Undefeated Mayweather the 6-1 favourite, but Cotto confident he can win

Floydmayweather Jr. has been doing this all his life, since he was a scrawny kid seeking solace in the gym. The ring is his comfort zone, and he’ll enter it Saturday for the 43rd time as a pro, certain as ever that, when the night is through, he’ll not only be a lot richer but still unbeaten (9 p.m., pay-per-view).

Miguel Cotto is certain of a few things himself. Certain that he has conquered his worst fears in boxing, certain that he can be the first one to conquer Mayweather.

“I don’t need anyone else giving me a chance,” Cotto said. “If I can trust in myself, I don’t need anyone else believing in me.”

Not many are, especially the oddsmakers who make Mayweather a 6-1 favourite in Saturday night’s fight. But if any fighter is a live underdog it’s Cotto, a relentless punch- er who believes in himself again after finally avenging a beating he took from Antonio Margarito four years ago that left him searching for answers about his chosen profession.

Cotto stopped Margarito in their rematch in December, and will be defending his version of the 154-pound title against a fighter who knows how to promote a big bout almost as well as he knows how to fight one.

“Nobody is invincible in life. I know that because I pass through this point in my life,” Cotto said. “I’m ready for anything Floyd brings me. The question is, is Floyd ready for anything Miguel can bring to him?”

Mayweather has answered that question every time he’s stepped in the ring as a pro, winning all 42 of his fights while becoming the biggest pay-per-view attraction in the sport. If he needs any added incentive to win this fight, it would be that it might make the nights pass easier when he goes to jail June 1 for domestic abuse. UFC goes off-broadway Saturday night: Let New York have skyscrapers, pinstripes, and Wall St.

The UFC will again stage its latest big show off-broadway – 10 kilometres away across the river at the Izod Centre in New Jersey on Saturday (8 p.m., FOX, RSE).

The day may come when New York will legalize MMA and the octagon will land in Madison Square Garden. Until then, New Jersey will continue to tease its TriState rival on the action it’s missing with the first of two cards scheduled over the next two months. New York remains a dream. “New York will happen,” UFC president Dana White said. “We’ll do the Garden and it will be a huge blowout.”