Pacquiao will KO Clottey - Roach

JOSHUA CLOTTEY’S FLAWS, HARDLY perceptible at first glance, have been spotted and master trainer Freddie Roach is ready to exploit them come fight night on March 13 in Arlington, Texas.

After scrutinizing tapes of the Ghanaian in action, Roach is now convinced his prized ward Manny Pacquiao will win by knockout, not by 12-round decision, over Clottey when they tangle for the Filipino ring’s icon’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown.

“Manny will knock him out,” Roach told GMA News yesterday. “I’ve been studying tapes of him (Clottey), (and) he’s not very good.”

Noting that Clottey is “a big strong guy who’s never been knocked out before,” Roach initially stated that he’d prepare Pacquiao to go 12 hard rounds.

But now, the four-time Trainer of the Year believes Pacquiao’s speed and barrage of punches will eventually overwhelm the 33-year-old Clottey.

“I think if we break him (Clottey) down, we can get him out of there in the late rounds,” said Roach. “He has a passive defense and leaves his body wide open for a while when he puts his hands up like that. When we dig to the body and break him down, I think we can get him out of there.”

Source: inquirer.net