By Eric Roman: May 5th, the world awaits as Floyd Mayweather Jr. challenges Miguel Cotto for the WBC Super Welterweight Diamond belt… wait, what? Back in February, the two PPV mega stars signed to fight for Cotto’s WBA strap, leaving the other alphabet soup organizations to sit back and drool as the winner of the bout becomes the recognized 154lb champ. For two months, Jose Sulaiman allowed the WBA officials to bask in the glory of believing their belt will be raised by the winner of the most important fight of 2012, not quite.
Less then 3 weeks before the event, the WBC announces the winner will receive their “highly coveted” diamond belt, which is like you sitting next to the hottest girl in the room all night long, then at the last minute Johnny Depp walks in and says, “let’s go babe”. At least its good to know that the WBC doesn’t discriminate against who they plan on robbing, whether it be the fighters, the other belts, or their own mothers, these guys love pulling the rug from under you.
Either way it doesn’t matter, they can fight for a bowl of Spaghettio’s for all we care, and although I’m sure the fighters themselves don’t mind collecting these little knick knacks, but we all know this fight is for something bigger then what the ABC organizations realize. For Miguel Cotto, he’s fighting for pride, to make his late Father proud, to make his country proud, and most of all to know his place in the history of the sport, as for “Money” May, it’s obviously just that, money. But don’t be fooled, he understands what he has in front of him, he get’s the big picture, he claim’s he is happy with his career with or without Cotto or Pacquiao, but legacy plays a major role in the back of his mind.
He wouldn’t have taken this fight otherwise. So why not let the IBF make up a new title out of thin air too, maybe the IBF Better Belt, then the WBO could chime in too with the WBO Cool Belt, and let’s make this fight for all the marbles! Whatever the case may be, I’m just ready to tune in on “Cinco de Mayo” for what I believe is going to be a classic between two future Hall of Famers.