Pacquiao thinks Clottey is tougher than ‘Money’

King of the ring Manny Pacquiao thinks he would have an easier fight against former pound-for-pound titlist Floyd Mayweather Jr. after giving tough former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey his worst beating ever.

“Mayweather’s style is not as difficult as Clottey’s,” Pacquiao told Filipino journalists. “It’s easy to study.”

Pacquiao was trying to compare the defensive styles of Clottey and Mayweather, an unbeaten champion in five different weight divisions, who could be his next opponent in what could be the biggest boxing fight in history.

“But he [Mayweather] has to take care of business [against Shane Mosley] first,” said Pacquiao as he reiterated his readiness to fight the trash-talking Mayweather. “Otherwise, I will be fighting Mosley.”

Pacquiao earlier said that Mayweather has a very tough fight against 38-year-old Mosley, who stopped former welterweight titlists Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito in his last two fights.

Pacquiao thinks Mosley would beat Mayweather because of Mosley’s speed and power.

But the brash Mayweather belittled Pacquiao’s shutout win over the thoroughly outclassed Clottey Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium before almost 51,000 people, the biggest boxing attendance in the United States in 17 years.

The self-absorbed Mayweather, who claims to be the best fighter in the world, branded Pacquiao as a “one dimensional” despite the Filipino superstar’s virtuoso handling of a bigger fighter Mayweather probably would not even fight.

“Personally, I think Pacquiao got exposed in that fight for being one-dimensional,” Mayweather told Tom Jenkins of The Cage Report. “You can have all [the offensive] ability in the world but with no defense you’re not going to last long against a good counter puncher such as myself.

“Look at the way Clottey was getting through. Each time he threw something it landed. Then at the end Pacquiao’s was all busted up, when’s the last time you’ve seen my face all messed up like that? That’s the difference between an amateur and a true pound-for-pound boxer.”

Mayweather, 33, who remains unbeaten in 45 fights, described Pacquiao-Clottey as “boring” and promised an action-packed encounter when he challenges Mosley for his World Boxing Association version of the welter crown.

“I think Pacquiao gave the fans a boring fight, he was punching [Clottey’s] arms for all 12 rounds. At least when you watch Floyd Mayweather you know you’ll be seeing non-stop action for 30 minutes straight and that’s what you’ll see on May 1st,” he said.

Pacquiao and Mayweather were close to wrapping up a mega fight just before Christmas until the negotiations fell through on Mayweather’s demand for random Olympic-style blood testing, which has never been required in professional boxing.

Both fighters were guaranteed $25 million each for what could have been the biggest fight in the history of the sport.

Mayweather, who has been sued for defamation by Pacquiao for insinuating that he might be on performance enhancing drugs, took yet another potshot at the seven-time champion in different weight classes on the issue of drug testing.

“The thing is I am just looking out for the good of the sport, everyone should compete on a fair level but [Pacquiao] doesn’t want that,” Mayweather said. “I’m not going to say what he is or isn’t on, but let’s just say that HGH is one hell of a drug. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather, we all know that. If he wants to fight me, he doesn’t have to look far. Just look for the biggest mansion in Vegas and that’s me.”

Source: Jun Medina  | The Manila Times

Pacquiao in peak form to clobber Clottey

Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao is peaking at the right time for his world welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, according to his trainer Freddie Roach.

Roach said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that Pacquiao, who has boxed 12 rounds every other day last week, will begin tapering off on his sparring starting Tuesday with just 12 days before his first defense of the World Boxing Organization welterweight title he won on November 14, 2009 from Miguel Cotto.

On Saturday, Roach said Pacquiao sparred for four rounds each with unbeaten welterweight Abdullai Amidu (18-0, 17 by knock outs) of Ghana; junior welterweight title prospect Mike Dallas (11-0-1, two KOs) of Bakersfield, California; and welterweight contender Steve Forbes (34-7, 10 KOs), a former world junior lightweight champion, of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Roach said his prized student is “looking very sharp and is expected to be in tip-top shape” by fight night on the 13th.

