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| Date | May 5, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super) super welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayweather Jr. wins via 12-round unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 118-110) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as Ring Kings, was a professional boxing match contested on May 5, 2012, for the WBA (Super) super welterweight championship. The bout was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision in what was deemed to be a clear, but very competitive fight.
Background
Mayweather
There was immediate speculation as to whom Mayweather would fight. Many felt that he should fight eight division champion, Manny Pacquiao. Indeed Mayweather called out Pacquiao via Twitter. Negotiations for the fight hit the wall, however, when there were arguments over the venue and how the money from the fight should be split.
Mayweather has had one previous fight in the 154-pound division, which was when he outpointed Oscar De La Hoya to win a belt in May 2007.
Mayweather reclaimed one of his old welterweight titles by knocking out Victor Ortiz controversially in the fourth round at the MGM Grand on Sept. 17, 2011.
Cotto
Making the third defense of his title, Cotto was in a fight without Top Rank as his promoter for the first time in his career. His contract with Bob Arum's company expired following his Dec. 3 revenge, 10th-round knockout victory against Antonio Margarito and he will be working with Golden Boy Promotions, Top Rank's archrival, on the fight with Mayweather.
Drug Testing
Both fighters agreed to random blood and urine testing for the fight, which Mayweather had demanded of his most recent opponents at the time.
The fights
Álvarez vs. Mosley
| Title(s) on the line | WBC super welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Álvarez defeats Mosley by unanimous decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the chief support WBC super welterweight champion Canelo Álvarez faced former 3 division world champion Shane Mosley.
When the fight was agreed in February, Álvarez said "This is the fight I was looking for. Shane Mosley is a tremendous fighter with a lot of experience and big victories in his storied career. Even though I have enormous respect and admiration for Mosley, because he is a great person outside of the ring, my goal is to defeat him with a great performance." Mosley would admit his recent performances had been lacking (having gone 0–2–1 in his last three bouts) saying "This is more of a fight to prove myself. I know I didn't look good in my last couple of fights and I really want to make a statement in this fight, I just want to get in the ring, fight a world champion and win another belt. I'm very excited and happy. It's another chance for me to show that I still belong. He's a young guy and it's a tough fight, but I'm excited to get the fight. A lot of guys want to be in the position I am in to have this type of fight."
The fight
Mosley would perform better than he had in his previous bouts but Alvarez was able to take advantage, landing numerous clean right hands and left hooks.
The fight lasted the full 12 rounds with Álvarez winning a one-sided unanimous decision with scores of 119–109, 119–109 and 118–110. ESPN scored the fight wide 118–110 for Álvarez. Álvarez landed more than half the punches he threw (348 of 673). According to CompuBox, it was the most an opponent had landed on Mosley in the 34 fights that they have tracked from his career.
Aftermath
Speaking after the bout Alvarez said "This was a great experience, I felt really good and I want to thank Shane for giving me this experience. He's a great fighter, a true veteran. I tried to knock him out. He took a lot of punches, but it didn't work." Mosley would praise the champion saying "His defense was really good and he was really fast, He can go a long way. When the kids start to beat you, you might need to start going to promoting. I didn't expect him to be that fast or that good. He's up there with the top guys . Mayweather is fast, Cotto, all those guys I fought. He's up there with them."
| Preceded byvs. Kermit Cintrón | Canelo Álvarez's bouts 5 May 2012 |
Succeeded byvs. Josesito López |
| Preceded byvs. Manny Pacquiao | Shane Mosley's bouts 5 May 2012 |
Succeeded byvs. Pablo César Cano |
Main Event
The fight started off with Cotto establishing himself as the aggressor, but with Mayweather winning the first two rounds using effective counter-punching and body movement to block most of Cotto's punches. However, in the third round Cotto seemed to successfully swarm Mayweather and land decent flurries to steal himself the round. Then from rounds 4-9 the action was closely contested, with both fighters using their partially contrasting styles in attempts to one-up the other. Ultimately though, Mayweather managed to adjust to Cotto's new rhythm of attacking in flurries and used his now-newly tweaked counter-punching style to win a lot of the final rounds, in what people thought had secured Mayweather the decision victory. Cotto had Mayweather against the ropes many times, resulting in some damage and a lot of bleeding from Mayweather's nose. Cotto's eyes had some partial swelling.
