{"id":1582,"date":"2010-03-12T00:02:15","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T05:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=1582"},"modified":"2010-05-21T21:32:09","modified_gmt":"2010-05-22T01:32:09","slug":"team-rsr-fight-picks-%e2%80%93-manny-pacquiao-vs-joshua-clottey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=1582","title":{"rendered":"Team RSR Fight Picks \u2013 Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Compiled by Brian Wilbur<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer in the world, holding the pound for pound crown with an iron fist.\u00a0 He is an active, fighting champion, set to step in the ring again this Saturday just four months after dispatching of Miguel Cotto.\u00a0 Four months may seem like a long time, but we live in an era where we are lucky if a championship level fighter fights twice in one year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacquiao is not taking any easy routes either.\u00a0 He is set to take on top rated contender Joshua Clottey.\u00a0 Clottey has fought an excellent level of competition, including giving the likes of Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito very tough fights that went the distance.\u00a0 Clottey has never been stopped and is a former IBF Welterweight Champion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite Clottey\u2019s solid reputation as a world class boxer, he is considered a large underdog in this fight.\u00a0 Odds makers peg Joshua as approximately a 5 to 1 underdog.\u00a0 The reason has more to do with Pacquiao being an amazing talent in his prime rather than a knock on Clottey\u2019s skill or merit.\u00a0 This Saturday night, we will find out if the odds makers were correct in making Pacquiao such a large favorite despite being the smaller man.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team of writers at RSR offer their picks:<\/p>\n

Mike \u201cRubber Warrior\u201d Plunkett<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think very highly of Joshua Clottey as a fighter and former world champion, but I cannot get away from certain fleeting moments in his close loss last year with Miguel Cotto.\u00a0 There were points where he seemed to submit spiritually and I believe this cost him the win, whereas Cotto forged ahead.\u00a0 What will happen when Manny Pacquiao starts holding his owns and lands a telling combination?\u00a0 Will Clottey give ground or will he stand ground?\u00a0 And then there’s the whole issue with Clottey’s trainer.\u00a0 How can we expect him to be all he can be if he has for the most part trained himself – especially against the hungry, willing, active and apparently peaking pound per pound king today?\u00a0 Look for Manny Pacquiao to prevail, most likely by stoppage within six rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBad\u201d Brad Berkwitt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pacquiao by a very hard fought decision.\u00a0 Somewhere in the 116-112 range.<\/p>\n

Geno McGahee<\/strong><\/p>\n

The easy pick is Manny by UD, but I’m going with Joshua Clottey to shock the world and stop Pacquiao in the 8th round. \u00a0Clottey looks fit and ready and is incredibly focused. \u00a0He’s good with distance and is coming in knowing he is the bigger man and wants to defend his place in boxing. \u00a0Clottey wins by TKO. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Gina Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to get my money\u2019s worth so I\u2019m sure Pacquiao will defeat Clottey by KO in the 9th or 10th round.\u00a0 Clottey may take 2 or 3 rounds, but since he has a tendency to kick in his attack later in the fight, it may be too late.\u00a0 Pacquiao\u2019s speed and punching power will overwhelm Clottey.\u00a0 Prediction: Pacquiao by KO.<\/p>\n

Jeff Stoyanoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clottey has always presented problems for his opponents and, to a certain degree, he should here as well.\u00a0 I look for Clottey to start fast behind his jab successfully backing Pacquiao up early on.\u00a0 However, once Pac gets his bearings, he will simply be too good and too fast.\u00a0 This should actually end up looking a little like the Cotto fight; an increasingly dominant Pacquiao by TKO in round 10 or 11.<\/p>\n