“Manny reported to training camp in shape as he always, and I think he is ready to go,” said Roach, a four-time Trainer of the Year.

Roach said the choice of sparring partners for Pacquiao, the reigning best boxer in the world pound-for-pound, reflects Team Pacquiao’s respect for Clottey, who has never been stopped in his career.



“I keep saying that Clottey is not an easy fight,” Roach said. “He is a tough, strong and competitive fighter. And he has held his own against some of the best welterweights—[Miguel] Cotto, [Antonio] Margarito—and he beat actually [former undisputed welter champ] Zab Judah.”

However, Roach said Team Pacquiao has come up with a game plan for Pacquiao to break Clottey down and possibly stop the Ghanaian star in the late rounds.

As of Monday night (Tuesday in Manila), online betting odds have further widened in Pacquiao’s favor, from 5-1 to 6.5-1.

Bodog.com put Pacquiao a minus 650 betting favorite, which means a $650 wager on PacMan wins $100. In contrast, a $100 bet on Clottey nets $450.

The odds with SportsBook.com are slightly less stiff. To win a $100 bet on Pacquiao, one needs $625 capital; while a $100 wager on Clottey wins $425.

As of Friday, Top Rank Promotions chief executive Bob Arum, who is co-promoting the fight with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, said only 8,000 of the 45,000-capacity reconfigured boxing arena were still available.

Arum said he expects a sell-out fight because the remaining tickets are selling very fast.

Pacquiao and Clottey are expected to hit Dallas for the big fight billed as “The Event” by March 8.

Source: Jun Medina  | The Manila Times

Pacquiao shifts training to high gear

Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao stepped up his training for his coming March 13 title defense against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey who, he described, is big, strong and dangerous.

Pacquiao’s diet and conditioning consultant Alex Ariza said Wednesday from Los Angeles that PacMan is “very sharp and looks like he’ll be ready to fight next week.”

Ariza said Pacquiao sparred seven rounds Tuesday and is expected to do seven or eight rounds on Thursday (Friday in Manila) at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.

Pacquiao went three rounds with unbeaten junior welterweight Mike Dallas, two rounds with Brian Brook and another two rounds with Jose Benavidez, a speedy junior welterweight.

“Manny is doing absolutely great in training, and Freddie [Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer] is satisfied at the level we are in now,” said Ariza who also works as the renowned trainer’s assistant.

Ariza said he is focusing on strength at his stage of Pacquiao’s conditioning regimen, then top it all up with speed exercises as training camp tapers off, to maximize the Filipino icon’s deadly combination power and explosiveness.

Ariza thinks Pacquiao-Clottey “could be even better” than PacMan’s previous fight when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the final round to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown, Pacquiao’s record seventh world title in as many weight divisions.

Pacquiao’s bodyguard Rob Peters said the Filipino fighter is always in “good spirit” during his daily workouts.

“When you see Manny in such a cheerful mood during training, you know that he’s peaking nicely,” said Peters. “Manny is always in good spirit, and he makes training camp look so easy, which is very, very rigorous.”

Peter said the few Team Pacquiao members who are privileged to see Pacquiao train behind closed doors are amazed at how focused he is during his Monday-to-Saturday training and still remain cheerful and playful.

Pacquiao said he considers the taller and bigger Clottey dangerous because at stake in their fight is not just his WBO welterweight crown but also his mythical title as the best boxer in the world pound-for-pound.

”Clottey knows that he has nothing to lose in this fight . . . but I know he will try to do everything to score an upset,” Pacquiao wrote in Filipino Wednesday in his weekly tabloid column.

“That’s why I need to show that I’m the best in the world, come up with another masterpiece in the ring and to win convincingly.”

Source: Jun Medina  | The Manila Times

Pacquiao-Clottey can break US gate record

The Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey March 13 fight has the golden chance of breaking the record for the biggest attendance in a covered arena in the United States as it has sold more than 20,000 tickets in just four days.

