Pacquiao’s real challenge is not to beat Clottey, but to stop him
Pacquiao's real challenge is not to beat Clottey, but to stop him | 
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By Scott Heritage
Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey received a rapturous reception in Dallas today when they met with the press, and there seemed to be little animosity between the two as they prepare to face off in the ring in a little under two months time.
Although Clottey will be seen by some as something of a consolation prize for Pacquiao, eager to see if he could be the man to finally end Floyd Mayweather’s thus far perfect record, the fight will none the less generate a lot of interest. Enhanced to a degree by the use of the billion dollar Dallas Coyboys stadium. For a lot of people, the issue isn’t really even if Manny can win, because he certainly should, but whether he can do what no one else has and stop Clottey inside the distance.
No matter how you might hear the fight played up for the purposes of selling a ticket or pay per view or two, make no mistake, Clottey is an easy fight for Manny. Clottey was just beaten by Miguel Cotto, who then went on to lose to Pacquiao, and it wasn’t even particularly close.
Cotto struggled with Clottey, but at the same time he had a massive gash impairing his vision for most of the fight as well. Pacquiao with his speed and power has most of the advantages over Clottey, who can perhaps claim only a better chin and more physical strength as his assets in the fight.
The biggest problem with Clottey though is that he has a tendency to drift in some rounds and become inactive. Against opponents he could bully around or catch with shots regularly this isn’t so much of a problem, but against Pacquiao he will struggle to land a glove all night unless the Filipino feels like going toe to toe (which he often does).
The real challenge for Manny then is to stop Clottey rather than simply beat him, and he has managed to steamroll all his recent opponents despite what they might have said about his punching power after the fact.
The question won’t be whether Manny can land, but whether he has the power to put Clottey away. Although he has a difficult to navigate defense, Clottey tires late against similar sized welterweights, and Pacquiao is known for his conditioning and relentless pace. If he can push Clottey for the first half of the fight, then the later rounds are as good as in the bag, and he can get to work on getting the stoppage.
The Cowboys stadium is setting up for 40,000-50,000 people, and other than the Ghanaian contingent, the rest of the crowd to a man will be waiting for a Pacquiao knockout. Whether they will get what they want from the always rugged Clottey is another matter, but a stoppage is what Manny has said he will be looking for.
Topics: Boxing, Joshua Clottey, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto
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The new ref won’t be as good for Clottey, he won’t be able to get away with any clashes of heads. I’m not sure about which I’m most looking forward to, both should be good either way. Especially if Mosley can at least make it a good fight.
I did read that somewhere. I just want the playing field as even as possible. I’m anxiously looking forward to this matchup even more than I am Mosely/Mayweather. We can’t be sure if Minnie May(I couldn’t resist) will even go through with the fight let alone give a strong showing of himself; whereas Pacquaio and Clottey are already on course for a head-on collision.
Re: MB,
The ref they were going to use as the same one from the Barrera vs Pacquiao fight, and he’s made a mess of a few others as well. (his dad is the head honcho of Texas boxing, hence he gets all the best fights)
I must say, everybody is excited!!!! This gonna be one of the best fight ever coz pacquiao won’t let clottey got the fame out of him but clottey won’t let pacquiao got the win that easily. That means this could lead clottey to fame and end of pacquiao. So this gonna be a tough one.
Does anyone agree?
The Pacquaio vs Clottey fight has the potential to be an outstanding match of skills. On the surface it looks like two men and their support staff preparing for what should be a fair fight, right? Well here are a few things that are going on behind the scene. After agreeing to fight at 147lbs-Pacquaio’s braintrust decide that Clottey’s been a WW too long-and that he is very comfortable with his weight; so they decide Clottey should fight at a catchweight and drop to 145(that didn’t fly with Clotteys people) then Clottey’s trainers were denied visas into the country while he is in preparation for the biggest fight of his career-then I read an article where Freddie Roach wanted to use different gloves for the fight-and now; one day after the WBO announced who their referee would be-a State Representative(who will not make himself available for questions regarding this matter) has contacted the Texas Athletic Association and had the referee replaced. Everything that promoter Bob Arum has done to this point had Bern geared toward providing Pacquaio EVERY possible advantage before they even step into the ring!
That’s it! Arum wanted the fight out of Vegas because the pain steroid Floyd uses (Xylocaine) is banned everywhere except Nevada. Dallas would’ve outlawed the usage making Mayweather’s hands harmless.
Jerry Jones offered to put up $25 million for the Pacquiao vs, Mayweather fight but Mayweather wouldn’t fight outside Las Vegas.
I’m guessing he must have put up quite a bit for the Clottey fight as well.
Arum might have offered a two fight deal for Pacquiao in Texas, the second being against Margarito.
I also thought it was very odd to have this fight in Texas. The new stadium is beautiful and all that but …. still it left me puzzled. Jerry Jones does appear to have alot of money and he must’ve made Bob an offer he simply couldn’t refuse.
