity stop prior to the bout. “If people want to see that (Mayweather-Pacquiao) fight, they have to wait until I beat Mayweather.”
This week the 31-year-old Cotto, a three-division champion, promised to end Mayweather’s unbeaten run. “I’m a quiet guy, and I prefer to talk in the ring,” said Cotto, who brings a record of 37-2 with 30 knockouts to the bout. “I had a tremendous camp in Orlando. All the work that we put in will bring me the victory Saturday night.” — AFP
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