{"id":1458,"date":"2010-03-05T08:40:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T13:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2010-03-05T08:40:18","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T13:40:18","slug":"one-for-the-fans-manny-pacquiao%e2%80%99s-interesting-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=1458","title":{"rendered":"One for the Fans: Manny Pacquiao\u2019s Interesting Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Jeff Stoyanoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the perks of being a superstar in boxing is that you no longer have to take fights against the likes of Joshua Clottey.\u00a0 Floyd Mayweather, JR., is well aware of the rule no doubt.\u00a0 It is beyond unlikely that Mayweather would ever choose to fight Clottey.\u00a0 Not because Mayweather doesn\u2019t believe he would win, one can be sure he does.\u00a0 But rather because Clottey is the ultimate high risk\/ low reward opponent.\u00a0 Pacquiao has clearly ascended beyond the point where he needs to take on a Clottey, realistically it could easily be argued that Pac could fight anyone he wanted up to and including a walkover and it would still be hard to question his willingness to meet the best in the ring.\u00a0 So, why fight Joshua Clottey?\u00a0 And, why do it now when the stakes are still so very high?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The potential fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather turned into a savage PR war with Mayweather openly calling into question the legitimacy of Pacquiao\u2019s recent wins and Pacquiao responding with legal action himself.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps the choice of Clottey was a PR punch by team Pacquiao.\u00a0 After all, fair or not, there are many out there who now wonder if Pacquiao has something to hide in the wake of his refusal to submit to random blood test any time up until two weeks before their proposed fight.\u00a0 As has been covered Ad nausea, Pacquiao is not required to undergo such testing and has never tested positive, but that won\u2019t stop those who question his motivation in refusing the terms offered and walking away from tens of millions of dollars.\u00a0 The reality is, Pacquiao couldn\u2019t take on just any fighter; he needed an opponent that left no doubt of his continued willingness to meet literally anybody in the ring.\u00a0 If ever there was a fighter who fit under that banner, it\u2019s Joshua Clottey.<\/p>\n

The Dangers of Clottey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clottey has a long, heavy jab and he uses it relentlessly as he presses forward behind a solid defense.\u00a0 Moreover, Clottey certainly seems to take a punch well.\u00a0 The flash knockdown he suffered in the first round with Miguel Cotto was the first of his outstanding career.\u00a0 Clottey is not possessed of sensational power; his knockout percentage of just 51% aptly demonstrates his relatively average power.\u00a0 Yet, the KO percentage only tells part of the story.\u00a0 What Clottey does have is sufficient power to slow opponents down and earn their respect and that is often all one needs.\u00a0 Despite his excellent jab, Clottey appears to prefer fighting at a fairly measured pace.\u00a0 Clottey often dominated the action against Cotto when he took the time to engage.\u00a0 However, all too often, Clottey seem to take time off and wait on Cotto.\u00a0 That was just the opening that Cotto needed to steal that fight.\u00a0 Yet, Clottey is a solid fighter, with an excellent chin and an outstanding jab.\u00a0 And, he is fighting a smaller man whose one weakness, it would seem, is that he is not a defensive wizard.\u00a0 All in all, Clottey has to like his position as he attempts what would have to be considered a titanic upset.<\/p>\n

Amazingly, the news gets better for Clottey.\u00a0 Pacquiao has forced himself into a quick turnaround after dispatching Cotto only last November.\u00a0 Freddie Roach has suggested that the quick turnaround will be good for Pacquiao as down time is generally bad for a fighter.\u00a0 Still, it was a physical fight against a tough opponent and now another durable and talented opponent follows right behind.\u00a0 But, the situation is potentially even more dangerous.\u00a0\u00a0 Pacquiao was close to getting THE mega fight with Floyd Mayweather JR.; the fight that was to represent the pinnacle of his career.\u00a0 Instead, he gets Clottey; a letdown has to be considered a possibility.\u00a0 Of course Pac will arrive in great shape and ready to fight, but what if he is just the tiniest bit flat?\u00a0 This seems like exactly the kind of scenario that produces major upsets; a hungry and talented underdog and a huge talent whose mind just might be somewhere else.\u00a0 It is hard to envision that Pacquiao can lose right now, but some of the ingredients for an unexpected result are present and that should make for high drama on March 13th.<\/p>\n

