Next month, on May 5, 2012, the UFC will return to FOX for the third time since the promotion reached a historic seven-year deal with the broadcast network late last year.

While all eyes in the mixed martial arts world will be trained on the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, there is another major combat sports event taking place that very same evening, as superstar boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather will take on Miguel Cotto in a light middleweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While most casual fans of boxing are likely taking the approach that unless Mayweather is fighting Manny Pacquiao, they aren't really all that interested, die hard fans of the sweet science should recognize that this fight is certainly one of the great challenges of Mayweather's career. Consider:

• Mayweather has only fought in the light middleweight division (154 pounds) one other time, a split decision victory over "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya back in 2007. De La Hoya was in the twilight of his career, and while the decision was somewhat controversial in the respect that most thought it should have been unanimous and not split, the fact remains that it has been one of the closest bouts of Mayweathers career.
• When they fought, De La Hoya was 34, Mayweather 30. This time around, the tables are turned, with Mayweather the elder statesman, having just turned 35, four years older than the 31-year-old Cotto.
• The two losses on Cotto's record are both somewhat defensible. He was stopped via TKO by Manny Pacquiao in round 12 of a 145-pound catchweight fight in 2009 and he was stopped via TKO by Antonio....

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