Clottey blames his low KO percentage on struggles to make 147 – News
February 12th, 2010
By Jason Kim: In a recent interview, former International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO’s) candidly admitted why he’s had problems knocking out opponents as of late. Clottey, 32, says “This is the problem. I’ve been a welterweight for 16 good years. If you look at me from my head to my toe – my legs, my body, are all big. So sometimes I have to train hard to make the weight. So when you stay at the same weight for too long your knockout percentages comes down. I trained too much for the welterweight division. It’s not that I lack stamina.”
At that time in his career, Clottey had a record of 26-1 with 19 knockouts. Since that time, Clottey’s knockout percentage has dropped off dramatically to the point where he’s had only one knockout in his last 11 fights. That’s a bad KO percentage for a top fighter. It means that Clottey is having to work harder for his wins, fight longer and take many more head shots than he would have if he was still knocking out his opponents.
On March 13th, Clottey faces World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao at the Dallas Cowboy stadium. Pacquiao is knockout pretty much everyone with his explosive punching power, and fast hand speed. Clottey’s revelation about his problems to make the 147 makes it even harder to see him having any chance against Pacquiao.
However, it didn’t take his comments to realize that Clottey has little chance to beat Pacquiao. Clottey hasn’t looked good in the ring for awhile now. In 2006, Clottey struggled to beat Richard Gutierrez, a good fighter but someone that Clottey should have been able to dominate. In Clottey’s next fight, he was soundly beaten by Antonio Margarito in a 12 round decision loss.
Clottey said afterwards that he had injured his hand during the fight, but he looked exhausted after the 4th round, fighting with his mouth open and sweating like crazy. That wasn’t because of his hand. If it was because of his struggles to make weight, Clottey should have considered moving up to the junior middleweight division at that time.
There were some good fighters at that weight class at the time such as Oscar De La Hoya, and Clottey might have had a chance to get a fight with him had he moved up in weight and dominated. However, Clottey chose to stay at welterweight, where he’s racked up wins over Diego Corrales, Felix Flores, Shamone Alvarez, Jose Luis Cruz and Zab Judah in the past three years.
His best opponents, Judah and Corrales, were too small to compete with Clottey. Corrales had been a lightweight for much of his career, and Judah has had only mixed results since moving up from the light welterweight division in 2005, losing four out of the eleven fights he’s had at welterweight.
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To all fans. Don’t just repeat what you read or hear. Watch the fights of the fighters you talk about. Whether it being Pac, Floyd, Shane or Clottey.
Both Floyd and Pac have very difficult assignments. If they are able to win. Just win, we should give them their due even if the win is not dominating because their opponents are tough. More so for Pac because Clottey has never clearly lost a fight. All his losses are disputed and he’s never looked bad in any fight. Of those 4, Pac and Mosley are the ones who’ve been clearly dominated in fights.
The only time either Clottey or Floyd was outworked was when they were injured in fights. Even then they were not dominated. As I said, watch the fights not just the results or stats.
This are fights between the defenders: Floyd, Clottey(technical, tactical) against the attackers: Mosley, Pac(all action, KO artist) . We’ll see who wins but it isn’t going to be easy for any of these four.
A few users have posted that Baldomir beat Clottey. Just to set the record straight, Baldomir won by DQ because of headbutts and he was losing handily on ALL 3 scorecards. Clottey’s only true losses were against Margacheato (a legit loss because Clottey stopped fighting after 4 dominating rounds – for whatever the reason) and against Cotto (a VERY controversial fight that I felt Clottey won but again, he let off of the gas pedal in the closing rounds so I won’t complain).
As much as everyone is giving the edge to Pac in this fight, one wild card is in the blood issue. Although I don’t believe Clottey purposely headbutts (as is a common misperception), he does lead with his head and Pac has struggled mightily when he gets cut (ala Morales 1 and JMM 2). So, if Pac gets cut (which is a high probability), then this fight will turn in Clottey’s favor and it will be an uphill battle for Pac.
Also, don’t any Pac fans feel that he still has unfinished business with JMM (both fights were VERY close and could have gone either way)?
Lex..
Seriously, I’ll take your dumb remark about the Philippine Gov as an admission that deep down, you know I’m right and you have nothing better to say. Really, what does the Philippine Gov have to do with anything?
Yeah, it is a third world country, who’s crime rate drops to nil whenever Manny fights. Not to mention all the NBA players and professional athletes that love the Filipino people and fans. Please. Dumb remarks like that expose how idiotic you truly are.
I can understand why you’d be jealous though. Here is this lil Flip, that by his own admission, knows he’s not the best fighter around, yet people exalt him as the best.
Then on the other side, you have a guy that promotes himself to be the greatest of all time, yet no one else but himself actually believes it. And despite him being an American, he is not even the most popular fighter in his own backyard. No, a fundamentally flawed kid from a third world country is.
