Is Pacquiao-Clottey a Pay-Per-View worthy fight?
March 13th, 2010
By Chris Williams: The more and more I think about the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight the more I believe this fight should be on regular HBO and not on pay-per-view. The reason is simple. Clottey is about as basic a fighter that you’ll ever see. He throws few punches, covers up all the time, has no right hand and is a sitting duck on the ropes much of the time. Pretty much everyone knows he’s going to lose on Saturday, including Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, who talks nonstop for anyone willing to listen how Pacquiao is going to dominate this guy. Well I hope so.
An old Jose Luis Castillo facing Alfonso Gomez, as well as fights between David Diaz and Humber Soto, John Duddy vs. Michael Medina. I just don’t see any of those fights as interesting other than for free television. I know for Pacquiao fans that have the dying interest in seeing anything that he does, they don’t really care. They just want to see him and be able to have a memory of having seen the guy fight so they can talk about it later.
But for me, I’m person that wants to see a fight in which both fighters have an almost equal chance of winning. If I’m going to pay to see a fight, it has to be one that I feel that there’s a chance that either of the fighters will win. I can’t say that about the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. I think Clottey was picked out by Bob Arum as a hasty alternative after the fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. went out the window.
If this was something that Arum had planned all along – a brief stab at negotiations with Mayweather and then on with a fight with Clottey – I think it was a poor one. I don’t want to see fights that are a mismatch going into the fight. I just don’t want to see that kind of thing if it means I’m going to have to pay for it. This is why I see the Pacquiao-Clottey fight as not being worthy of a pay-per-view bout.
You have Pacquiao, a star, facing an unknown Clottey, who has mostly been beaten by the good fighters that he’s fought in his career. He hasn’t really beaten anyone that I consider a talented fighter in his own weight class. Zab Judah was a small welterweight who should have moved back down to light welterweight ages ago, Diego Corrales was a lightweight who moved up for the Clottey fight, and that’s pretty much it for Clottey in terms of big wins in his career. The other guys he’s beaten have been 2nd tier or fringe contenders.
I see Pacquiao-Clottey as a stay busy fight, one that you put on regular cable to show to the masses. It’s not one you put together and try to present that it’s going to be a competitive fight, because frankly it’s not going to be. You can paint it anyway you want to, but I see it as a hopeless mismatch and not something to get excited about.
Like I said, it might bring in halfway decent numbers because the casual boxing fans have become excited about Pacquiao because of his three fights recently against Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. The numbers we’re seeing now are partly because of the attention Pacquiao got in those fights. But that doesn’t mean that they have to take advantage of the fame that Pacquiao has got and make boxing fans pay big money to see him in with a non-star.
And that’s the thing. Clottey isn’t a star, hasn’t beaten anyone worthy of his number #1 ranking in my view, and is totally limited as a fighter. People can defend him, but watch the fight on Saturday and tell me if I’m wrong. I won’t be.
Tags: 67 Responses to “Is Pacquiao-Clottey a Pay-Per-View worthy fight?”
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Mayweather is afraid of a small forigner kicking his ass!!! Pacquio is a smaller guy but has a bigger heart bar none MAYWETHER IS A WUSS!!
I think Clottey’s fights should not be on PPV. He’s not an exciting fighter.
