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Boxing: Mayweather Gets a Fight, Just Not With Pacquiao
Ken Ritter | February 02, 2012

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Las Vegas. Floyd Mayweather Jr. got almost everything he wanted on Wednesday, receiving a boxing license and naming an opponent and a date for his next fight.

The unbeaten champion got everything except a showdown with Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather will fight Miguel Cotto on May 5 at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden after Nevada’s athletic commissioners granted him a conditional license for one fight before he goes to jail in June.

Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) chose Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs), the respected Puerto Rican champion, as his next opponent only after failing to land a date with Pacquiao, the superstar Filipino congressman.

The two sides have discussed what would likely be the most lucrative fight in boxing history for nearly three years without reaching a deal.

“I presented Pacquiao with the fight,” Mayweather said after meeting with the Nevada commission. “Pacquiao is blowing a lot of smoke. … He doesn’t really want to fight.”

While Mayweather once appeared to be uninterested in the bout, he’s now very interested — but Pacquiao’s interest appears to have cooled. In recent weeks, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, repeatedly discounted the possibility of setting up the fight.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are boxing’s top two stars, and they have taunted each other with jabs, including a posting on Twitter on Wednesday in which Mayweather referred to the Filipino star as “Miss Pac Man.”

“He’s ducking and dodging me,” Mayweather said of Pacquiao. “He really didn’t want to fight from the beginning. He got famous basically by piggybacking off my name. When you mention Floyd Mayweather, man, you mention an all-time great, an icon in the sport of boxing. When you mention Manny Pacquiao, they say, ‘Oh, that’s the guy who’s trying to fight Floyd Mayweather.’ ”

Mayweather will take on Cotto at light middleweight, a move up from the longtime welterweight’s past four fights. Mayweather beat Victor Ortiz last September to win the WBC welterweight title.

Before getting his license on a 5-0 vote, Mayweather got a lecture from Nevada athletic commissioners. They told the fighter, his manager-promoter and his lawyer they wanted a prefight report on May 1 to ensure Mayweather abided by conditions set by a Nevada judge in a criminal domestic violence case.

He will begin serving 90 days in jail on June 1, but is likely to serve only about 60.

Mayweather received a temporary reprieve on his short jail sentence last month so he could fight on a traditionally huge weekend for boxing in Las Vegas.

The seven-time world champion in five weight classes will turn 35 this month.

Cotto is coming off of the second defense of his WBA junior middleweight title, a 10th-round technical knockout win over Antonio Margarito in December.

In a joint statement announcing the fight, Cotto said he intended to be the first boxer to beat Mayweather.

“I am here to fight the biggest names in boxing,” Cotto said. “I’ve never ducked anyone or any challenge in front of me.”

Associated Press




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