Mayweather Sr. picks Pacquiao over Clottey

FLOYD Mayweather Sr. is practically writing off Joshua Clottey in his March 13 showdown against pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for the Filipino’s world welterweight title.

This unlikely prognosis from the man who has unfairly accused Pacquiao of steroid use is bolstered by the prediction of a late-round knockout made by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach.

Mayweather told Percy Crawford of FightHype.com that Pacquiao is too fast and too good for the former welterweight champion from Ghana.

“Clottey [is] going to get the hell beat out of him. He’s too flat-footed and they know that,” said Mayweather, the father of former pound-for-pound best in the world, Floyd Jr.

Mayweather finds Clottey “too defensive minded” to pose a real challenge to somebody as quick and explosive as Pacquiao.

“When he covers up, Pacquiao is going to tee off on his ass. He’s just not aggressive enough and is always second,” said of Clottey, a natural welterweight whose three only losses were debatable decision defeats against the likes of world champions like Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.

However, Mayweather thinks Pacquiao has no chance against his son Floyd Jr., who is scheduled to fight Shane Mosley in another major fight May 1 in Las Vegas.

“Pacquiao wasn’t ready to lose yet,” Floyd Sr. said of the aborted mega fight with his son on the issue of drug testing procedures. “He knows what is going to happen to him when he faces Lil Floyd. There ain’t no way that man can beat Lil Floyd. Not if he’s clean.”

Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s renowned American trainer Freddie Roach predicted that his prized student would break down Clottey and stop him in the late rounds.

Roach, a four-time Trainer of the Year, said Pacquiao will test Clottey’s body like no other fighter has done before.

“He’s [Clottey] got a good chin and so forth but nobody has tested his body as much as we will,” Roach said in an interview with FightFan.com. “People with good chins don’t always take it into the body.”

Clottey, who has never been stopped in his career, bucked a first-round knock down by Cotto in mid-2009 and rallied in a closely-contested fight that Cotto won by a split decision.

Source: manilatimes.net