Wow, a lot of Pacfans were pretty harsh on this article. And the immediate reaction of the masses… this article was dead on! And please, this author might be biased for Mayweather but Dunn is biased for Pacquiao and has never wrote anything that wasn’t about Manny. Read his latest piece, he can’t quit praising Manny. “Manny Pacquiao is, without a doubt,the most exciting, most improved, most unbelievable talent in boxing today.” This based on a win over a second tier opponent where he didn’t land one flush shot above the stomach. Actually there is quite a bit of doubt on all three points. Most improved?? The truth is no one will know if Manny has improved at all since his fight with Marquez until he fights someone that actually uses foot movement and counter punches. Manny has always been amazing against stand still fighters. Most unbelievable talent in boxing today? To deserve praise like that one needs to fight the winner of big fights, not the losers, something Pacquiao has steadfastly refused to do his entire career. If he was this unbelievable talent he would have landed a lot more punches. Mayweather landed 221 more punches than Marquez, the same one that took Manny to heck and back twice, while throwing less punches. Pacquiao landed a 138 more than a second tier fighter while throwing over 800 more. Looking at those numbers, there is plenty of doubt as to who the “most unbelievable talent in boxing today” is, but an argument could be made that Mayweather is without a doubt, but no credible argument can be made that Pacquiao is. There can be a credible case that Manny is the best talent in boxing today, but not without a doubt. If Manny was then he would be favored over Mayweather, but the fact remains he would be the underdog, not the 7 1/2 to 1 favorite he was saturday. Just because you agree with someone and have the same favorite fighter, doesn’t mean that person isn’t biased. I like Mayweather and believe he is the best boxer out there today, but I can admit when an article is biased for him or against Pacquiao. The overwhelming majority of boxing sites and forums simply did not agree with Mr. Dunn’s conclusion and view of the fight. Most saw it has boring and saw Clottey landing the only clean shots to the head, and questioned Pacquiao’s ability to anyone that had good defense and throws back counter shots. Clottey can’t counter punch from his crab defense; he has to put his hands down from in front of his face and then throw. By the time he does that his opponent has already finished throwing. Clottey landed the better shots but simply refused to throw enough punches to win. This is the view of the masses from looking over the various sites and forums. Not exactly “a victory as impressive as any in Manny Pacquiao’s career.” Contrastingly, this article was dead on and represents what most viewers felt like before the match was even over.
for once, chris you’re right. it wasnt even worth pay per view but it’ll probably outgross mayweather vs whoever.
saw match yesterday on livevs.com for free to see if clottey would do anythin since manny looks like he didnt use that stuff this time. not as cut and bell a little out there this time with marquez like wait when he faced floyd. worst match i saw in a while. clottey just kept hads up and let himself be hit. few times he actually threw he landed then just stopped for no reason. make we wonder.
this was a dead match the secound floyd set up match with mosley. it make manny clottey look realy realy bad. no hype depite all they tried to do. tickets as low as 35 dollers some say even lower then that. thats why whey refuse to put info of ticket prices. ppv numbers will be low as well. mosley floyd set for 17000 seats and will actually make more door revenue to to way higher ticket prices. from 350 to 16000 dollers lot different then 35 to 700 dollers. floyd mosley will sell 2 mill. ppv or more. wait till 24/7 airs in april.
STFU says:
March 13, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@Bill B, shoulda, woulda coulda…What if this, what if that…Fact is, Mayweather is fighting Mosely…2.6M PPV buys.
Pacquiao vs. Clottey…400,000 PPV buys. Pitiful!!!
Mostly Pinoys follow Pacquiao…PERIOD!!!
===========================
You have a time machine? How the hell did you know that the Mayweather-Mosley fight made 2.6M PPV buys?
Can I borrow your time machine? I need to go back in time and place bets on Manny’s fights!!!
Whuddya think? That was by far, way more entertaining than any of mayweather’s fights, er, dances. Absolutely a technical display of breaking down defenses and attacking from all angles. Beautiful, just beautiful, Manny!
I agree but this fight is ppv because of pacquiao who is a huge ppv attraction.
I’ve been noticed that this website is talking a lot smack about Pacquiao. Wassup with that??
A nice idea, but a little late to discuss it.
Personally, I thnk ALL fights should be on HBO!
@ Bill B
Give on No soup for you. You cant reason with a fool.
@jaysmooth -
It’s called boxing, there will be two guys hitting each other, until one guy cannot take anymore, or ends up unconscious, or three judges decide he wasn’t good enough despite all the punches he through and took….sounds a little violent to me regardless. You might be better off watching arm wrestling, allot of testosterone but no one gets hurt.
As a fight fan, i want to see a fight, along with skill etc.
Mayweather=skill, but no fight.
@STFU -
again, please tell me where i can get a $20 seat. Where did you guys get this number?
I didn’t see any empty seats in Manny’s last few Vegas fights. So what’s your point? You act like all the seats in a Vegas areana are 500+dollars. If tickets are really 20 bucks a pop, even if your not a fight fan, you will go.
again, please send me a link as to where i can get a $20 seat.
When Floyd retired no one cared. Boxing started to take a back
seat to MMA. MANNY saved boxing. Floyd cant stand living in the
shadows of PACMAN. Do you think anyone would be talking about
Floyd and papa mosley? I dont think so.