Who’s poster can you get at Albertson’s? Who’s face is being put on phone cards? WHo’s likeness is on huge billboards above Nike town? Who are the top MMA fighters trying to emulate? Not Floyd Mayweather. And Manny Pacquiao didn’t have to join some dance show to gain exposure. He did it through his ring accomplishments.
Seriously, do a Google search on Manny and Floyd and Marvel at the difference in hits. Despite all his supposed “greatness” no one is talking about Floyd and no one cares for Floyd.
Stop being in denial, and stop trying to make Manny look like a ducker. Look at the boxing world. How many are saying that Manny has ducked people? How many for Floyd? No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to knock Pac down to Floyd’s level.
Besides, it’s not the fans just trying to spin things to make Floyd look like a ducker. Floyd does that on his own, and not only that, when he opens his dumb mouth, he makes himself look even dumber.
6 months ago, FLoyd went on TV saying that he doesn’t need Mosely, and that Mosley was only looking for one last payday to which Floyd was not gonna give to a cheater like Mosely. NOw all of a sudden we are suppose to believe that Floyd was always pursuing a fight with Mosley? Yeah, right. Keep dreaming.
Only unrealistic nut-hugging fans like yourself would believe that. Just like the crazy Pac fans that feel like he can beat Superman in a foot race.
Then move up and quit making exscuses!
Clottey no one holds a gun to you and tells you to stay at 147 either move up to 154 or 160
These people are a joke when they use this torn rotator cuff to excuse the beating he got from Castillo. Yet there are no scars on Floyds shoulder showing that he had his rotator fixed. If he had torn his rotator and continued boxing without surgery that shoulder would have blown by now. No reports of any Doctor stating he fixed the rotator.
Lex,
You got your brains convolutions all messed up!! Pac signed the contract when it was brought to him in the Philippines by Arum. That already signed contract was then brought to mayweather for signing. of course floyd agreed to almost everything in there but added random blood testing to evade from signing the contract. of course to make floyd look and feel good the drug testing is the best escape since pac already signed the contract. Attack Pac on the issue of PEDs and make it a reason of not signing the contract. BUT REMEMBER PAC ALREADY SIGNED THE CONTRACT. NOW WHO DUCKS WHO??? If Pac had fought and had beaten Mosley instead of Cotto you will say for certain that Mosley is already past his prime and was shop worn from the cotto fight. So review your facts and nail it in your head!!
lex,
It is the unconscious desire of floyd to be like Pac that he changed his name to money to confuse with manny.Pac got brains more than you got since he is fighting opponents in preparation for his next possible opponent like fighting cotto and having castillo as his sparring partner for that.Pac measured the welter strength of mayweather by absorbing the cotto jabs- mayweather’s specialty specially on pot shotting his opponents. pac passed the jabs in flying colors. Now he s fighting clottey for that defensive arsenal of mayweather which Pac plans to disintegrate. Clottey is big with a big punch. So should Pac KOs clottey, same will befall to floyd. So Lex, analyze better and dont be blinded by biases since it will make you appear to be having only a pea-sized brain. So why should America award to a non-American the fighter of the year and fighter of the decade to Pacquiao? I am sure many and not one or two decided for the giving of that award!
phooq;
please quit making up lies. Mayweather actually did have an agreement to fight Judah when he was the undisputed ww champ. He went through because Hatton, ODLH, and Mosley all had some excuse to not fight him. Rahim beat Morales before the 2nd match not the 3rd. Mayweather was calling out the three top guys: Hatton, ODLH, and Mosley. Look what everyone wrote after ODLH’s previous fight. And why do you insist no one thought Manny would win any of his fights? Manny actually OPENED AS A HEAVY FAVORITE. I admit Floyd didn’t beat anyone great at 140, but thats because the whole time he was there Tszyu had a fight signed with Hatton, that an injury forced him to push back, but then Hatton refused to come across the pond for Mayweather and then outpriced himself. Williams wasn’t a big name back then either. Floyd fought a smaller JMM, but I don’t think Manny is any different. He has ducked all boxer, counter-punchers since then. Floyd takes on all the best regardless of their style. And honestly, PPV numbers speak for themselves. However you are right about NASCAR. But hey the big fights happen in the US because we dont have to worry about coups and violence erupting in the streets. Yes, don’t forget Manny had a fight planned there a couple years ago, but held it in the states instead because of the crazy violence and bloodshed. We don’t have the best system of government, but its better than anarchy which occassionally erupts over there.
