Clottey: "Pacquiao First, Mayweather-Mosley Winner Next"

Welterweight Joshua Clottey puts aside some time to speak with BoxingScene.com about his training camp to prepare for the biggest fight of his career. He faces WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on March 13 in Texas. Clottey says that everything is running very smooth and he is confident of victory in this exclusive interview. He also touches on the significance of this fight in his native Ghana, Mosley vs. Mayweather and more.

BoxingScene.com: How is training camp going so far?

Joshua Clottey: Everything is good. Everything is fine. We are working hard and just getting ready for the fight on March 13th.

BoxingScene.com: Are you looking good weight wise?

Joshua Clottey: Oh yeah. That won't be a problem. I train hard and always come in on weight. That is something I really haven't ever had a problem with.

BoxingScene.com: What exactly happened with your trainers not getting their visas?

Joshua Clottey: I can't really get down or be too disappointed about it. Life always has to go on and I still have to train. I guess these things happen for a reason. I am working hard and will be ready for the fight. I still have a good team around me and am confident I will come out victorious.

BoxingScene.com: How is sparring going? I assume your team found some short quick southpaws?

Joshua Clottey: Sparring is going just fine. I am sparring with these two guys, real good fighters but I can't remember their names. Both undefeated guys. We brought in one who is real fast and he is shorter so I can get ready for the speed and the other one is big and has the power to help me prepare.

BoxingScene.com: Obviously this is the biggest fight of your career. Most of the experts are picking Pacquiao to win. What do you have to do to make sure you come out with the win?

Joshua Clottey: I have all my plans and that is what I am training for right now. I need to practice them so I can execute them when I step in the ring. I have all my plans in my head. He and his team is saying they are going to knock me out and really I don't mind them saying that. They can say whatever they want to say. I already know in my head what I am going to do and how I am going to win.

BoxingScene.com: Pacquiao hasn't said much but I have read articles where Freddie Roach said that he thinks Pacquiao will knock you out. Do you feel they are disrespecting you?

Joshua Clottey: Well you know I am not taking it like they are disrespecting me or taking me lightly. I always feel like I am getting respect from Roach. Whenever I see him or have spoken to him he talked to me with respect. Whatever he says is fine by me. He is hyping up the fight you know. He has every right to talk. It is a free country and he can speak his mind and say what he wants to say.

BoxingScene.com: How big is this fight in your native Ghana? What is the buzz like there?

Joshua Clottey: Everybody back home is real excited about this fight. I told them that they shouldn't worry because we always are hoping and trying to improve our lives. We keep trying and good things will come. I am going to go out there and fight my best and try to come out with the win. I am confident and my people are confident.

BoxingScene.com: If you pull off the upset and come out victorious what do you want to do after that?

Joshua Clottey: If I win the fight and beat Manny Pacquiao, the number one pound for pound fighter ,my country will be so proud. I would like to fight the Mosley-Mayweather winner. You know one thing about me Ryan. I will fight anybody. If I win this fight I will be ready and willing to fight anybody.

BoxingScene.com: Paul Williams is still looking for an opponent. I know you wanted to fight him in the past. Would you fight him?

Joshua Clottey: If he wants to fight me I can fight him. I will fight anybody who wants to fight me.

BoxingScene.com: Who do you think wins the Mayweather vs. Mosley fight?

Joshua Clottey: It is a very tough fight. Shane Mosley is going to come out ready and hungry because he has wanted this fight for a long time. He has wanted a big fight for a long time. Now that he has one he will come in prepared and give Mayweather everything he has but Mayweather is a very smart guy who has a great defense and is a great boxer. This is a very tough one to call so I can't really pick a winner.

BoxingScene.com: Do you have a message for the fans?

Joshua Clottey: Well I just want to tell everybody that I am going to fight with the best fighter in the world and I am going to come in the ring prepared and do something that no one thinks I can do. That is the only thing I can say now. I have a plan and I will make it a good fight.


Source: boxingscene.com

Joshua Clottey - A Stylistic Challenge for Manny Pacquiao

Michael Nelson takes a look at the the strengths and weaknesses of Joshua Clottey, and assesses why the Ghanaian welterweight poses the toughest challenge for Manny Pacquiao since Juan Manuel Marquez.