@Bill B, there aren’t even that many people in vegas and they go see Mayweather and pay $500 per seat. You can’t even get enough Mexicans to go see the Pacquiao fight at $20 bucks per seat.
Pitiful!
Who’s the draw…..
@ El Condor
Sure your right tell it like it is!!
PINOY POWER
@john says:
March 13, 2010 at 3:51 pm
the violence that pacman brings inside the ring is always worth a ppv. no running, no hugging……only violence.
even if pacman is fighting a nobody, it’s still ppv because he’ll show you what violence the opposing poor soul will eat inside the ring.
floyd’s fights are never worth a ppv. running, hugging, dancing, unable to ktfo even a very old adversary while claiming to be the greatest is bs. any fool who pays to watch a boring fight is still a fool.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THANKS IDIOT. You are the perfect example of how all these retard Pacquaio fans think. Its not all about bring violence and trying to give a guy brain damage or knock a guy out cold. Its about boxing and apply the fundamentals of the sport when you are in the ring.
check out:
-pacquiao on good morning america(featured today)
-pacquiao new sneakers from nike
-pacquiao on GQ magazine
and:
-boxer of the year award
-boxer of the decade award
-p4p king
-WBO welterwgt champion
now…
WHOSE THE MAN????????!!!!!!
not the one with ‘no nothing’ but dissing from the ruggedman, right?????
hahaha
@No Soup For You-
To have that many people at a boxing match is an accomplishment for boxing. How many people live in Vegas, do they all go to see Mayweather fight. Your statement is about as intelligent as you may think you are.
Find me a 20 dollar seat, i’ll be there. I would be insulting moronic people by calling you a moron again.
Who cares what the so-called “experts” say?! I’m watching the fight, and yes, there’ll be food, booze, ice cream and desserts on the table for the rest of the family, including the grandkids who are enamored with Pacquiao. Who cares if other people in the U.S. don’t watch the fight? Ghana and the Philippines will be glued to the tube tonight, and that’s good enough for me.
BTW, I’m Filipino and a fan of the PacMan, and my Mexican friends and neighbors will also be watching the fight, con todo comida, cerveza Corona, etc.
I bet Mayweather will be paying for this fight.
@keepinitreal
You didnt see the fight between clottey and cotto. Clearly Clottey won.
@Bill B, shoulda, woulda coulda…What if this, what if that…Fact is, Mayweather is fighting Mosely…2.6M PPV buys.
Pacquiao vs. Clottey…400,000 PPV buys. Pitiful!!!
Mostly Pinoys follow Pacquiao…PERIOD!!!
This will be a good fight. Any boxing fight is good for boxing fans.
lets see: MANNY beats COTTO. COTTO beats CLOTTEY, so for PPV MANNY fights the guy that LOST TO THE GUY THAT LOST TO MANNY?
Between daylight savings, and the time zone, and different venue, I’m all confused. What time’s the fight start, or is there supposed to be a bunch of documentary crap for two hours? I saw one undercard fight, but are they airing that “road to Dallas?”
Yes because its Pacquiao!!! I am now preparing food for tonight fight. My American frieds which are Floyd fans and my co-workers from Ghana are coming to my house to watch this fight. I provide the PPV and foods and they bring the booze. That’s our deal. I’m excited and can’t wait for tonight fight. I am Pilipino by the way and a boxing fan.
@Bkasm
Trust me chris will be watching.what eles does he have to do?
Besides playing with himself.
@Bill B, there are 3 million people there you idiot. You can’t get 40,000 people at $20 bucks? What does that tell you? And to top it off, many of those are going for the spectacle of being in the new arean, not Pacquioa/Clottey.
Dismal, simply dismal!!!
You should have wrote this article for the joke that was Mayweather vs. De la Hoya. You could have save people lots of money. I think the Gomez vs Castillo bout will be more compelling and entertaining than Floyd Vs Shane fight. It’s not a knock on Shane but Floyd has a way watering down his fights that leaves fans unsatisfied. It’s like this, I’d rather pay for and see Manny go two rounds with Hatton than see Mayweather Vs De la Hoya. It’s seems like at the end of most of Floyds fights, he has to explain why the fights were so boring and uneventful. That my friends is not worth paying for.
then, don’t watch then! nobody force you to watch.
you can always right an article about the fight by asking somebody who watch it.