Mayweather won via unanimous decision with scores of 117–111, 117–111, and 118–110. The crowd booed loudly when the scores were read out. Cotto landed 105 of 506 punches thrown (21%), while Mayweather landed 179 punches of 687 thrown (26%).
Aftermath
Cotto was humble in defeat, "The judges said I lost the fight; I can't do anything else. I'm happy with my fight and performance and so is my family. I can't ask for anything else." When they hugged at the end, Mayweather told Cotto, "You are a hell of a champion — the toughest guy I fought."
Reported fight earnings
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. guaranteed $45 million vs. Miguel Angel Cotto $8 million
- Shane Mosley $750,000 vs. Canelo Álvarez $2 million
The fight drew 1.5 Million pay per view buys.
Main card
Confirmed bouts:
- Super Welterweight Championship bout:
Floyd Mayweather vs. 
Miguel Cotto (c)
Mayweather wins by UD with scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice.
- Super Welterweight Championship bout:
Canelo Álvarez (c) vs. Shane Mosley
Alvarez wins by UD with scores of 119-109 twice and 118-110.
- Light Welterweight bout: Jessie Vargas vs Steve Forbes
Vargas wins by UD with scores of 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93.
- Super Welterweight bout: Deandre Latimore vs Carlos Quintana
Quintana wins by KO (6)
Preliminary card
- Welterweight bout: Keith Thurman vs Brandon Hoskins
Thurman wins by TKO (3)
- Featherweight bout: Braulio Santos vs Juan Sandoval
- Lightweight bout: Jeffrey Fontanez vs Benna Acaba
- Lightweight bout: Omar Figueroa vs Robbie Cannon
- Welterweight bout: Antonio Orozco vs Dillet Frederick
International broadcasting
References
- "Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Miguel Cotto". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- Mayweather vs Cotto Confirmed For May 5th at MGM Grand – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-06.
- Mayweather calls out Pacquiao on Twitter – Boxing – Yahoo! Sports Archived 2012-01-14 at the Wayback Machine. Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-06.
- Mayweather and Pacquiao had phone conversation | Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. Mayweathervspacquiaofight.net. Retrieved on 2012-05-06.
- Christ, Scott. (2012-01-20) Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Mayweather Won't Give Pacquiao a 50–50 Split. Bad Left Hook. Retrieved on 2012-05-06.
- Rafael, Dan. (2012-02-01) Floyd Mayweather to fight Miguel Cotto. ESPN. Retrieved on 2012-02-01.
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. granted license to fight Miguel Cotto – ESPN. Espn.go.com (2012-02-02). Retrieved on 2012-05-06.
- "Saul Alvarez vs. Shane Mosley". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- Dan Rafael (14 February 2012). "Saul Alvarez-Shane Mosley set for May 5". ESPN. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- Dan Rafael (6 May 2012). "Canelo crushes Mosley in decision". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- Seekins, Briggs. "Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto Results: Round-by-Round Highlights and Recap". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
- "Mayweather tops Cotto by unanimous decision". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
- "Mayweather-Cotto rakes in $94M in PPV sales". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
- https://www.facebook.com/floydmayweather/posts/233530213422960
- "BoxRec - event".
- "BoxRec - Floyd Mayweather Jr". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
- "Saul Alvarez vs. Shane Mosley - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
- "Jessie Vargas vs. Steve Forbes - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
External links
| Preceded byvs. Antonio Margarito II | Miguel Cotto's bouts 5 May 2012 |
Succeeded byvs. Austin Trout |
| Preceded byvs. Victor Ortiz | Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s bouts 5 May 2012 |
Succeeded byvs. Robert Guerrero |
| Miguel Cotto | |
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| Fights | |
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- 2012 in boxing
- 2012 in sports in Nevada
- May 2012 sports events in the United States
- Boxing matches at MGM Grand Garden Arena
- Boxing matches involving Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Boxing matches involving Miguel Cotto
- Boxing matches refereed by Tony Weeks
- Boxing on HBO
- Golden Boy Promotions
- Light middleweight championship matches
- Pay-per-view boxing matches