The
Pound 4 Pound boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao will step back through
the ropes on March 13th to take on the hardened Ghanaian Joshua
Clottey at the newly built Dallas Cowboys Super Stadium.
Originally Manny was supposed to
be facing Floyd Mayweather Jr in what would have been a dream
matchup. Unfortunately like a dream, fight fans were awoken by
news that the bout had come crashing down before them when it
was revealed that both parties were unable to agree on the blood
testing involved, this left fight fans frustrated and both fighters
without a marquee opponent.
Manny’s camp immediately
looked at other possibilities which included a proposed move into
a new weight division where he would have faced newly crowned
champion Yuri Foreman. A couple of weeks passed without any news
before Top Ranks CEO Bob Arum made the announcement that the Filipino
had in fact signed a deal to face the formidable Joshua Clottey
this Saturday which promises to be a night to remember for an
assortment of reasons.
You don’t get to be boxing’s
Pound 4 Pound king by being ordinary or a little good, No, You
have to be the best not only within your division but throughout
boxing period. To get there you have to clear out your chosen
division and keep increasing the level of opposition to the point
where you are unable to go any further.
This is exactly what Manny was
able to accomplish in the last few years beating the likes of
Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La
Hoya and last time out Miguel Cotto to rise to the top of many
people’s pound 4 pound listings.
Manny’s style is exciting
and is one that is very easy on the eye, which is one of the reasons
he is such a MASSIVE fans favourite, wherever Manny fights he
fills arena’s and this one will be no different.
Pacquiao is known to attack from
start to finish and is a fighter who is blessed with lightening
speed and stamina which is equal to that of a marathon runner.
His defence earlier in his career was a little suspect and was
an area which challengers looked to exploit but since the acquisition
of Freddy Roach, this is no longer a concern to the Filipino who
has tightened up his guard and looks a more complete athlete.
The frightening problem for his opponents is that he doesn’t
believe he has fulfilled his potential yet.
Joshua in my opinion is still very
much an underrated fighter but in actual fact is a brilliant one.
Throughout his time in the ring Clottey has only been defeated
three times which were to Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and
a disqualification at the hands of Carlos Manuel Baldomir.
In each of these fights Clottey
showed courage unlike many of today’s champions and stayed
the distance with each fighter.
In his match up with Margarito
he was able to showcase brilliant boxing skills to unravel the
Mexican until a injured shoulder midway through the fight left
him to fight the rest of the bout with only one useful arm. Still
he boxed the full twelve and although he lost a unanimous decision
to the rugged Mexican he still left the ring a winner in the eyes
of each and every fight fan that turned up that night because
of his courage to continue when it would have been easier to quit.
Both Pacquiao and Clottey were
last seen in the ring with Miguel Cotto which witnessed very different
outcomes, Manny of course stopped the formidable Puerto Rican
while Clottey lost a close decision but again showed the world
that he was a fighter made for fights of this magnitude and promoters
seem to agree which leads up to Saturdays fight.
PACQUIAO
– STAY OFF THE ROPES - USE
COMBINATIONS - MOVE TO THE SIDES - FIRE THE STRAIGHT LEFT HAND
CLOTTEY – STAY OFF THE ROPES
- COMMAND THE CENTRE OF THE RING - GO TO THE BODY - KEEP PUNCHING
When the announcement for this fight
was made, my initial thought was of the opinion that this fight
was tailor made for Manny.
Not that this is aimed at being
disrespectful to Clottey because I am a keen admirer of Joshua’s
skills, The reason I thought this is that I do believe Joshua
has looked static in past fights and is a fighter who likes to
lie on the ropes for long periods of rounds. This has worked in
the past against lesser opponents but is not a tactic which will
be best utilized in this fight, if each of these things happen
on Saturday, Pacquiao is the type of fighter to take advantage
which could ultimately mean a short night for Joshua.
Clottey will enter the fight as
the naturally bigger fighter and unlike Cotto I believe he will
be able to use that size as a BIG advantage, If Clottey can somehow
walk Manny down and get in close then this fight could potentially
turn into a very close affair, this of course is a big IF.
Although in the run up to the fight
I have been impressed with Joshua’s training intensity and
the way his sparring as gone I still see Manny taking this one.
I`ll be looking for Pacquiao to
gauge Clottey’s power early on to get a feel for what he
possesses then I feel he will take over throughout the middle
section. Although many have tried and failed to stop Clottey I
doubt that Joshua has ever been hit with a shot like Manny’s
straight left, so I am going to step off the fence and predict
a Pacquiao victory with Manny becoming the first man to ever stop
the African.
PACQUIAO
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