Pacquiao is an exciting fighter and never disappoints. Hes never been in a boring fight. So yes, its worth it. Mayweather on the other hand…
Everyone is underestimating Clottey to the fullest. He is a bum if u let these writers tell it. The beauty of boxing is this…the fight is not won on paper it is won in the ring. I just hope Manny remains humble after this ass whooping he is about to receive tonight. Manny will be singing to his fans via satellite from the ICU room after this fight.
come one 45,000 plus Party tickets not PPV worthy?
How about at least 150 millions will watch around the globe…
Mayweather vs Marquez (a tune-up fight basd on FMJ account)
1M buys
Can you imagine people bought this fight and not even a KO what more Pacman vs Clottey (this is very exciting).
eat your heart out!
cowboys stadium, baby!!
you don’t want to put somebody out there who gets booed by the fans or people walking out even before the fight ends (saw that baldomir fight?!)
you don’t want 45000 booing you, right??????
@ Bill B
Good point! If berto didn’t drop out he would be fighting
M. HATTON
@ Simon
Well Said! After Pacman and Floyd are well gone CHRIS W. does
not have enough talent to carry any other fighters. Its really
easy to sit back and trash people but it takes talent to be a
RYAN DUNN and be non-bias and constructive.Count your blessings
CHRIS W. you won’t have these guys around much longer to BASH.
hey chris williams, can you afford to pay the cheapest ticket the offer? if you can’t then shut your mouth. you may talk to jerry jones to watch it free on ringside. to make such comment is a looser’s opinion. are you broke? give me your address and i will send donation for you just to keep your mouth shut coz you are like your idol chicken weather engulf by enviousness.
Agree 100% with the author.
The reality, though, is that – at this stage of his career – Pacquiao and his people are going to drain as much money out of the game as is humanly possible, which is understandable when a fighter is nearing the end.
But, as I said, I sympathise with Americans who are having to shell out for a mis-match.
im on a plane now ticket to ireland please haha
Probably not but i already bought it because i love the sport to much.
people pay to see pac maul somebody, star or non-star.
if anyone doesn’t want to buy ppv for this one, well, they can fly to dallas and join those 45,000 out there if they can still get a ticket. (well there’s those party tickets offered though for 35)
good luck!
this fight is on ss1
If Mayweather ended up fighting Clottey, i can just imagine all the credit that will be thrown his way. How much of an exciting fight it will be etc.
Fact is, if Berto had not been removed from the Mosley fight, Maywether will be facing Paulie M., and call it a tune up fight. He had to take Mosely, he did not go looking for it.
isnt the fight on sky sports 1
THIS FIGHT SHOULD BE FREE ON HBO!
I like Floyd Mayweather and Paul Williams as a boxer, but as far as Pac, he has done things to be in the spotlight where he should be on Pay Per View no matter who he fights. to answer the question, yes he should be on Pay Per View, he earned it.
when was the last time Pac fights not in Fight of the year candidate? go figure…pls don’t buy the PPV, this not for haters to enjoy but real boxing fans who know that that two fisted pacmonster that comes once in a lifetime has only one or two fights left. Peace.
@ no soup for you-
Still tickets available in Dallas? So what, there’s 40 thousand seats moron.
@Phoocquiao- you hit the nail on the head. A Philippine native is the most popular fighter in the US, sometimes being humble crosses over to the regular folks and now they get to see some boxing when normally they wouldn’t have given boxing a second look.
Who cares what you think. I am a boxing fan and will pay to see good fights. Yes this fight is worthy.
Mayweather fights being worth the cost, that’s the question…
@ anonymous..
You don’t reach the summit of the sport or become a top ranked welterweight by having no talent….
Maybe you didn’t see the Clottey-Cotto bout. Cotto looked like hamburger afterwards and was lucky to have gotten the win. Clottey is no walk in the park fight. He’s not going to pull a Victor Ortiz and quit in the ring. He’s going to fight. That’s what I am paying for.
Pacquaio has an exciting style to watch and be a fan of. I’m already signed up for the fight. The answer is yes.