Personally, I think Mayweather is terrified of Pacquaio! The speed, balance, punching power and stamina all spell disaster for Mayweather. Pacquaio is also too combative for Mayweather, pretty boy is used to having his opponents at an arm and a half lenght away from him the whole fight. Pacquaio would force Mayweather into an all out fight for the right to stay awake! Mayweather definitely dodged that one; but he ended up in Shane’s path, and the public demanded that this guy basically “Put up or shut up”.
As do I Mb, what’s your opinion about Pacquiao vs. Mayweather?
It is strangely fitting that they would choose the State with probably the worst record of bad judging of late for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.
In the end though Cotto winning against Clottey was irrelevant given Pacquiao ended up fighting both of them anyway
Just for the record, I immensely enjoy trading knowledge with other informed boxing men such as yourself.
I agree he cannot afford to coast and not be productive. And yes I did see the end of the Cotto fight and Joshua could’ve been busier, but he did not feel an urgency to do so since Cotto wasn’t fighting like he was trying to win anymore. Even the HBO compubox had Clottey landing many more punches and throwing less. That was a “Bob Arum” to the rescue job there; to save the Pacquaio fight.
Hey MB,
I respect Clottey and all, but did you see him fight Cotto?
He can’t coast in the later rounds against Pacquiao, and with his trainer not even in the country I don’t think this fight is going to be very competitive. Clottey is tough, but I get the impression he’s one of those fighters who gets unsettled out of his regular routine, and that doesn’t bode well.
Bulldog: If Manny tries to box with Joshua Clottey he’ll be stopped!
Scott, have you ever seen anyone else box other than Pacquaio? I can tell he’s your favorite fighter but you should at least try to appear somewhat objective in your articles. The way you’ve summed things up; should Joshua even come to Dallas? The terrible thing is that boxing fans know Joshua cannot win a well deserved decision because Manny is Bob’s cash cow right now and better to pay the judges and organize another big payday, than to let the better equipped, lesser known fighter have his victory.
Manny will teach clottey a boxing lesson. Lets see what is it and be entertained..
Watch the next X-Men sequel this year:
Starring: Floyd “The Xylocaine Man” Mayweather
co-Starring: Shane “The EPO Man” Mosley
MayweaTHER is now nowhere to be found in boxing, he’s finding a new CHERRY to PICK!
HBO will finally realize the cherry picking ways and advantages this delusional fighter always gets…which is a bad thing to have in a good BOXING match!
No paying public would like to pay to see an overwhelming mismatch even how much they would sell their fight as a well matched bout…nobody will pay to see a running, hugging, boring contact sport…nobody wants to see a defensive boxing styl; everbody wants to see a rumble! an exchange of punches not a fast runner or defensive sh!#T…and lastly nobody pays to see a delusional fighter claiming greatness with all of the above qualities he exudes and proclaiming he’s all about MONEY, THIS IS STILL BOXING for christssakes!
Nobody pays to see a chicken run!
There’s no doubt about it. Floyd is a proven ducker, bigtime, and can’t be considered all time great because he doesn’t really fight come fight night. He just uses the full size of the ring on fight night. Solid boxing fans want to see REAL fight and not dancing. I like Manny because he REALLY FIGHTS. Period. It doesn’t matter how much it will cost me to watch Manny fight, I will still pay to watch him fight. And that’s what boxing really is – FIGHTING and NOT DANCING. You will like Manny because he gives his opponent REAL fight and war. You can’t ask for more. And Manny fights only the best of any division and A-class boxers – the elites of the elites. Can Floyd do that? I don’t think so. Now, tell me who the best pound4pound king of the world?
Gayweather is a chicken period…………..excuse makes him more look gay period……..Pacman has never demand anything like that or anything against his opponent ever,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so why should he????!!!!!WHO THE HELL IS HE!!!!!He’s not even a champion!!!!!!He should’ve fought the best fighters before he retire dumb ass!!!!Now that someone’s been kicking assess & over powering his opponents”"”"ALL KO’S”"”,,,,he’ll come back & self proclaim that he’s the best p4p!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!How stupid!!He should’ve USE TO BE coz thats the difference of THEN & NOW…………Did’nt Gayweather Sr taught or menton about this to his gay son jr???I think gayweather’s next opponent is Teddy Atlas the mouth full of §hit!!!The only thing that these dumb head had have in common is their big mouth & they’re bunch of chickens coz they cant be happy for others… Believe me or not;; but that ASIAN dude from the PHILIPPINES “”"PACMAN”"” is unstoppable,,on top of the world,,, 7 division in different weight class champion & the BEST P4P in the WORLD .No Doubt…Too bad for all Pacman haters coz he’s got a long way to go…..So before you say something negative to the TRUE P4P KING MANNY PACMAN PACQUIAO ,,,,,,,THE TRUTH HURTS BUT ITS TRUE…..
hey bolo punch dats my line,
For Gayweather fight, xylocaine vs steroids. Gaweather vs Mosley will be ok.
Now THE EVENT is the one, we’re gonna watch in Dallas, plus we get to see a two billion work of art… so come down, will party all night, after…OK
two gentlemen fighters who will be bringing their A-game come fight time plus a great state-of-the-art venue. it has the makings of a sold-out fight. tale of the tape, please.