By Jerome Wilson: WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is likely going to lose his World Boxing Association title on May 5th against Floyd Mayweather Jr. One of the most important reasons why Miguel is going to lose this fight will come down to basic reach. Mayweather will beat anyway due his faster hands, different punching angles and better overall talent, but Mayweather’s reach will the most important factor that will enable him to handle Cotto with ease.
Mayweather has long arms and will be sporting a three inch reach advantage over Cotto in this fight despite both fighters being almost equal in height. That extra three inches will be like Mayweather coming into the fight standing 5’11” against the much shorter Cotto. Mayweather will be able to have his way from the outside using his jab, left hook and right hand to completely dominate Cotto.
If you saw Cotto’s fights with Antonio Margarito, you’ll notice that Cotto had a ton of problems with Margarito’s reach when he was smart enough to use it. Mayweather is a lot cleverer and will be focusing on using his reach from the moment the fight starts in order to keep from getting hit by Cotto. He’s not going to be trying to get into some kind of war with him, because that would be playing into Cotto’s hands.
No, Mayweather will say on the outside and pick Cotto apart with ease, making him look bad in the process. Cotto will be forced to try and rush Mayweather so that he can close the distance and batter him on the inside. Mayweather isn’t someone that will just stand there and let the little Cotto come in on him. Mayweather will move to the side and catch Cotto with one of his check left hooks before moving away to stay out of range.