Hernandez undefeated at 130, Corrales 33-0 (27 knockouts), Jesus Chavez, Angel Manfredy, Castillo (who weighed something like 10 pounds heavier) (Mayweather tore his rotator cuff two days before the first meeting and badly injured both hands in the fight and still won), Ndou 31-1 (30 knockouts). The thing is Mayweather dismantled all these people and there was no one left unless he moved up in weight. The guy fighting at 106 at 16, who weighed 148 against ODLH, so actually Manny came in bigger than Oscar while Floyd came in significantly smaller. People weren’t questioning Hatton’s chin, in fact according to the writers and analysts of the day he had the style to give Mayweather fits. After one fight at WW Mayweather signed to fight the undisputed champ at that weight. When he lost, he fought the guy that beat him. But hey, he could have fought Margarito who had just lost to Santos, or he could have fought Clottey. I would say Mosley, but Mosley was busy ducking Floyd back then. Just because Floyd wiped out the lower divisions without waiting for everyone to lose before fighting them. No way would Manny have taken on 33-0 Corrales. Mayweather didn’t go after some paper title at 135, he fought the very best at that weight his first fight there. Honestly, when has any of Manny’s opponents looked good over their previous 3 fights? Marquez. Thats it. All anyone comes back with is
Manny won a popularity vote. Wow, that still isn’t a great fighter that wasn’t shot. And Mayweather didn’t make anyone fight at a crazy catch-weight when he took on the bigger guys. Floyd wanted the best and took almost any terms to get them. Against ODLH not only did he fight at a weight he couldn’t come close to, he also gave Oscar the ring he wanted and gloves Floyd had never used. How did Manny come beat bigger guys, when Floyd who is only slightly taller and almost identical fight night weight not? floyd actually let the bigger guys come in at their weight. The fact is Manny never moved up earlier because he never cleaned out any division. Really, Rahim proved he was better than Morales, and Juarez showed he was on the same level as Barrera at that point. Diaz was the weakest paper title. Castillo was the best at 135. So, please actually look at their weights before saying Floyd only fights smaller guys and just google the previous fight against a top guy for any of Manny’s opponents. And don’t listen to me about Mosley, listen to Freddie Roach.
Can someone explain how Mayweather, who has been calling out Mosley for 10 years was forced to fight him? How he mentioned Mosley as his next opponent before anyone else did? Before Berto pulled out? Please, Mayweather went and called out Mosley for a 3rd time and Mosley finally accepted. And I’m not asking you to believe me that Manny ducked Mosley, Freddie Roach is the one saying it.
When Mayweather entered WW he signed the undisputed WW champ. Not one credible boxing source had Cotto ranked above Mosley when Manny ducked Shane. A Barrera that got schooled by MArquez and was lucky to get by Juarez was the best? And Rahim had replaced Morales by the time Manny beat him. Mayweather moved up and fought the bigger ODLH at his weight. He fought Hatton when that was the fight the world wanted to see and percieved as his biggest threat. Who claimed ODLH was the best at ww, when he hadn’t fought there for 7 years? Please show me somewhere that had Cotto ranked higher than Mosley. Hatton, the best at 140? Please that is laughable. Did Manny go after Rahim, the Morales killer? No, he was satisfied with his scraps. The only top fighter Manny has ever faced who was a top fighter at the time was Marquez. They both were at 106 when they were 16. Manny has fought the bigger more threatening opposition?? Not according to any boxing site. There were big question marks surrounding all his opponents besides Marquez. Manny hasn’t cleaned out ANY division. Floyd did two. Basically, Pacfans whole argument is Manny is this tiny guy. Not true. Floyd is smaller than almost all his opponents. At 130 and 135 he almost never weighed more than his opponents. Baldomir beat Clottey and walked around at 175-180. Floyd beat ODLH at Oscar’s weight and weighed 148 on the night of the fight. Manny weighed more than that and Oscar weighed less than that when they met. Other than that, he ducked Mosley and fought Cotto, when Mosley was considered the #1 welterweight. Hatton??? The one who barely got by Lazcano?? After Manny has beat some carefully picked shot fighters he’s accomplished more? Let me know when he clears out a division, or takes on a top 3 welterweight. Mayweather is pretty small himself, its just he actually cleaned out 130 and 135 at a very young age and so he moved up to fight the big boys sooner. He’s what one or one and a half inches taller than Manny? Mayweather doesn’t balloon up after weighing in, and is normally the smaller man in the ring. Go back and look at all his fights. The fact that he did it all at such a young age is something. With the exception of Marquez, can anyone name one, just one, top opponent he’s beat???
Lex, just show your true colors, just say “YOU HATE PACMAN” and we’ll understand, enough of your non-sense tirade against the Pacman. The more you belittle Pacman, the more he rises to the occassion. To get your money back, just bet on Pacman ok? POOR KID!
@ Lex,
Pac didn’t fight the best? and yet Mayweather did? An you’re arguing Pac ducked Mayweather, Mosley and PWill…
Let’s get our facts straight -
1. When did Pac enter Welterweight? When did Mayweather enter Welter?
2. Why he chose Cotto over Mosley? clearly answers your question why he should fight the winner of the fight between them, and Margo’s win over Cotto was “loaded” with suspicions.
3. He was awarded the fighter of the year and decade award for his accomplishments by the BWAA itself. And their say is more credible than all your biased opinions.