PPV buys from this fight will be dismal. Ending up somewhere in the 400,000 to 600,000 buy range. There are still tickets available in Dallas and they are $20 bucks each thanks to Tecate. No doubt, this is an HBO or SPIKE TV fight.
wel if pac cares about his fans so much y would he give them a free fight?. jones hopkins fight is a joke. and simon ur a bird. dancer vs granpa?. so im guessing ne one from the dancing wit the stars can get into boxing. u dont dance ur way to 40 wins man. u guys think he jus runs around but u dun win rounds by runnin around buddy. and mosely a grandpa?. u seriuse man. i bet u one of the goofs that sayed floyds to scared to fight mosely. u no y ppl will watch that fight cuz its 2 of the top p4p. if i wan watch ppl stand and slug it out wit no skills uil jus go to a reg boxing show wit ppl who have no talent, or jus go n watch a bar fight.
These guys that use the PPV argument are stupid. It’s no secret that FLoyd is better at marketing himself than Pacquiao.
Floyd HAS to promote himself the way he does or no one would watch him fight. Floyd plays the heel cause he has to.
manny don’t gotta do that. As long as he is an exciting humble fighter, networks like ABC and shows like Jimmy Kimmel and 60 minutes will always have interest in him.
No one would watch a piece on Floyd Mayweather. Why would they? He aint nothing but a good boxer. Manny has clearly transcended the sport.
Shows that have no affiliation with boxing are now talking about boxing. Not because of the American, but because of the Filipino. Even as the American is heading into the bigger fight between the two of them, people are talking about Manny, not Mayweather.
Now you tell me who is better for boxing? Who is the one bringing back to the main stage a la Mike Tyson? Manny Pacquiao is.
So you can go ahead, mr. writer, and try to bash the guy. If you stop and take a look around, you are in very small company my friend.
I am excited for this fight– cannot wait for my friends to join me tonight to watch it– on PPV!
I completely agree with you, this fight should be on HBO. Clottey has little chance of winning. I am hoping for a Clottey haymaker reaching Pacquiao’s chin for the upset of the new decade!
@ WoodinVirginia… I guess you’ll be watching a member of the three stooges fight on May 1st then, running all around, sounds very exciting. Tonight, I will be watching a real fight with the home boyzzzs. Go PAC!!
The question should be is Jones Hopkins a PPV worthy fight, let alone a free view fight?
Allot of people keep saying how Manny will be too small for this natural welterweight, how Clottey will surprise fight fans with his power, including many writers on this site.
That alone should interest some to buy the PPV. The answer is “yes” it is worthy. Also for the Mayweather fans out there, they may not admit it, but they will buy it for the sole purpose of possibly seeing an upset.
Same reason Maywether gets high PPV numbers, guaranteed a large portion of those buys want to see him lose. In the end it’s all good business.
The beauty of boxing is the unpredictable nature of it. Until they fight, you don’t know the outcome. Anything can happen for either fighter; an upset or a KO. On paper you could argue that de la Hoya, Hatton or Cotto should have been worthy opponents for Pacquaio, but they were not even close. Clottey may not win this fight but he is better than his record indicates.
Fans of other sports will pay big bucks to go to mismatched games, with the outcome basically predetermined. They want to see their team win!
I will not pay to watch a Mayweather fight because his fighting style is boring and he is arrogant and cocky (sorry Mosely). I don’t care about records… I am paying for the Pacquaio-Clottey fight without complaint. Now go to your room and play your WII until next week when the fight is On Demand for free and quit your griping.
pretty much this writer is more excited in Floyd vs. Dela Goya type of figth that make 2.5m PPV on a sparring show. Real fight fan look it deeper and know that 2 ranaway freight train are colliding head on tonite. Pls don’t buy this PPV and let us just enjoy this ourselves real boxing fan. LMAO!
With all the Conference B-Ball tournaments on today & tonight who needs to pay for a ‘tune-up fight?’ The draw may be real low.
My sentiment EXACTLY why pay money for a keep busy fight sorry Arum & co your not getting my $ bet you Jerry Jones can’t fill that stadium either. He could have filled it if Mayweather was fighting Pacman.
an 800 to 1M conservative PPV buy is expected on this fight. Even the most stupid promoter can figure that out…can you MR. writer? LMAO!
CW, the only reason you have food on your table is because of people like Pac and Clottey. Otherwise, you’ll probably be picking empty cans on the streets and on garbage. If this is not an entertaining fight, then there can be no other. If you’re thinking about the fight on May 1st as worthwhile, then you’re dead wrong. Just look at the characters of that fight, a “Dancer” vs a “Grandpa”. Would you think it’s entertaining?