HBO 24/7 'Mayweather vs Cotto' video (Episode 3) and recap

MMAmania.com is your home for comprehensive coverage for the upcoming Floyd Mayweather vs Miguel Cotto WBA Light Middleweight championship bout that takes place this weekend (May 5, 2012) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This past Saturday, episode three of "24/7 Mayweather vs Cotto" feature aired on HBO. You can catch the video (and our recap) of episode one here and episode two here. You should also check out our opening remarks on the fight.

The third episode continues to portray Floyd Mayweather as a larger than life figure, following the fighter as he participates in a 5k charity walk for "Habitat for Humanity." The emcee thanks Mayweather for his $100,000 donation to the cause and the fighter and his entourage have some fun at the expense of a Manny Pacquiao look-a-like as he crosses the finish line.

The champ explains his attitude toward philanthropy:

"Like I always say, money don't make me. I make money. When someone say 'I'm not materialistic,' you gotta realize, somebody broke made that up. Somebody who don't want to strive for sh** made that up. You know, beauty is only skin deep. An ugly person made that up. I tell you this: I'm a well groomed individual and I like money. But with me being in this position, I'm going to give back to families."

Of course, the very next scene shows Mayweather and 50 cent hitting up the Vegas strip for some high class shopping, and we see Floyd spend $10,800 on a pair of shoes for his one and only, Miss Jackson.

It's been rather difficult for the 24/7 production team to get any kind of footage of Cotto outside of his home or the gym, and the first segment of the third episode is no different: Cotto spars in front of the watchful eyes of Pedro Diaz and his medical advisor, Osvaldo Nartello, who draws blood from Cotto's ear after one of the rounds in order to test his lactic acid threshold. Nartello explains:

"The training of any athlete, in any sport, without medical advice for the trainer, is useless."

I'm not sure that I can agree with him on that, as many elite athletes have emerged from impoverished backgrounds without the modern tools that are available to prize-fighters like Cotto, but it's certainly smart to use whatever technology you have at your disposal.

We catch back up with Mayweather who, despite his earlier claims of being a well rounded individual, isn't above jumping into the gutter to make fun of Cotto and his sleeping arrangement with Bryan Perez in classic fifth grade style before continuing his preparations.

We hear a little from Roger Mayweather about the level of preparation Floyd has reached for this fight and then we hear a little more about the relationship between the trainer and his nephew, which has been going strong for 16 years and has produced a professional record of 42-0.

On the flip side, Cotto and his current trainer Diaz have only been together for one fight and we get to see the former Cuban national team coach kickback with some of his old pals from their days together in Cuba, smoking cigars and playing dominos. Five years after leaving the country, Diaz gives us some insight into how he got involved with Cotto:

"I felt like I was missing something. I looked at the greatest trainers and boxers in the world, including boxers who lost to Cubans as amatuers and later became great stars. This made me think very hard about professional boxing. If I hadn't made that decision [to defect], I wouldn't be working with Cotto."

The final Cotto segment of the episode sheds a little light on Cotto's late father, Don Miguel, who is the namesake for Cotto's gym. We see the Cotto camp share another meal together, while Mayweather has his final optometrist appointment, mugs for the camera and makes more absurd declarations about himself and Cotto. I'll leave it to you guys to check out what he had to say, along with the rest of the episode:

The final episode of 24/7 goes down this Friday at 8 p.m. ET, following the weigh-ins that kick off two hours earlier. The fight itself happens this Saturday night of course, with the pay-per-view (PPV) getting started on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

Cotto looked a bit lighter in this episode, perhaps a little drawn out from the weight cutting process. (I'm not sure how much weight he is cutting for this fight at 154 pounds)

Do you think his Cuban trainer will have the correct strategy for taking Floyd apart? If he does, will it be enough to bring Cotto the victory, or is Mayweather simply too quick and sharp for him, no matter the gameplan?