On January 22, 2005, Floyd Mayweather stepped into the ring with a twice-beaten fighter hailing from Caguas, Puerto Rico by the name of Henry Bruseles. On May 5th, he'll do it again, except this time, the fighter's name is Miguel Cotto. What's the difference? Absolutely none if you ask Floyd's uncle, Jeff Mayweather, who 7 years ago penned an article claiming that Bruseles was being used by Top Rank as a sacrificial lamb to save Cotto from an inevitable loss to his nephew. At the time, the statement may have sounded presumptuous considering that Cotto, like Mayweather, was still undefeated. However, after suffering two devastating defeats and changing trainers on three different occasions, just how accurate or far off will Jeff Mayweather's prediction be when the two finally do face each other inside the ring?
Although he never reached the same heights as Cotto, there's no denying that Bruseles did indeed share some very similar traits as him. It's a notion that probably had a lot to do with the fact that, at the time, both men were trained by Cotto's uncle, Evangelista Cotto. In fact, Bruseles was essentially a regular member of Cotto's camp, so much so that he adopted a similar fighting style and the two would spar each other on several occasions. As far as Jeff Mayweather was concerned, both Top Rank and Team Cotto purposely sacrificed Bruseles in order to gauge how a fight between Mayweather and Cotto would play out in hopes of being able to take notes on any advantage and disadvantages. "Bruseles is actually a test to find out how Miguel Cotto would fare if he stepped in the ring with Mayweather Jr. It's no secret that Mayweather Jr. and Cotto are on a collision course, if young Cotto can keep himself in the 140 lbs. frame which he struggles to maintain," Jeff Mayweather explained. "What happens in this fight between Mayweather Jr. and Bruseles will be the determining factor as to whether Cotto should start banging the drum about fighting Mayweather Jr. or should just remain silent and continue on his path to stardom with Mayweather Jr. not being a part of the equation until the boxing public demands it."
That being said, nothing prepared Bruseles for what took place on January 22nd. In short, Mayweather dominated him from pillar to post, easily winning every round on the scorecards before ultimately stopping Bruseles in the 8th round. Evidently, the performance was so easy that it prompted Mayweather to give his 2004 NFL AFC/NFC Championship game picks (New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons) to commentator Jim Lampley while the fight took place. It was the type of performance that Floyd's uncle predicted and expected; the type of performance that he said would convince Top Rank and Miguel Cotto, who was sitting ringside for the bout, to rethink the idea of a potential showdown. "Henry Bruseles will find out firsthand what it's like to be in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr., one of the best fighters in the world. If Floyd brings his A-game to the fight, I'm sure there wont' be much to tell about the experience of being in the ring with Floyd Jr. other than the obvious," Jeff continued, "That he is extremely hard to hit, extremely fast and that his punching power is a little deceiving, which would still leave Cotto and his team only one way to find out how good Floyd Mayweather Jr. really is. That is by getting in the ring with him, or else Cotto can continue on his unbeaten path until the public demands this fight above all others."
Despite the easy lopsided TKO victory that Mayweather scored against the original "Cotto clone", the boxing public would continue to demand for the fight to take place. The matchmaking brain trust at Top Rank, however, decided against it and fans would have to wait 7 long years before it was finally scheduled. Nevertheless, Jeff Mayweather's opinion of the fight is no different today than it was in 2005 when he stated, "Cotto is the better puncher but his attack is too economical for a fight with Mayweather Jr. He would certainly have to land a big shot to sway things in his favor, but skill for skill Mayweather Jr. has the advantage in hand-speed, foot-speed and defense, although one punch can certainly change the outcome of any fight." With the fight now taking place 7 years later and two weight divisions higher, is Jeff Mayweather still right or will it be any different than what took place on January 22, 2005?