While Clottey's unfulfilled potential may have some underrating his ability, the reputation that he finds a way to lose has legs underneath it; he has three losses in fights he appeared to have the upper hand in.

Against Carlos Baldomir, he was disqualified in a bout he was winning handily. Many observers had him ahead four rounds to nil against Margarito before going long stretches without offering resistance to Antonio's torrent of punches. And he took his foot off the pedal against a reeling Miguel Cotto last June. The Ghanaian's theatrical reactions to getting fouled - many of them displayed against Cotto - doesn't win him many fans either.

But none of that changes the fact that he's a superb talent. And he has strengths that will make him far more competitive than Cotto was against Manny Pacquiao - namely, a tight guard, granite chin, and multi-dimensional attack.

Miguel Cotto, a converted southpaw, is left-hand dominant. While he possesses a sharp jab and punishing left hook, he doesn't have a dynamic right hand. A right hand less threatening than the left is a characteristic shared by Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, Pacquiao's two opponents prior to the Puerto Rican star. The size of the role this has played in how dominant Pacquiao has been since his evenly fought 2008 battle with Juan Manuel Marquez can be debated, but it's clearly something that Manny and Freddie Roach don't have a problem fully exploiting.



Clottey will be Pacquiao's first opponent since Marquez comfortable with throwing a right hand in nearly any situation. He can consistently lead with it, like he did against southpaws Zab Judah and Shamone Alvarez. He can accurately counter a charging opponent with it. He can throw concise uppercuts between a guard, or loop shots around a guard with it. Sum it up, and the Filipino star may appear to be less than the defensive wizard he's been for the last two years when matched against Clottey's educated right.

It's also been a while since Pacquiao has faced an unmovable object, and Clottey is damn close to being one.

A primary reason Manny so thoroughly dominated the last half of his showdown with Cotto is that Miguel simply couldn't take Pacquiao's heat any longer. Cotto admirably never opted out of the fight, but after the fifth stanza, it became more about minimizing the punishment taken than giving himself the best chance to win. While Cotto is tough to knock out, he's susceptible to facial damage and to being staggered - a combination that takes him out of his element.

Joshua has been temporarily jolted by the likes of Margarito and Miguel, but has never been seriously wobbled and recovers expeditiously whenever he is moved by a punch. Moreover, we've never seen him cut, scarcely seen him badly bruised, and hardly seen him visibly bothered by a body shot. That ability to soak up punishment mixed with a tight guard makes it highly likely that he'll be in Pacquiao's face for nearly the full duration of the fight.

Whether or not he'll throw enough punches while he's there is another story.

And therein lies the criticism hurled at Clottey; despite the crisp jab, fluid combinations, clever right hand, unyielding guard, and sturdy chin, his brittle hands, shaky stamina, and oft-absent bloodthirst allows him to get outworked for long stretches of a bout. Pacquiao throws enough leather to outwork any opponent who isn't willing to let their hands fly.

But it says here we're going to see a real fight on March 13 because for the first time in two years, Pacquiao's whirlwind won't be enough to overwhelm his opponent. Joshua will have his moments, enough of them to surpass the expectations of most of his doubters. And if he does manage to upset boxing's foremost celebrity, it wouldn't be the first time a flawed virtuoso put it all together for one night.

It's a clash that may leave us with more questions than answers, more frustration about quiescent promise. But a mismatch, it is not.

Source: theboxingbulletin.com

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

Another day in Pacquiaoville

The Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, CA is houses two full rings and seemingly countless fighters, pro, amateur and regular Joe’s and Jane’s looking to catch a glimpse of the fight game up close, learn a thing or two about themselves and the art of fighting, and maybe, maybe just maybe, catch a glimpse of the man known as arguably the best fighter in the world: Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Some come just to watch the action in general. The Wild Card at full strength at the height of the day can be a hustling bustling cacophony of grunts, booming punches, heavy bag bass and the rat-a-tat-tat of triple speed bags getting worked over. From England to New York, Australia to Italy, they come to witness the thick gym smell and the heat of the action; tourists, hopeful young fighters, writers, celebrity hunters, old time fighters, and fans of all ages all hoping to get a gander at the newest line of violent machine.