“The public response is just unbelievable,” said Top Rank Promotions spokesman Lee Samuels from Las Vegas. “We are happy to report that since ticket sales started last Saturday [January 23] more than 20,000 tickets have been snapped up by boxing fans.”

Most of the tickets already sold were the expensive ones, Samuels said—those in the $100, $200, $300 up to the most expensive $700 ringside seats.

“We still have thousands of tickets for $50 and up, which are available for families who simply want to have a night of boxing excitement and fun,” Samuels said.

He said the presence of substantial numbers of ethnic Filipinos in Dallas and nearby areas plus the huge Hispanic population who love boxing would boost interest in the fight dubbed as “The Event.”

According to veteran American boxing scribe Michael Marley, the current record is 63,315 paid attendance generated by the Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks rematch at the Louisiana Superdome in 1978.

On September 10, 1993, 58,891 people paid to watch the Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker super fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Quoting Top Rank Chief Executive Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, Marley said more than 24,000 tickets have been sold by Ticketmaster since Saturday.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the new and huge football arena with retractable roof will be configured for 40,000 to 50,000 seats, but that can easily be expanded up to 90,000 seats, depending on demand.

Samuels said they were pleasantly surprised by the early ticket sales results for Pacquiao-Clottey, which he described as a competitive match-up between two of the best welterweights in the world who both come to fight.

If the media interest in the fight is any indication, Samuels said, about 1,000 media men from around the world are expected to cover the fight, the first boxing event in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world. He has speed, superb footwork and explosive power in both hands,” Samuels said. “Josh Clottey is certainly a worthy, dangerous challenger—bigger, stronger and tough—who has never been stopped.”
What makes Clottey dangerous are not only his toughness and size advantage but also his being “hungry for a world title” and the fact that he has a game plan against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

“I expect Clottey to be aggressive throughout the fight because he feels that’s his only chance against Manny,” Samuels said, adding that a big, tough and aggressive fighter like him, who has pop in his punches, could pose a real challenge for Pacquiao.

Source: Jun Medina  | The Manila Times

Judah favors Pacquiao; Cotto sees even match

Former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah thinks Manny Pacquiao will beat Joshua Clottey, while former titlist Miguel Cotto rates Pacquiao-Clottey as an even-money match-up that could go either way.

“Pacquao should get him,” said Judah, who lost to Clottey by unanimous decision on August 8, 2008 for the vacant International Boxing Federation welterweight. The fight was stopped by the referee because of Judah’s cut caused by an accidental head butt.

Judah, a speedy southpaw like Pacquiao, said he thought he was winning that fight, but added the referees saw it differently.

Cotto, who has fought both Pacquiao and Clottey, predicts it “will be tough for both fighters” in their March 13 face-off at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Cotto said it would be an interesting match-up between the speed and punching power of the Filipino champion versus the Ghanian’s strength and size.

“Clottey is physically stronger and bigger but Pacquiao hits harder,” Cotto told Filipino journalist Nick Giongco.

Cotto should know whereof he speaks because he has fought both. He was stopped by Pacquiao in the 12th round of their World Boxing Organization welter title fight on November 14 in Las Vegas. Five months earlier, he edged Clottey via split decision to successfully defend his title on June 13 at the New York Madison Square Garden.

The camps of both fighters are predicting knockouts which are not altogether empty promises, given the aggressive styles and high KO percentages of both.

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 by knockouts) has won his last four fights by stoppage against opponents who were all bigger than him.

Clottey (35-3, 20 by KOs), has never been stopped in his 14 years as a professional fighter.

The 32-year-old Clottey, said he will “shock the world” by stopping the world’s best boxer pound-for-pound by knocking him out.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said his prized Filipino student would find a way to stop the rugged Clottey, who not only has a tough chin but also has good defense.

Both fighters arrived in Dallas Monday night (Tuesday in Manila) for a 1 p.m. press conference the following day at the $1.2-billion Cowboys home arena to announce their coming title showdown.

Source: Jun Medina  | The Manila Times