By Alexander Fugate: The Pacquiao-Clottey fight went almost exactly like the overwhelming majority felt it would. A vast majority felt Clottey would cover up too much and not throw enough punches to win rounds and didn‘t possess the power to knock Manny out. This feeling was based on the fact that Clottey has only one knockout in the last five years and loves to cover up blocking his opponents shots and not throwing anything in return for long stretches. This sentiment was proven by the odds, which made Pacquiao a seven and a half to one favorite.
When one fighter has a low punch output and no real knockout power and is facing an opponent that throws a myriad of punches, has faster hands, more power, and better endurance it is usually viewed as a total mismatch. And this was the exact scenario for the Pacquiao-Clottey event. Still, some tried to insist Clottey would be a tough fight for Manny, though no one ever really mentioned what it was they were basing this opinion on.
Pacquiao heavily outworked Clottey all night long to win a lopsided decision. Clottey often covers up in his crab defense and refuses to throw punches. He has had this flaw throughout his career and his lack of activity has been the one major knock against him. He didn’t fight any different against Pacquiao. In fact, before the fight Clottey had stated he would allow Manny to throw 30 punches to his four. This was true, as Clottey was stubborn in his refusal to let his hands go the entire 12 rounds. It really appeared from the beginning that Clottey was simply trying to last all 12 rounds; and if that was his goal, he accomplished it. Most of Pacquiao’s head shot’s landed on Clottey’s arms and gloves. Manny really pounded on Clottey’s body all night long though, as it was open like it has been in every round he’s ever fought. The final judges scorecards were 120-108 twice and 119-109 on the other.
This fight went exactly as expected, as Clottey refused to throw enough punches to win any rounds and even though he landed a few solid shots, never hurt Pacquiao. Now the Pacquiao hype train can keep on rolling, as Manny destroyed a B level opponent, that was coming off a loss. This is nothing new for Pacquiao as he faced Morales three times, and in all three Morales had lost his previous fight. He fought Barrera after Marquez had beat him soundly in his last outing. Hector Velazquez is another Manny foe that had lost his previous bout. As for his last three opponents before tonight, they had all lost their last fight against a top tier opponent. De La Hoya was beaten by Mayweather and then couldn’t get a lightweight out of the ring. Hatton had been knocked out by Mayweather and looked like he was going to be knocked out by the light hitting Juan Lazcano in his next outing before the ref inexplicably stopped the action to allow Hatton to tie his shoes. Hatton’s only fight after that was a win over the feather-fisted Pauli Malignaggi. Cotto had suffered a devastating beating by the possibly plaster wrapped hands of Margarito the last time he fought a top notch fighter and hadn‘t looked the same since. And now, Clottey who has never beat a top tier opponent. Pacquiao has consistently shown that he prefers to take on the losers of big fights and continued that trend Saturday night.
Before the fight it was already reported Pacquiao’s next opponent looked to be Margarito who is coming off a loss to Shane Mosley, where he got thoroughly beaten up all night long. There is also an outside chance he could face Mosley should he lose on May 1st. As for Mayweather, don’t expect Pacquiao to take that fight or even try to negotiate for it, especially if Mayweather proves victorious against Mosley. Given his entire career, it would be shocking to see Pacquiao fight someone coming off a win in a mega-fight. Margarito, who is currently still not allowed to fight in the US because of his illegal hand wraps appears to be the frontrunner for Manny’s next bout. Edwin Valero is another option. Valero has an impressive record of 27-0 with all 27 wins coming by way of knockout. However, Valero has never fought a top notch fighter and would be in way over his head. One has to hope that Manny will face Mosley next. Fighting someone coming of a loss to Mayweather would be a lot better than fighting someone who suffered a beatdown by someone who just lost to Mayweather. If Mosley wins on May 1st, which is a real possibility than a Pacquiao-Mosley fight would seem less likely. In fact a Mosley victory could bring a Mayweather-Pacquiao match-up to fruition, as Floyd would lose some bargaining power and could ease up or even drop the drug testing he wants for all of his opponents now (Mayweather undergoes the same testing and isn‘t asking his opponents to do something he isn‘t going to do). Still one has to give Manny credit for continuing to win, even if it is against less than stellar opposition.
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