It’s a phenomenon that has grown with Pacquiao’s popularity. But as packed as the gym is on a day to day basis, for four hours or so every day, the hubbub dies down as the room is cleared for Pacquiao’s daily closed training session. Only those with appointments or business being there need apply for a door pass. Lucky for me, I had an appointment as I stood at the entrance of the gym waiting for “Pacman” to arrive for his daily training session in preparation for his March 13 fight with Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in a welterweight title fight dubbed “The Event.”

Inside, the gym had been cleared save for some media, a small film crew, Freddie’s brother Pepper and young trainer Shane Langford. In the back ring, junior middleweight prospect Shawn Porter, two weeks out from an ESPN fight, worked the mitts with his trainer. In the corner of the room, near the speed bags and Manny’s corner of the ring, the small army known as Team Pacquiao gathered. Head trainer Roach stood and chatted idly with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, his assistant Marie who moved about the gym taking carry of seemingly everything, and today’s celebrity guests and fight fans, Mark Wahlberg and Jeremy Piven. Wahlberg, fresh off shooting his next feature, a Mickey Ward biopic entitled “The Fighter,” brought his son along who was absolutely transfixed by the proceedings. Also waiting as her fighter, Mike Dallas, Jr prepared, was manager Jackie Kallen who worked her phone cheerfully making idle fight chat with the few others who walked back and forth around the room.

Manny pulled up in a Mercedes sports coupe of some kind with his brother Bobby, got out and let his brother park. Wearing a simple t-shirt and shorts combo, Manny could have been any other guy as he talked with a couple fans in the parking lot and quietly made his way up the stairs.

“Champ,” said Pepper Roach as he handed Manny a pen so he could autograph several posters laid out for charity. He readily did so and made his way to greet Freddie then disappeared into the dressing room.

Waiting for him to come out were four fighters of varying degrees of hunger. Soon to turn pro junior welterweight Irishman Jamie Kavanagh, a stand out amateur kid who looks like he should fight like Ricky Hatton but bounces and turns with the best of them readied in the corner. He’d go first.

Behind me as I set up at the massage table that runs along the side of the ring in the main room, light welter prospect Mike Dallas, Jr finished wrapping his hands and warmed up. He would give Manny his best work of the day behind a long, multiple jab and a constant right hand to the body. For Dallas, the opportunity to fight the best in the world is a once in a lifetime experience and a chance to find out more about himself as fighter.

“He’s making me step my game up,” said Dallas, who fights not unlike a young Vernon Forrest in both his gait and style. “Every day I am getting better and better. My game is stepping up more and more. He gives me key pointers after each session so I am learning every day. He’s really tricky. Fast guy. Speed and power. He makes me use my mind. Use my brain instead of just throwing a lot punches. He’s way stronger than anyone I have ever fought.”

Above all, Pacquiao has acclimated the southpaw inexperienced Dallas to the ways of fighting lefties.

“That’s another thing he is giving me,” said Dallas with a smile. “I hadn’t had too much experience with southpaws. I’m learning a lot. Now it’s not even confusing to spar a southpaw. I’m used to it now.”

Also on the day’s bill was Ray Beltran, a Mexican rugged veteran who has worked Pacquiao camps dating back to Manny’s featherweight days.

“I think he’s the same Manny as he has been,” said Beltran. “Looking good, moving fast, powerful, you know? I think this camp he is stronger. His speed is there. The power is there and the energy is there. He’s a special guy. I really have not seen champions who have energy like that.”

If there is an expert on how Manny Pacquiao has changed as a fighter over the last few years as he has moved up in weight, it might be Beltran; after all, he’s gained his knowledge the hard way.

“When [Pacquiao] was a featherweight, before he used to go all crazy,” explained Beltran. “Now he’s more of a complete fighter; uses more technique. Smarter. More patient. Before, he used both hands but more crazy. Aggressive. This time, he is still aggressive but smart. He picks his spots. He knows how to set up the punch now.”