Story and Opportunity<\/strong>
\n\u00a0
\nIt would appear that Clottey was a risky and therefore bad choice for Pacquiao, but that would be missing what might just be a great decision.\u00a0 Clottey comes into this fight with only three losses on his ledger.\u00a0 Clottey suffered his first loss losing by 11th round DQ against Carlos Baldomir in 1999; it was a fight that he was winning fairly easily.\u00a0 Clottey took his second loss against Antonio Margarito in 2006.\u00a0 Clottey came out fast and won the first few rounds against Margarito before encountering hand problems on his way to eventually dropping a unanimous decision.\u00a0 Whether Clottey hurt his hands or whether he was bedeviled by his own complacency in the ring is hard to ever know definitively.\u00a0 However, his punch output did taper off in the fight and that did allow Margarito to step up his offense and take the fight.\u00a0 Although, even in losing, Clottey was certainly not overmatched that night.\u00a0 Rather, he demonstrated quite clearly that he was a worthy opponent for any welterweight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clottey\u2019s only other loss came in June of 2009 against Miguel Cotto.\u00a0 Once again, Clottey acquitted himself quite well in the fight.\u00a0 Despite going down in the first round, it was Clottey who controlled much of the action in the fight consistently landing shots on an all too often beleaguered Miguel Cotto.\u00a0 Of course Cotto is a tremendous fighter with a heart that is every bit the equal of his unquestionable acumen.\u00a0 As such, Cotto was able to fight on relatively even terms for much of the bout.\u00a0 Yet, one had the distinct feeling that when Clottey set his mind to fighting, it was Cotto who was struggling to keep pace.\u00a0 Going into the final round it was an extraordinarily close fight; the type of fight in which a single point seemed destined to make the difference.\u00a0 Inexplicably, Clottey came out passively and simply allowed the incredibly game Cotto to take the final round and a split decision victory.\u00a0 As it turned out, Clottey would have needed to score at least a knockdown in the last round to secure even a draw, but there simply would have been no way to know that before the cards were read.\u00a0 At the time, it appeared as though the 12th and final round could have easily determined the winner of the fight.\u00a0 Cotto fought as if it did; for whatever reason, Clottey did not.<\/p>\n

It was only at this point perhaps that an ethos for the career of Clottey finally began to materialize; Clottey as an unquestionably talented fighter who somehow finds a way to come up just the tiniest bit short in the biggest fights of his life.\u00a0 Where the hand problems slowed him down against Margarito, the fall and subsequent knee problems perhaps derailed him against Cotto always something keeping him from the victory he seemed so destined to obtain.\u00a0 Or, perhaps the answer is not so easy to define.\u00a0 Clottey came out fast against Margarito and then seemed to take a step back and let Margarito back into the fight.\u00a0 Similarly, he came out fast with Cotto and then seemed to find a way to allow Cotto to do just enough to win.\u00a0 Clottey appears to have solid endurance, so one is left to wonder why he has been unable to close the deal in what have often appeared to be imminently winnable fights.\u00a0 Clottey is the boxing equivalent of the athlete in any sport that is clearly talented enough, but has yet to find a way to win the big one.\u00a0 Until he does, that will be the story of his career.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there is a definite positive aspect to the career of Joshua Clottey; even including the losses.\u00a0 While he has yet to capture his white whale, he has also never been overmatched.\u00a0 Even in his three losses; Clottey not only wasn\u2019t clearly defeated, he left viewers with the unmistakable sensation that the better fighter lost.\u00a0 If the mysterious inability to capture a career defining win encapsulates the ring saga of Joshua Clottey than the inability of any opponent to dominate him in the ring nonetheless represents a seminal truth.\u00a0 Every vice becomes a virtue; did his hands betray him against Margarito?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter because we all saw that Clottey could more than handle himself in the fight.\u00a0 What was behind his inability to sustain his effort against Cotto?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter as he shocked audiences once again by demonstrating for much of that fight that it was Cotto who had to find a way to deal with him.\u00a0 His losses in those fights only seem to underscore how good he is as we wonder to ourselves over and over, how did he let it get away?\u00a0\u00a0 In this dynamic wins and losses are no longer significant.\u00a0 Setting a ring record aside, to date no fighter has ever been able to reduce Clottey to being just an opponent; and that is where Pacquiao comes in.<\/p>\n