4. Mayweather is a great fighter, the best skilled.
5. But Pac accomplished more, fought the more threatening and bigger opponents and the best at the time in their own best weight class except lightweight.
6. They haven’t faced anything near the talent of each other.
7. If you’re asking Pacquiao, the clearly “smaller man” fighting those trio. You should question Mayweather also as to why after 6 years in the welterweight division, he hasn’t fought any of the names you brought up…
8. Mayweather was forced to fight Mosley.
9. Mayweather will win. Because he’s more skilled and still in his prime.
Phooq;
Please point me in the direction of one article, where it states anything other than ODLH dominated and knocked out Mayorga. That was his previous fight, and well, looking it up, I can’t find anywhere that didn’t give Oscar high marks for his performance. I can show a few, that aren’t so glowing following his fight with Forbes. Its easy to say ODLH had looked bad in his previous fight, but apparently you are alone in this belief. Unlike, after Forbes where it was written a younger ODLH would have knocked him out.
phooq;
Why didnt Mayweather fight Mosley? Because Mosley was scared of him! After seeing Mosley knock out Vargas Mayweather said he was going to the gym and training hard, that he wanted Mosley. But Mosley said he had a “toothache”. Williams still didn’t have a name, and anyways someone needs to talk Al Haymon into throwing money away by pitting Mayweather against Williams. Why didn’t Manny fight Barrera when he beat Morales? He fought the loser instead. Then Marquez dominated Barrera after Barrera barely got by Juarez!! But he passed on Marquez and took on the loser!! Huh, most boxing reporters had ODLH in the top 10 p4p and some in the top 5 when Floyd fought him. Hatton had his chance at Floyd at 140, but wouldn’t come over here!! Again, before floyd fought them they were the two top contenders to erase his “0″. But after beating them easily, people want to say otherwise. The only other real fight out there was Mosley but Mosley refused to fight him. And Baldomir hadn’t lost since quitting his day job and actually training for his fights. He had a much more impressive resume than Margarito at the time, who had just lost to Santo’s. That ODLH and Hatton were the top two contenders are facts, no one wuld have had closer odds. Those were the two fights people wanted to see Floyd take. And he did. And how was Mayweather forced to fight Mosley?!? He went after him when he was still scheduled to fight Berto!!!! He fought the top two challengers before he left and now he’s fighting the guy that was “too good” for Manny!!!! Look at Manny’s record, when a big fight happens, he always takes on the loser, not the winner. Floyd takes the biggest challenges out there. When he signed Judah, Judah was the undisputed ww champ. He was calling out ODLH, Hatton, and Mosley but all of them had excuses not to fight him. But, yea, he probably should have fought Clottey instead, you know the guy that lost to Baldomir! Come’on Clottey! All you Pacfans just try and make up excuses for Floyd fighting Mosley, it just kills you that the Floyd is taking on the guy Manny is scared of. Hatton was the closest in odds to Mayweather since Corrales! He was closer than anyone else would have been!
go to page 21 on here. Look at the articles about Manny and Mayweather. Odd how I was arguing with people, when I said Floyd was going to fight Mosley next and others denied it. Then when they looked it was like yea, thats not going to happen though. Odd how all this happened before Berto pulled out of the fight. Go back and look. Its on this site!!! Some were like, what he’s going to fight Mosley, what if he loses? It appeared they were going to schedule it at least. ALL THIS HAPPENED BEFORE BERTO PULLED OUT. GO BACK AND LOOK ON THIS VERY WEB SITE. but hey, it does make Floyd sound bad, if you lie and say this and that when its not true at all, but just lies.
@ lex F
Just to refresh your memory, the only reason Floyd is fighting Mosley is bec Berto had to pull out of his fight against Mosley bec. of the tragedy in Haiti.
So,basically Floyd didn’t choose to fight Mosley. “FLOYD HAD TO FIGHT MOSLEY” bec. if he didn’t then he would be called the best ducker of all time.
Manny Pacquiao will always get a boost in the odds because most Filipinos believe he can beat King Kong and in turn, bet that way. Seriously, learn how odds work. Most “experts” thought the odds were nuts
@ lex…sometimes I think you are being stupid on purpose. You gotta watch those double standards my friends. BTW I knew if anyone was gonna have their feathers ruffled about my “winning” comment, it was gonna be you. And don’t try to pass yourself off as a Pacquiao fan, because I know you’re not.
First of all. Pac fought both Morales and Barrera and won. Those guys were the biggest names at the time and were still at the top of their weight class. So yes, it was still a challenge for a young un-refined Manny Pacquiao.
Morales losing to Rahim means absolutely nothing by comparison to Floyd fighting Zab Judah. Pac/Morales was a rubber match to see who was actually better between the two. And it was a huge money fight (relatively) for Pac at the time. It only made sense for them to fight.