When asked if Manny hits like a welterweight Beltran doesn’t hesitate.

“Oh yeah, man. Like a natural welterweight,” he answered with a rueful smile. I’m coming up in weight, too. But I feel him strong. I used to be a featherweight, too. Now I walk around at 147, 150. But I mean, I am coming up in weight and I still feel him. His power. Some guys go up and they don’t bring their power. He’s coming up with power, too.”

Abdulai Amidu, a long and tall welterweight from Ghana who worked with Pacquiao in his last camp, rounded out the group. It’s clear from his session with Manny that he has learned how to settle down a bit and work behind a careful jab. In the past, Amidu would swarm and waste punches. Not on this day.

Each man will give Manny two rounds of solid work. It is now about 4 weeks from the fight and to hear Roach tell it, Pacquiao is a sharp as ever. Pacquiao’s most recent fight was in November of last year; a twelve round drubbing of Puerto Rican welterweight Miguel Cotto that ended in a technical knockout. Though he appeared to win with relative ease, Pacquiao absorbed heavy damage, breaking an eardrum in the process. While Roach wanted a longer rest, the quick turnaround has served at least to keep Pacquiao closer to game shape as he entered camp.

Said Roach. “He’s active, he’s healthy. He was 147 the first day he came in. We’re having just a little bit of trouble keeping the weight on him. We have to feed him four or five times a day and give him five protein shakes a day. He tends to lose the weight rapidly if we don’t feed him.”

The only risk now is not letting Pacquiao burn himself out.

“We’re way ahead of schedule,” Roach explained with confidence. “I want to cut back on sparring a little bit because we didn’t have as much of a layoff between fights. Usually we have about 150 rounds of sparring. For this fight we’re going to have about 100 because the down time was much shorter and I really don’t want to burn him out.”

None of the fighters assembled is a Joshua Clottey clone. But that isn’t what Roach is after. What he wants out of each fighter is there best. Sharp, aggressive fighters will hone Pacquiao and prepare him for whatever may come in the fight. It’s not always about mastering a style but ready for the moment however it may come.

Roach looks for patterns in an opponent both in how they throw punches and how they react in different situations throughout a fight. Once he breaks that down, he sets about showing Pacquiao what to look for.

“[Pacquiao’s] got the game plan down and he’s looking really, really good in sparring and the mitts,” said Roach. “I go through scenarios and watch tapes of Clottey and I emulate him and show Manny what he does in certain situations. Then Manny knows what to counter. He is just really, really sharp right now. Sharpest he’s been at this point in camp maybe ever.”

With each fight, Pacquiao’s star has risen. Once a fight fan’s best kept secret, Pacquiao is now an international superstar. And with each fight, the pressures that go along with carrying his country on his back have increased.

“True and that’s why I am cutting back on the rounds with him, trying to give him an extra day off here and there. It hasn’t worked yet,” said Roach with a laugh, “but I’ll get to him. He’s starting to understand that there is a burnout process. For the first time in my life the other day, he didn’t ask me for one more round on the double end bag. I said ‘One more.’ He said, ‘we did an extra round of sparring today. Let’s cut it at two.’ First time he has asked me that in his life. So I said ‘You’re finally getting to understand.’ He knows and he knows probably better than anyone.”

To see Pacquiao train is to get tired watching someone work out. The man is tireless. Once he leaves that dressing room and gets warmed up, his tempo builds and builds until he finishes out with a brutal stomach session that actually flattens the abs of everyone watching. It’s that tough. Roach understands his fighter’s need to push the limits of his abilities yet tempers it when he can. Watching them barter over how many rounds Pacquiao will be allowed to do is one of the more entertaining aspects of covering this camp.

“We negotiate,” Roach laughed. “It’s a little give and take. Sometimes I let him go. Sometimes I hold him back. I only hold him back when it’s necessary, when I feel he’s a little sluggish or burned out. It’s a fine line but I know him pretty well and I know exactly where he’s at. Yesterday he was just on fire. We did 15 rounds on the mitts with no rest period in between; an hour, two hours straight. I was tired.”

