Mayweather Jr. becomes more exciting with age

Maybe this it what happens when the journey has been shortened to a handful of fights. Maybe he is just tired of hearing critics - correct in their assessment, by the way - consistently chide his method of success as boring.

Whatever the case, age has delivered to boxing a more entertaining Floyd Mayweather Jr. to watch.

It might not have been the mismatch of unanimous decision scores three judges felt on Saturday evening, but Mayweather certainly deserved and earned his junior middleweight victory against Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden.

You might have thought Mayweather's entrance tough to top, what with an entourage that included Justin Bieber, Triple H and 50 Cent accompanying him, but the ensuing 12 rounds did.

He's just so incredibly difficult to hit square.

That's why Mayweather's record now stands at 43-0, because as brilliant as Cotto's strategy and toughness and determination was, he never could finish the flurries he managed.

He was by far the bigger fighter and often succeeded in stalking Mayweather into the corner, but getting him there and then landing enough punches to sway the judges proved to be impossible.

The scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 aren't a perfect depiction of what transpired, but they're closer to it than not. The fight was never as close as the cheering crowd believed and not the blowout Twitter suggested the HBO announcers thought.

Mayweather likely hasn't been pushed to these limits since engaging Jose Luis Castillo twice in 2002. And still, it was obvious who won Saturday.

"(Cotto) is a future Hall of Famer and tough competitor," Mayweather said. "He's no pushover. He didn't come just to survive. He came to fight. When fights are on pay per view, you want to give the fans what they pay for and that's entertainment."

What they want to pay for next is Mayweather finally opposing Manny Pacquiao, who fights Timothy Bradley here on June 9. Whether most believe the megafight boxing has patiently waited for will ever happen depends on the day of the week, but the Cotto that didn't fold and fought back and threatened a perfect record Saturday was better than the Cotto that lost to Pacquiao via 12th-round knockout in 2009.

Mayweather also has a date to uphold. He is scheduled to report to jail on June 1 for his guilty plea in a domestic violence case.

"I take the good with the good and the bad with the bad," Mayweather said.

It seems all the talk and praise for Pedro Diaz was justified, because Cotto's trainer had his fighter as well prepared as possible for someone thought to be never the same following a 2008 loss to Antonio Margarito.

But while he is giving the paying public more to watch than earlier in his career, the 35-year-old Mayweather still possesses some of the greatest defensive skills in history. Cotto learned that Saturday night.

"The judges said I lost the fight," Cotto said. " I can't do anything about that. I have to take my defeat. I trained my best and did my best. (Mayweather) knows what kind of fighter Miguel Cotto is and so do the fans. I am happy with my fight and performance and so is my family. I can't ask for anything else."

Mayweather was again asked about Pacquiao afterward and he again brought up the drug-testing protocol that he insists the Filipino champion hasn't agreed to when trying to make the terms on a potential fight.

Who knows. It has reached the point where both sides spew the same charges over and over, reached a time when most believe we will never see the one fight everyone wants to see.

Maybe this is as close as we get, each one continuing to beat all opponents in front of them and never agreeing over percentage of purse or drug testing or who Bieber accompanies into a ring or anything else that would finally make the fight.

"If you want the best, take the test," Mayweather said afterward when again referring to the testing protocol he says Pacquiao won't adopt. "I tried making the Pacquiao fight, but when we couldn't, I decided to fight Miguel Cotto."

Fight, they did.

Say what you want to about Mayweather - and I and others have said plenty, all deserved - but this version is an exciting one.

This one comes to put on a show, even after all the famous people depart the ring following introductions.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.