What was Floyd’s excuse for going ahead with the Zab fight? They had planned to fight before Zab fought Boldomir assuming that Zab was going to win. He didn’t. Now did Floyd go looking for a better, more “challenging” opponent? No he didn’t. He went for the guy who just lost, and is notorious for his glass jaw and weak gas tank. Yeah, that’s challenging.
Why didn’t Manny fight Mosley or Paul? Why the hell didn’t FLoyd fight Mosely all them years or Paul? Again, watch those double standards. Naw, what Manny did do was fight the man (Cotto) who beat the man (Mosley). Did FLoyd do that? No.
Mayweather test himself? Are you kidding me? Seriously, do you watch boxing? You’re an idiot if you think for a second that DLH didn’t look old in his couple fights before Mayweather. And Ricky Hatton? I’d give FLoyd more credit for Ricky if he fought Ricky at his weight, or if Ricky hadn’t said himself that he doesn’t belong at Welterweight.
Challenging himself? Like Carlos Boldomir, JMM (who was old, slow, and too small) were legitimate challenges?
I know your ignorant ass will say, “well JMM gave Manny hell” which he did. But Manny aint the same fighter as he was then, and to be fair, neither was Marquez.
Seriously, you guys talk about Cotto being shot, what about all the wars the JMM had been through during his career? Suddenly JMM is ageless like Mosley and Hopkins? Please.
Again, double standards. You say Floyd opponents were “suppose to be the best”. I don’t recall anyone hailing Judah, Gatti, DLH, JMM, Corley, or Mitchell as being world beaters. And despite a few people thinking Manny’s opposition was shot, none of them thought Manny was good enough to win. Which he did. In a dominating fashion.
Please, If you were really a fan of boxing, then you would be happy with Manny Pacquiao. here is a small man that was terribly one dimensional, who put in the work to improve himself and relied on his heart, determination, and willingness to please the crowd to get himself where he is today. And it’s paid off. Fighter of the year 3 out of 4 years and fighter of decade.
Mayweather pursue Mosley? If you consider letting a fight fall into your lap as “pursuing” then I don’t know what to tell you. That right there is an indication of your idiocy. No if Floyd was really pursuing Mosely, he would haev fought Mosley when Mosley got in the ring and blatantly disrespected him. He wouldn’t have waited until he had no choice.
If American fans are proud of Mayweather, it’s only because he’s an American *cough-who doesn’t pay his taxes-cough*. I guess it makes sense though. Americans love NASCAR, which is basically a bunch of guys turning left all day. If they can be entertained by that, then I can understand why they’d find a Floyd fight “entertaining”.
Seriously. If we are winning, it’s because we are getting our Money’s worth. Nothing is worse than paying for a fight and instead getting a dance. I could see Floyd do that on cable, and at least there would be a pretty girl to look at too.
@ lex
1.On the issue that Manny is ducking the best, you are entitled to your opinion. So do I.
2. On the issue that Floyd is fighting only the best, you are entitled to your opinion. So do I.
3. My final opinion, you don’t like Manny at all.
How was Manny an underdog when he was over a 3-1 favorite against Hatton and Cotto!!! There were articles being written about how Cotto looked shot and how Mosley looked like the best welterweight!! Thats why Manny was over a 3-1 favorite over Cotto!!! Mosley was still signed to fight Berto when Mayweather started negotations with him!! And what about the other great welterweight Williams??? Clottey was not the toughest fight Manny could take, it was the toughest opponent he could fight and beat easily!!! Manny was a huge favorite over Hatton too!! Look it up!! Everyone that saw Hatton-LAzcano knows the ref saved Hatton by stopping the beatdown LAzcano was giving him so Hatton could tie his shoe!! Bradley and Alexander were both considered better at that weight! Manny refused Mosley because he was too good and took an opponent he was over a 3-1 favorite against!! At a catchweight! Manny wasn’t an underdog, he was favored because of how bad these fighters looked over their past few fights. You can say he was an underdog, but thats not true. He refused to fight the best at 135, 140, and now at 147. Vargas was shot before he was 26. Its not necessarily how old a fighter is, but how old in ring years. And a beating like Cotto took adds more than all of Mosley’s career. That’s why Mosley was and is considered better than Cotto and why Manny ducked him. There were other options for Manny, but the truth is Floyd thought he was still negotaiting with Manny when Manny signed Clottey. Manny couldn’t wait to sign anyone that wasn’t Mayweather, Mosley, or Williams.
I like Manny but I don’t like that he ducks the best. No one that is really great would duck someone because the fighter is “too good” for them. Mayweather beat everyone at 130 and 135. There were only two fighters that were supposed to have a chance at beating him and he fought and beat them both. Mosley is considered the best welterweight today, and after Manny ducked Mosley for being too good and walked away from Mayweather to fight Clottey, MAyweather didn’t hesitate, he went straight for the best. I know, some insist that Mayweather is ducking Clottey or somebody else we’ve never heard of, but the fact is Mosley is considered the #1 welterweight, and Manny straight ducked him and Floyd is fighting the toughest challenge again. I know its hard for some to comprehend that one fighter takes on those considered to have the best chance of beating him and having a 40-0 record, but go back and look and thats what Floyd has done. Its crazy when the argument that someone isn’t good is that he’s never lost. But hey, I have no reason why Floyd is fighting Mosley and not someone like Clottey!!!