In Clottey, Pacquiao has before him as tough a fighter as he faced but not necessarily the most dangerous. AT his best, Clottey works behind a single jab and a shell defense looking to get in a right hand or land a brutal uppercut with either hand. Not that tall at 5’8” but as strong as any welterweight out there, Clottey will be a tough out for anyone. Especially considering that while he has lost he has never been stopped and rarely if ever dominated. But Roach is confident Pacquiao can be the man to change that.

“We have some very good sparring partners,” said Roach. “We’re working really well. I am very confident. The more I watch Clottey’s fights the more confident I get Manny can be the first person to stop him. We’re not going to look for the knockout. We’re prepared to go twelve hard rounds. I don’t necessarily think we’re going to knock him out. I think with the accumulation of punches we are going to land on him I think we are will stop him. Obviously he has never been down. He has a great chin. So we’re going to break him down. We’re going to work the body. With guys with good chins you look for your success in other places. We hit the body and I really think we are just going to overwhelm him because Manny’s speed is going to be superior in the fight.”

That’s a tall order considering that not only is Clottey the strongest fighter Pacquiao has faced, he also possesses arguably the best defense as well. But Roach, known as much for his game plans as anything, has an answer for that, too.

“The thing is, when he is in that shell, it’s a very breakable shell,” Roach explained “because he can’t protect his head and his body both. There’s going to be an opening somewhere. I’m working on teaching Manny how to crack that shell and how to open it up. He’s doing really well with that. It’s a great adjustment for him. Manny Pacquiao is getting better every time out.

“We’re going to come into the fight at 147,” he continued. “We’ll go into the ring about 149, 150 max. Clottey will be about 165 by fight time. So yeah, it will be the biggest and strongest fighter we have faced. Clottey is very conservative. He’s not really busy and then he goes into a shell. I think he goes into the shell to make you wear yourself out on him. And we’re not going to do that because Manny doesn’t wear out. I got the energizer guy there. That is not going to work against Manny, lying on the ropes and trying to draw us in, that same uppercut that he throws all the time. That’s the biggest punch he throws right there. That’s the punch I am worried about: the right and the left uppercut.”

It’s a special fighter who can gather attention the way Pacquiao does. Regardless of what you think of his technique or whether you’re fan of his in particular, Pacquiao brings a level of excitement and intensity to both his training and his fighting that comes along ever so rarely. Getting into see Manny spar is a rare occurrence for most and there was an almost giddy excitement in the room as the gathered all took their spots around the ring and prepare for a sneak peak at one half of “The Event.”

Manny emerged from the dressing room wearing his usual white with red flame trunks with matching shoes and a t-shirt. Pacquiao is a creature of habit. He stays in the same hotel suites for his fights. He eats at the same little restaurant after workouts. I swear I have seen the trunks he had on this day five camps in a row. So it’s strange when Pacquiao steps into gold gear as opposed to his usual green to spar. Gold cup. Gold Gloves. Gold headgear. I’m not sure where they’re going with this but it kind of looked like the Toys r Us Manny Pacquiao boxing set. Just saying.

Kavanagh got things started with Manny by meeting him center ring and working his right jab. This was first time seeing him and I have to say I was impressed. Not just by the head to body to head combinations he got off regularly but in the poise with which he executed. He didn’t seemed fazed by Pacquiao’s presence at all. Manny for his part waited and countered, sliding to the side and generally seeing what the kid had. Kavanagh was impressive as he danced side to side with Manny, bouncing on his toes and working his jab. But Manny let him know who was boss throughout, landing his left with aplomb. Late in the first, Kavanagh leapt in with a shot and Manny met him with a straight left that stopped him in his tracks. Down the stretch the traded blows and Manny seems to get the better of it but Kavanagh was not far behind.

Pacquiao zeroed in right from the top of the second round, landing hard lefts and hunting the kid down. But Kavanagh regained his composure, got Pacquiao along the ropes and delivered a brutal uppercut. Then the kid went downstairs to Manny’s ribs but that seemed to only excite Pacman.

“Body, body, body,” Pacquiao commanded as he held his guard up, exposing his midsection to be hit. Kavanagh, a bit winded now, obliged and Pacquiao returned fire with a flurry up and down. Kavanagh answered with a couple jab right hands. It was nice work by both.