The genius of Pacquiao<\/strong><\/p>\n

The differences between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are readily apparent.\u00a0 Ring styles and personalities aside, there is one difference that is perhaps most telling.\u00a0 Pacquiao seems to capture the imagination of fight fans to a much greater degree than Floyd Mayweather.\u00a0 Make no mistake, they are both outstanding fighters and Floyd Mayweather is a colorful personality who brings far more excitement to the fight game than he is often given credit for.\u00a0 Still, the difference in the feeling one has when they watch either man fight is palpable.\u00a0 Mayweather\u2019s genius is subtle as he methodically stifles his opponent slowly constricting his man until his opportunity to finish things invariably appears.\u00a0 Conversely, Pacquiao strikes from the outset with an awe inspiring fury.\u00a0 The level of genius is comparable, but one leaves you feeling almost sedate as you appreciate the brilliance, while in the other case a dumbstruck feeling washes over you as you ponder how anyone can withstand such a precise and vicious assault.\u00a0 There can be no difference greater between the two than how they are often perceived by those who watch them in the ring.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, Clottey is an ideal choice as an opponent for Manny Pacquiao.\u00a0 Not because he matches up in a particular way or because the timing is somehow right for this or that to take place.\u00a0 Clottey is the perfect choice for the opportunities that are woven into this fight.\u00a0 Perhaps Clottey can find a way to secure one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history.\u00a0 It would complete a story that sports fans have seen many times before as a talented man finally finds a way to accomplish that which he always seemed destined to do.\u00a0 Clottey has been close and now he faces another great fighter, perhaps the tiniest bit distracted and perhaps not completely ready for the grueling twelve rounds that Clottey has always delivered\u2026regardless of opponent.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the genius might just have another object lesson in store for his voracious audience.\u00a0 If Pacquiao is able to dominate Clottey and perhaps even knock him out he will have continued constructing his own tale of shocking brilliance in the ring.\u00a0 What Pacquiao is able to deliver, unlike even many other great fighters, is the sensation that you can\u2019t believe what you just saw.\u00a0 Nobody has ever been able to dominate Joshua Clottey in the ring and that is the challenge that awaits Pacquiao.\u00a0 If he can go out and do just that he will once again invoke the sense of awe that has come to define the rapidly hardening ring legacy of Manny Pacquiao.\u00a0 Who would have thought that a tough and talented Joshua Clottey; a man nobody wanted to fight, would have ever represented the perfect opponent?<\/p>\n

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March 13th, Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey will collide for the WBO Welterweight Title. For those of you not getting the Pay Per View, tune into RSR for the round by round coverage, including the fights leading up to the main event. The fans have demanded it and we are happy to oblige. Don\u2019t miss the round by round coverage on March 13th of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey Pay Per View!<\/p>\n

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Watch The Trailer For Family Secret<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeff Stoyanoff One of the perks of being a superstar in boxing is that you no longer have to take fights against the likes of Joshua Clottey.\u00a0 Floyd Mayweather, JR., is well aware of the rule no doubt.\u00a0 It is beyond unlikely that Mayweather would ever choose to fight Clottey.\u00a0 Not because Mayweather doesn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,409,477,562,625],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-joshua-clottey","tag-manny-pacquiao","tag-pi","tag-round-by-round-live-of-manny-pacquiao-and-joshua-clottey-march-13th"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}