@ lex_fugitive
I think you have tried well to hide your true feelings about Manny and your bias toward hype and Mayweather. Whilst I believe Clottey is not going to present too many problems for Manny, he didn’t have too many other options. You say he could have fought the consensus welterchamp, by that I think you mean Mosely. Well at the time Mayweather scuttled the mega fight Mosely was scheduled to fight Berto and so he was not an option. You say Manny fights older, shot fighters. by the same standards Mosley must also be finished. He is much younger then Cotto, Hatton, even DeLaHoya, plus he has more fights and more losses then Hatton, Cotto and Clottey. The TRUTH is Manny’s mega fights have been the fights the world wanted to see, Until Manny actually won most of those fights he was still tipped by most to lose. Maybe Clottey is not up there with his best match ups but it was the best fight that could be made, given Manny’s political commitments in April. I Think anyone who knocks Manny’s results is either a bigot, an idiot or knows nothing about boxing. I suggest watching the Morales Trilogy. It Highlights why Manny is as good as he his. His evolution through those three fights is amazing. Watching his skills develop with every fight is a testament to the hard work of Manny and Roach and when you attack the strength of opposition all you do is attact the opposition not Manny. For the record I think Mosely, at 38 is well past his best, no matter what people say. His win over Margarito is an anomally for 2 simple reasons. 1 Margarito got caught cheating minutes before that fight. 2. Boxing once you step in the ring is mostly mental, I don’t believe for a second a man facing a lifetime ban and serious fines would have been in any shape mentally to be stepping in the ring.
@ lex
You’ve said a lot but the only thing that made sense to me were your last six words, “you are entitled to your opinion”.
On this premise, let me share my opinion. How can you say you like Manny and yet majority of what you have written were negative about him and sadly a lot were not true? I suggest you show your true color.
@ Boston.
Thanks man, I appreciate the compliment.
Yeah, some of my people don’t help. I guess, since I get where they’re coming from, I can more easily understand why they are so passionate. But still, not all of them can express that passion in the most respectful of ways.
All we can do, as intelligent fans of the sweet science, is not feed into the B.S and just enjoy the fights. Besides, it’s crazy to think that a fighter that constantly and legitimately challenges themselves will actually remain undefeated for the whole of their career.
all the fighters that people would consider to be the G.O.A.T all have losses.
Phooq;
You say Manny opponents have previous losses and could Manny do anything about that? No, but he could fight the winner instead of the loser. He could face people that have looked great over the previous year or two. He chose the loser of Barrera-Morales 3, and fought Morales again after he lost to Rahim. He took on the loser of Marquez-Barrera. He could have fought the consensus #1 welterweight who was begging for a fight, but instead he fought a guy who most thought was already shot, before Manny was ever mentioned. I understand Phillipino’s are proud of Manny and they should be. But if he was really courageous and wanted to test his skills against the best, he would be going after the best. He’s fought good opponents. The fact is his opponents used to be great, but had shown real signs of aging before Manny ever got in the ring with them. Instead of facing the very best, he has consistently ducked the very best. I really fail to see how Manny fans are “winning” anything. I am a fan of both Mayweather and Manny, but I fail to see what these fans are “winning” That Manny is ducking the best? That
Manny is continuing his pattern of avoiding the best? There is no winning or losing for fans, I feel as a boxing fan I won, because two of the very best are getting in the ring on May 1. If Pacfans feel they are somehow winning something themselves because Manny continues to beat second-tier opponents, I am happy for them. I just want Manny to have BOXING FANS win, by taking on the best. Americans are proud of Mayweather, because he is always testing himself, always going after the toughest competition. Floyd could be fighting some second-tier opponent, but no, he chose to go after the #1 welterweight. There were two people that were supposed to have a chance at beating Floyd in 2007. Those two people were ODLH and Hatton. Mosley is considered the best welterweight out there today. Mayweather completely cleaned out 130 and 135. Now some say Floyd hasn’t tested himself, but his opponents were supposed to be some of the best, but the fact that Floyd made it look so easy, some think his opponents weren’t all that. But before MAyweather fought them, they were supposed to be great. I would consider Mosley a bigger challenge than Clottey. But hey, if you and other Phillipino’s think Clottey is a tougher challenge, you are entitled to your opinion.
I just see a guy in clottey who fought cotto very very close. Whoever you think won we can all agree it was incredibly close. In saying that Pac handled cotto with relative ease (at least after 5) so using that logic i dont see how this fight is any closer then pac/cotto was.