The next two sessions, with Beltran and Amidu respectively, weren’t as telling or exciting as the fourth against Dallas, Jr. Beltran knows Manny well but that goes both ways. Beltran played the pressure game while Amidu boxed from long range and tried to keep Manny at bay. Both succeeded to varying degrees but none like Dallas.

Working behind a multiple jab that helped him drop in right hands behind it, Dallas took control early. Pacquiao was really warned now after six rounds of work and three different styles. I got the sense that in Dallas he has a bigger challenge than he expected and it looked like it brought out the best in Manny.

In most camps I have covered of Pacquiao’s, it’s hard to tell where he is at in camp from his sparring. He always has great energy but there are times when he can be bored or he works on a specific move only. It can be hard to tell what you are seeing unless you watch a steady string of sessions and piece it together.

Dallas seemed to bring out something in Manny I hadn’t seen in some time. The long jabs of Dallas bothered him. The prospect was throwing them so often and working his right to the head and body in intervals that kept Manny was kept off balance. Where he had been smiling and enjoying the combat before, Manny was now actively solving a puzzle.

By the second, as Dallas tired from his output and the sheer focus it takes to keep a top level fighter at bay, Pacquiao took seemed to find his answer. Left hands behind to get through as the jab died down and opened the kitchen door. Manny walked right in and helped himself to some nice body work and worked in an uppercut through a shell defense Dallas through up at one point. It was solid, exciting work by both men as they came down the stretch with Dallas’ jab returning and Pacquiao coming back with a right left combo.

When it was over, the room erupted in applause for all the fighters and Manny went over to finish his usual routines. Roach watched from close by, gauging his charge and talking over the day’s work with the rest of the team. Having confirmed with my own eyes what Roach had said before the session began, (yes, Manny is indeed sharp as hell right now), I headed out with a last look back at Pacquiao, lost in thought and the task at hand, working a double end back with an easy rhythm as a throng of cameras blasted away and a crowd gathered quietly outside. He could have been alone on an island the way he went about his work.

Just another day in Mannyville.

Source: maxboxing.com

Clottey will be the last fight if Pacquiao vs Mayweather wont happen

By Jim Dower: In a bombshell interview at East Side Boxing’s On the Ropes online program, trainer Freddie Roach revealed that this could be the last fight for his fighter World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Roach says “If Mayweather doesn’t come and fight us next time, this [Pacquiao-Clottey] could be our last one.” Roach is obviously speaking only of Pacquiao, because I can’t see Roach retiring anytime soon.


But this is fairly earth shattering news if Roach isn’t just blowing smoke up our backsides with this, because by the recent statements coming from Floyd Mayweather about him wanting Pacquiao to take even more blood tests in the future if he plans on fighting him, it seems to suggest that the Clottey fight could be Pacquiao’s last bout of his 15-year pro boxing career.
That would a huge disappointment if Pacquiao does decide that this will be his last bout, because it would leave opponents like Edwin Valero, Mayweather and Paul Williams without the opportunity to test Pacquiao to see if he’s as good as the recent hype that’s been generated about him due to his wins over Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya. As things are looking, it’s highly doubtful that Pacquiao and Mayweather are going to be able to come to any kind of agreement for a fight in the future with Mayweather insisting on random blood tests all the way up to the fight.

And Mayweather is now saying that if his May 1st fight against Shane Mosley does better financially than Pacquiao’s March 13th bout against Clottey, then it means he should get the bigger slice of the revenue for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. That’s just another reason to doubt that there will ever be a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao in the future.

As for the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight, Roach says “Obviously we have to break him [Clottey] down. It’s [a possible knockout for Pacquiao] going to be in the late rounds. It won’t go 12 rounds. We’ll get him at some point along the way. It’s going to be a battle up to that point. I do think the body shots and work rate will be too much. I don’t think Clottey will keep up with us.”