Dan \u201cTex\u201d Cohen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clottey is a nice fighter that gave Cotto hell, but I have a feeling we were looking at a Cotto who was on the downside at that point.\u00a0 Granted, Pacquiao took a few rounds to figure out that same fighter, and Cotto fought courageously to beat Clottey that night, but I think we are looking at a drastic talent gap between these two fighters.\u00a0 Expect Pacquiao to bob, weave, and spike, stopping the bigger man over a very long stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see this fight being the toughest fight of Manny Pacquiao\u2019s career.\u00a0 Manny Pacquiao has never went into a fight with the kind of pressure he will have going into this one. \u201cWhat pressure?\u201d First of all, the way he beat his last three opponents has raised expectations very HIGH for him! There are also the allegations of steroids use hanging over his head from passing on a mega fight with Floyd \u201cMoney\u201d Mayweather JR., because of the type of drug test requested.\u00a0 The stage will be the biggest any fighter has ever fought on!<\/p>\n

The first three rounds will be Pacquiao\u2019s rounds since Clottey will be fighting from a shell.\u00a0 From three rounds on, this fight becomes a battle.\u00a0 Clottey will figure out Pacquiao just like he did Zab Judah.\u00a0 Clottey will start to counter punch and Pacquiao will not have the defense to stop him.\u00a0 Clottey\u2019s size and strength will show going into the middle rounds of this fight!\u00a0 He will have Pacquiao fighting going backwards, and this will take its toll on Manny going down the stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joshua Clottey is going into this fight as the underdog.\u00a0 Very few have given him chance to win.\u00a0 He has very little pressure on him!\u00a0 This type of opponent can be very dangerous.\u00a0 Freddie Roach has already predicted Manny winning this fight by knockout!\u00a0 That brings more pressure on Manny.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t bet money on this fight at all.\u00a0 It\u2019s these kinds of fights that send crowds away stunned at the outcome!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Geoff \u201cThe Professor\u201d Poundes<\/strong><\/p>\n

By all the laws of physics and biology this should be a tough one for the Pacman, but then that was true of the De La Hoya, Hatton and Cotto extravaganzas.\u00a0 Clottey is a bigger man than all of those (yes, even bigger than a boiled down ODLH), and he\u2019s never been stopped \u2013 and for six or seven rounds he too dismantled Cotto before running out of ideas as the Puerto Rican ran skillfully from the fight.\u00a0 It\u2019s just impossible to call against Manny these days, so I\u2019ll take Manny to stop him between the 8th and 10th rounds (although every fiber of my being is screaming out: Pacquiao in a tough hard, split points verdict).<\/p>\n

Eoin Redahan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite his durability, I\u00a0see Clottey going the way of De La Hoya and Cotto.\u00a0 Pacquiao by eighth round stoppage.<\/p>\n

Brian Wilbur<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clottey lets rounds go by because he does not let his hands go.\u00a0 That will cost him against Pacquiao, who throws many hard punches to make his case clear to the judges.\u00a0 Clottey is competitive but I can\u2019t see him getting a decision win over Pacquiao unless he hurts Manny, and I don\u2019t see that happening at all.\u00a0 Clottey couldn\u2019t even knock out a bloated, shot Diego Corrales.\u00a0 Pacquiao by a comfortable decision, possibly a corner stoppage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friends of RSR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vonzell Johnson (Former Light Heavyweight Contender)<\/strong>
\n\u00a0
\nManny stops Clottey in eight rounds.<\/p>\n

Jose Antonio Rivera (Former World Champion)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think Manny wins by Unanimous decision.\u00a0 Clottey, is a tough veteran that can take a punch & knows how to survive.<\/p>\n

If you are not getting the fight on PPV, stop by RSR the night of the fight to get a free round by round live report by our very own Geno McGahee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advertise Now On RSR<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchase Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Compiled by Brian Wilbur Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer in the world, holding the pound for pound crown with an iron fist.\u00a0 He is an active, fighting champion, set to step in the ring again this Saturday just four months after dispatching of Miguel Cotto.\u00a0 Four months may seem like a long time, but […]<\/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":[27,409,477,570,624,629],"class_list":["post-1582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-27","tag-joshua-clottey","tag-manny-pacquiao","tag-ppv","tag-round-by-round-coverage","tag-rsr-fight-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582","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=1582"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}