By Sean McDaniel: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will be facing Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO’s) on March 13th. Clottey, a Top Rank fighter like Pacquiao, has been picked as the replacement for Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the upcoming bout at the Dallas Cowboy stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Clottey has been called a good replacement opponent by many fans. However, I don’t see it that way. Why didn’t they consider matching Pacquiao up with World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley or WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez.

Clottey is a good fighter, but he’s coming off a loss to Miguel Cotto in his last fight. Pacquiao defeated Cotto by a 12th round knockout. That kind of takes the suspense out of a fight between Clottey and Pacquiao in my book. For fans that see Clottey as being a power puncher, let me remind you that Clottey has only one knockout in his last eleven fights since 2005. That suggests to me that Clottey isn’t a real knockout threat.

I don’t what happened to his power, but Clottey, 32, hasn’t been knocking out opponents with regularity since 2004 when he was in his mid 20s. At that time, Clottey was mostly facing 2nd tier opponents. Marquez fought Pacquiao very closely in their fight in March 2008. Marquez may have lost the fight by a 12 round split decision, but he came the closest to beating Pacquiao since Erik Morales did in 2005. Marquez may have been beaten recently by Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that was only after moving up in weight nine pounds.

Marquez may have not looked good in the fight against Mayweather, but I still think he’ll give a better fight than Clottey. Marquez can punch with either hand and has done a good job of making Pacquiao pay for his mistakes in his two fights with him. Clottey is more of a defensive fighter with a good left hook and not much else. Since Clottey doesn’t have the power to knock Pacquiao based on his recent performances, I can’t see Clottey out-boxing Pacquiao and beating him by a decision. Clottey can be out-worked, and he fades late in his fights.

I’ve seen his fights against Zab Judah, Richard Gutierrez, Diego Corrales, Miguel Cotto, Carlos Baldomir, Jose Luis Cruz, Shamone Alvarez, Antonio Margarito and Felix Flores. In those fights, Clottey fought mostly short spurts in which he fights hard for 10 to 20 seconds and then covers up for the next minute or two, as if the short exertion tired him out.

It’s not interesting for me to watch his fights, because he isn’t active enough to keep the fight flowing. If Pacquiao’s team were looking for a fighter that Pacquiao can beat with ease, this is the one. When Clottey does attack, all Pacquiao has to do is back off and stay away him. Once Clottey covers up like he always does, Pacquiao can batter him with shots while Clottey lies against the ropes trying to block incoming shots.

Bradley is probably the best light welterweight in the division. I know Pacquiao doesn’t want to move down in weight to fight Bradley, but I’m sure that Bradley would have no qualms about moving up in weight to fight Pacquiao. Unlike Clottey, Bradley throws a lot of punches and is a very busy fighter. Pacquiao would have big problems against him. I think Bradley might even be able to beat Pacquiao.