Five key moments from Mayweather-Cotto

By Ric Anderson

Saturday, May 5, 2012 | 10:45 p.m.

After Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s Cinco de Mayo defeat over Miguel Cotto on Saturday for the WBA super welterweight title, the focus on Mayweather will now turn to his impending three-month jail term for domestic battery and the age-old question of whether a fight between him and Manny Pacquiao will ever happen.

But first things first: Here’s a look back at five key moments from Saturday’s fight.

1. In the second round, Cotto pressured Mayweather into the corner and began throwing heavy blows that drew cheers from the pro-Cotto crowd. But looks were deceiving. Replays showed that Mayweather blocked, slipped or dodged most of the blows and countered with a number of effective punches. The same pattern played out several times during the early rounds — Cotto steering Mayweather into the corner, only to get outpunched by the challenger.

2. Fighting in the middle of the ring in the fourth round, Mayweather tagged Cotto with several sweeping right hands to the side of the head. Although Mayweather ended the round with blood coming from his nose, he finished the first third of the night with an edge in punches landed.

3. In round six, Cotto changed tactics and quit trying to press Mayweather into the ropes. The move appeared to take Mayweather out of his game — at least momentarily. Cotto landed several clean punches over the next two rounds, and Mayweather continued to bleed.

4. Mayweather landed a powerful straight right to start round 10, then mixed in an effective left uppercut to begin a dominant performance in the final three rounds.

5. Mayweather put the finishing touch on his victory with about 50 seconds left, when he caught Cotto with a bomb of a right hook, then followed with a left uppercut that dazed the champion. Cotto recovered, but the fight was over.