On top of that in all honesty clottey has ZERO top tier wins on his resume. He lost to baldomir and margacheato and yes zab and diego (rip) were good wins but they werent great. You can spin it any way you want but i would like one person to please tell me what great fighter clottey has beaten. So bc of that i find it very hard to believe that he will all of the sudden beat the top p4p fighter.
The only reason this fight might be relatively close is the size difference, but the only question going into this fight is whether or not it will get to the cards.
Also, pac will not submit to the drug tests, major boo boo.
The thing about the pac ballsuckers is they think his crap smells good and refuse to have a fair debate. They worship his anus and his nutsack. Thing is he’s behind: Williams, Floyd, Valero,
Gamboa, Martinez , Mosley, and Foreman. All these guys are better,no question about it.
Clottey will be a tough fight for Pacquiao. He’s not really a walk-through fight for anyone. Tough chin, and solid defense are great attributes to have for a boxer.
Clottey should be careful about going up to Jr. Middle. If his KO percentage goes up, people will accuse him of juicing.
Something you non-Filipino people don’t understand about why Filipino’s love Manny. We are well aware that he is not the most fundamental fighter in the world. it’s his heart, grit and determination that have propelled him to the summit of the sport. These are qualities that Filipinos love and believe in. SO to see one of our own rising to the top on the strength of these qualities alone, speaks to us on a different level. So at this point, it doesn’t matter if he loses or not. He’ already proven himself.
Some of you clowns might try to downplay his opposition, but there isn’t a single fighter out there who’s record you couldn’t scrutinize. Is it Manny’s fault that some people have taken losses? No. Did he get in the ring regardless and whoop that ass? Yes.
Besides, with every fight he takes a risk. Can the other guy legitimately say the same? No. Even Roger Mayweather said Cotto was a bigger threat than his own nephew and he was actually more interested in that fight than Floyd Jr’s. fight with JMM.
it seems some of you fans are just annoyed that Manny’s fans are “winning” right now. There man is THE MAN and there isn’t a single thing you can do about it. Man, that’s gotta suck.
Clottey very well could SHOCK THE WORLD! Imagine if this happened? It would shake up the boxing world…All of the honors bestowed upon Pacquiao could be nullified by an unknown fighter from Ghana! What happens then? Floyd would demand a 60/40 split and get it should he go on to beat Mosely. Floyd could very well demand Pacquiao fight Mosely first before he would be deemed worthy to fight him.
A Clottey win would shake up the boxing world and catapult him into stardom!
New Orleans pulled off an upset…GO CLOTTEY!!!
Don’t be surprised if the date of this fight changes because of poor sales performance and a poor undercard. There aren’t enough Pinoys in the US to make this fight a 1 Million PPV event. Bob Arum shot himself in the foot with this fight.
I think were going to see manny more of a boxer in the first half.manny alway learn something new in a fight,it might be just that,a pretty good boxer in mixing it up, a good work out beside bringing in the better than expect attendance and ppv.
the dude is 5’7. verno phillips was 5’8 and a career junior middle but looked like he can make 147. everyone struggles to make weight. what he should have done with manny was to demand 147. who else was he gonna go to? you know manny was scared of shane. plus now all of sudden manny is good enough to fight at 147 with a live dog? manny and margarito was just all bad for cotto. who cares anyways if cotto is gonna retire by the end of the year.
Friends, don’t be dissuaded by the Pac train. This fight will NOT be one-sided and will not be an easy fight for either fighter. I can go on and on about why this fight will be tough, but I’ll save it.
Most think Clottey stands NO CHANCE against Pac (I heard Jim Lampley on “through the ropes” last night say Pac will easily beat Clottey and possibly even sooner than he did Cotto – which surprised the hell out of me because I usually like Jim’s insight).
Pac will probably win simply because of his activity and speed (styles make fights – usually), but Clottey is a VERY live underdog, and at 3.5 to 1 odds (which will grow as the fight nears), my money is on Clottey. The odds should not favor Pac by this much.
how has cotto been a welterweight for 16 years,he aint even fought his whole pro career as a welterweight,what he talkin about?
Jason;
Also Clottey was never scheduled to fight on Fox Sports, Arum and Top Rank were trying to float that idea to Clottey and he didn’t want to and was never scheduled to fight anyone on Fox Sports. Again in early september a Mosley-Clottey fight for december was being rumored around but by Sept. 17 that fight was officially dead. I don’t even think it was ever even officially announced! Again, one would think Pacquiao’s fans wouldn’t have to make up new lies every day, but they can’t seem to handle the truth! Please get your facts right, buddy, because mine are definitely right. Good try though! You get an A for effort but an F for accuracy!
There are 3 groups of fans that will buy the Pacquiao/Clottey fight:
1) Pinoys – That’s Automatic
2) Those looking for Pacquiao to KO a fighter that has never been KO’d.
