On Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather put his 42-0 record on the line as he went for the WBA Super Welterweight title held by the 37-2 Miguel Cotto. The 12-round fight topped a stacked card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that also featured Shane Mosley coming up short in a super welterweight championship fight against Saul Alvarez.
Mayweather won the first two rounds with ease, but beginning in the third round, Cotto really began turning up the heat. Cotto bounced around, landing strikes in bunches, while Mayweather maintained his usual slow and steady, flat-footed pace.
Mayweather had his nose bloodied in the eighth round and heading into the ninth, had lost three straight rounds.
The live crowd was overwhelmingly in Cotto's corner, cheering loudly at Mayweather being bloodied. Mayweather managed to limit the damage and Cotto began slowing down in the 11th round. Heading into the final round, Mayweather had landed and thrown more punches and had connected with greater accuracy. He appeared to retain a healthy lead entering the final round and seemed to need only to survive until the end of the fight to emerge victorious.
When the decision came in, Mayweather had indeed won by unanimous decision, 117-111, 117-111, 118-110. He took Cotto's title to add to his WBC Welterweight championship and remain undefeated as he moved to 43-0.
Mayweather was matched -- and in fact bested -- in several rounds by Cotto, but again showed why he has racked up one of the most impressive boxing records in history. His skill level is difficult to ignore, any though many at the MGM Grand desperately wanted to.