Most of the betting money is being put on Pacquiao to win. Indeed, Clottey appears to be way over his head in this fight despite being ranked by the WBO as the number #1 contender. Oddly enough, Clottey is ranked number #1 despite the fact that he was beaten in his last fight by Miguel Cotto. Usually when a fighter is beaten, they slip in the rankings, but not in the case of Clottey.

He’s ranked number #1, above Cotto for some reason. Cotto was just beaten by Pacquiao in his last fight by a 12th round knockout. But beyond Cotto and Clottey, the talent pool is abysmal in the WBO top 15. Most of the fighters are more prospects than contenders in my view, and deeply flawed. It’s more than a little sad and disappointing to see how poor the opposition is in the top 15 for the WBO, and perhaps for that reason we have Clottey ranked as number #1, even though he just got beat.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Lightweight title fight to be added on Pacquiao vs Clottey

Mexico's Humberto Soto will meet David Díaz for the World Boxing Council's interim lightweight championship on the March 13 Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey boxing card at Cowboys Stadium, it was announced Tuesday.

Soto is the WBC's super featherweight champion and once held the featherweight title.

"It will be a spectacular event," said Soto (50-7-2). "It's going to be a showcase because Pacquiao will be there. That will help me gain recognition with people."

Diaz (35-2-1) lost via ninth-round TKO to Pacquiao in June 2008.

The card will include seven bouts, said Ricardo Jiménez, a spokesman for promoter Top Rank Inc. Pacquiao and Clottey are fighting for the World Boxing Organization's welterweight title.

Undefeated Dallas bantamweight Roberto Marroquin will fight an opponent to be determined. Marroquin (12-0, 9 KOs) fought in the 2007 Pan American Games.

Mexico's Salvador Sánchez, the nephew and namesake of the former world champion, also will fight against an opponent to be determined.

Another fight features former world lightweight champion José Luis Castillo going 10 rounds against Alfonso Gómez. Both fighters are from Mexico.

Top Rank had hoped to include former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito but left him off the card because he has no Texas boxing license, although he has applied for one.

Margarito's license was suspended by the California Athletic Commission following his January 2009 knockout loss to Shane Mosley. Officials accused Margarito of trying to step into the ring with plaster-hardened hand bandages, a charge the boxer denied.

In addition to the Cowboys Stadium card, Top Rank has lined up 10 fights March 12 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine.

The fighters include Omar Chávez, son of the legendary former Mexican champion Julio César Chávez, and Fort Worth prospect Arthur Treviño, Jiménez said.

Source: dallasnews.com

Clottey lacks of Govt support in Ghana

Joshua Clottey believes his native Ghana is not fully behind him in his bold bid to kick Manny Pacquiao out of the pound-for-pound throne.

Speaking to Ghanaweb over the weekend, Clottey, who battles Pacquiao on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, said Ghanaian boxing officials and the government itself have not been very helpful in his request that Godwin Dzanie Kotey be given a hand in applying for a renewal of his US visa.

Clottey has been in training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the last two weeks under the guidance of a substitute trainer who the African fighter is not accustomed to.

"I am with a trainer but not the one I want and you know it so don't ask me because you know I came to Ghana to bring Alloway (Kotey's nickname) with me to come with him so I will do my best," said the 32-year-old Clottey, who now lives in the Bronx in New York.

"I am fine," said Clottey sarcastically.

"Tell Ghana that they've disappointed me by not giving my trainer visa to come here with me."

Clottey had to break training camp last month when Kotey was denied a visa and while he was in the capital of Accra, Ghana officials said they will help Kotey apply and succeed in getting a renewal, forcing the boxer to head back to the US again to renew his preparation.

Coupled with Pacquiao's status as the world's No. 1 puncher, Clottey's dillema is only making it easy for oddsmakers to justify the overwhelming betting line in favor of the Filipino. On-line betting has Pacquiao a huge 5-1 favorite over Clottey.

Over at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, Pacquiao's workouts have been fast and furious, according to his handlers.
In the next two weeks, Pacquiao's sparring sessions will reach its zenith with as many as 12 rounds of banging bodies with his sparmates in just one day on tap under the watchful eyes of Freddie Roach.

Team Pacquiao leaves for Dallas on a private plane courtesy of Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum on March 8.

Source mb.com.ph