3) Those looking and hoping for Clottey to KO Pacquiao. I will admit, this is probably the only chance Clottey has. The judges would NEVER award Clottey a decision.
Equals very weak PPV Sales…300,000 TOPS!
Jason,
Clottey was scheduled to fight Mosley in December. The fight was announced the first week of September. By September 17, the fight was officially cancelled!!! He had a fight scheduled for just over a week!!! Why do Pacfans have to lie??? Clottey probably hadn’t even started training, and even if he did he only did for a week!!!! Jason, it sounds good when you make up lies, and say Clottey had been training, but its nothing but a lie! Look it up, in late August and the beginning of September a Clottey fight was rumoured for December and two weeks later it was officially off! Those are the facts! I’m not surprised though, everyday Pacfans try and spread some lies to build up hype for their idol, because when you stick to the facts Manny doesn’t look nearly so impressive. But hey, thats a good one Jason, thats a lie I hadn’t heard yet!
“Judah and Corrales, were too small to compete with Clottey. Corrales had been a lightweight for much of his career..”
And you’re saying Manny Pacquiao isn’t? Stop contradicting yourself. It doesn’t make sense.
@Anonymous, first of all, Mayweather will easily beat Mosely. Mayweather will then EASILY beat the midget. Mosely will then defeat the midget. Then Bradley will defeat the midget.
Pacquiao, CANNOT beat ANY of the elite African American fighters. Wait and see my Pinoy friend. You see things through the starry Pacquiao goggles. I see things as a true fight fan.
Just wait and see…I can’t wait to say…I TOLD YOU SO!
Clottey didn’t drop out!! Hbo cancelled it right after the fight was announced! He wasn’t out of training for a week, he probably didn’t even start training! Why do PAcfans have to lie? You would think the facts would be sufficient if Manny was that great!
Actually the fight in December was cancelled what like a week after it was announced? He didn’t drop the date, not even a week after the fight was announced HBO who was going to air the fight called it of for logistical reasons. But you’re right, he might have been training for that week. Wow a whole week!!
lex
once again you have your facts wrong because you aren’t really a boxing fan,just a manny detractor.
Clottey was lined up to fight in december and dropped the date.then he was going to be in the premiere bout of fox sport’s top rank live and he dropped out.He’s been training for fights and was possibly only out of training for a week.Yes,lapses never help in a training regimen but the fight with Manny came about so now it’s not like he’s starting from scratch.Get off his nuts.
@ tell it like it is.
Are you having a laugh???? timothy bradley!!!!!
Hes got a 46% ko rating and best oponents witter,forced nate to move up in weight to avoid devon.And beat an overated feather punching peterson who in all fairness is the same quality as salita!!!!!!
He dosnt bring money to a fight and is ready to be exposed.
Pac the champ clottey lost to cotto only in the judges eyes!!!!!!!!!
Pacs number 1 and will end up fighting mosely when kfc backs out.
Timothy Bradley was available and quite explicidly called Pacquiao out. Pacquiao said “NO” and chose Clottey. A Pacquiao/Bradley fight would be the equivalent of a Mayweather/Mosely fight.
Clottey/Pacquiao is going to BOMB in PPV Sales!!!
Embarrassing…SOOOO Embarrassing!
Ok; you said “Clottey doesn’t have a chance” now analyze and explain to everyone why he doesn’t boxing fan.
My dad is going to beat PACMAN on March 13th! GO PAPA!!
My papa’s KO percentage is low because he doesn’t want to knock out his opponents, he wants to make them suffer!
And people honestly believe that clottey was the toughest available opponent for pac and co to choose? This guy has zero chance to beat pac
This new generation of “boxing fans” is clueless! Pacquaio is a very exciting fighter, but he is very fundamentally flawed! And it just so happens that the guy he’s fighting this time is “very very” good at iddentifying and taking advantage of Pacquaio’s weakness. There’s nothing easy about this fight for Pacquaio! I don’t expect him to win the actual match of skill between him and Clottey, but I also don’t expect the “Good Old Boys” (boxing executives) to watch their meal ticket get dethroned either. Clottey’s gonna give’em all he’s looking for; only to be robbed on the end.
clottey is just making early excuses incase paquiao kick his butt, this is just a heads up for the fans. he just dont want to be criticize so he need to make up excuses.
Joshua Clottey dominated Margarito through the first 5 rds! And the judges had the fight a shutout for Clottey up until he injured his hands! And how did Clottey injure his hands? Maybe Margarito had his “special” handwraps on? Did u ever consider that? What would you know about Boxing! Other than what you heard!
This is old news. Every knows Clottey has trouble making 147 and has terrible stamina. Which is why Manny chose him and also why he only gave Clottey a month and a half to make weight and get in shape. If Clottey has that much trouble when he has four months to train and get ready imagine what he’ll look like with just over a month of training. He’ll be worn out after the first round.
I thought he had a good chance but now I think pacman is gona RETIRE him for good unless its a bit reverse psycology.