A Clottey Win Means Attack Pacquiao Early

Joshua Clottey, former IBF world champion at the welterweight division and currently the face of Ghana’s boxing, will have his ultimate test come March 13th – stop Manny Pacquiao’s meteoric rise.
A herculean task to begin with, considering Pacquiao has been steamrolling his opponents and has not been stopped since that night when Erik Morales outboxed the then left-handed Filipino slugger five years ago.
Almost every aspect of the fight billed “The Event” lean heavily on the Filipino. Pacquiao is brimming with confidence if one has to acknowledge the fact that his he defeated every big guy placed in front of him, from David Diaz to Miguel Cotto. Almost with absolute certainty, Clottey will be perhaps another big guy Pacquiao will face.

Clottey’s last outing, a controversial loss to Cotto, would probably make a huge dent of his confidence. Can he really stop the Pacman and come with perhaps one of boxing’s monumental upset? He could. There is a faint yet distinct possibility that the banger from Accra, Ghana will manage to score a victory. Clottey is perhaps the sturdiest boxer Pacquiao will face. Oscar Larios is sturdy. David Diaz is sturdy. Miguel Cotto is sturdy. But Joshua Clottey is sturdier by any standards in contrast to Pacquiao previous opponents. But sturdy alone is not enough. And Diaz is a bloody testament to that. After nine rounds of absorbing almost everything the Pacman can dish, the Chicago native’s armor was pierced and the night was not his. For Clottey to win, he has to be more than an iron jaw.

Pacquiao’s strength is his speed and his ability to launch punches from angles unheard of. It would be unwise to try to match speed for speed, as Clottey never has that advantage and never will.

What Clottey needs to do is what Rustico Torrecampo and Medgoen Singsurat have done – hurt Pacquiao in the early rounds. This is not a comparison of Pacquiao then and Pacquiao today, but Clottey’s chances of scoring a win is good if, and only if, he can bring on the pain to Pacman as early as possible.

The logic of this reasoning being:

• It becomes increasingly hard to beat Pacquiao as time passes;
• Pacquiao can fight 15 rounds or more without gassing out;
• In contrast, Clottey slightly fades in the later rounds;
• Clottey is a straightforward fighter who is a bit polished and has tighter defense than Ricky Hatton, but still a straightforward fighter;
• If Clottey attacks early, he might achieve the element of surprise against the Pacman.

Of course, one can make a plausible argument that Hatton did press the attack early on and got knock down three times before getting blitzed in the second round. But as mentioned earlier, Clottey is perhaps the sturdiest fighter Pacquiao has ever faced. Coupled with a tight defense, an early attack is perhaps the most logical move for Clottey, who also happens to be the bigger guy.

In retrospect, let us look at the other bigger guys who fought Pacquiao and decided to feel him out and gauged him with jabs rather than bully him the way Hatton did. Oscar de la Hoya enjoyed a great advantage both in height and reach. However, instead of using his size to press Pacquiao, a much smaller man, to the ropes, peppered Pacquiao with flicking jabs that failed to keep the Filipino away. Miguel Cotto, another big guy, was able to press and put Pacquiao on the ropes and busted the Fiilipino southpaw’s right eardrum in the process. But after suffering two knockdowns, Cotto simply went on full retreat and never engaged Pacquiao again. Would the story have been different if Cotto pressed on despite tasting the canvas twice? The result could have been different.

Clottey may not have that punching power but he has some pop in his hands. He will definitely be able match Pacquiao’s speed. But sheer degree of impregnability and the ability to absorb hard punches are traits Clottey and his team must work on and the Pacquiao camp should worry about.

Source: 8countnews.com