Joshua Clottey – Does He Stand a Chance?

Manny Pacquiao		Joshua Clottey
Age : 31		Age : 32
Weight : 146 lbs.	VS.	Weight: 147 lbs.
Height: 5 ft. 6.5 in. (1.69m)		Height: 5 ft. 8 in. (170 m)
Reach: 67″		Reach: 70″
50 wins, three losses, two draws, 37 KOs		35 wins, three losses, 0 draws, 20 KOs

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Saturday Night in Cowboys Stadium over 45,000 people will be on hand to watch the pound for pound king, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao fight his latest challenger, a tough Ghanaian fighter Joshua Clottey.  This fight will be the most attended Pacquiao fight inside the US but it will still be about 10-15 thousand off the USA record for attendees to a boxing match.  In 1993, 58,891 people crammed the Alamodome in San Antonio to watch Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker.  The Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker sold out as a super fight between the two best pound for pound fighters in the world; this fight is going to sell out on Manny Pacquiao’s name alone.  Clottey is a good fighter but the casual fan doesn’t know Josh Clottey, my mom knows who Manny Pacquiao is, after this fight though I’m sure people will know Clottey’s name.

Josh Clottey is a superb fighter; he’s never been knocked out and he’s only lost three fights. In his losses, all could have gone the other way; his loss to Carlos Baldomir was due to excessive use of the head. His loss to Miguel Cotto was a close slit decision and his only unanimous defeat at the hands of Antonio Margarito was due in large part to the broken hand he suffered early in the fight, many boxers would have quit but Clottey was able to win at least four rounds.

Going back to Clottey’s excessive  use of the head, it’s not accidental, he genuinely isn’t afraid of a head on head collision in the ring, with Pacquiao’s history of being a bleeder, this could cause trouble for Pacman if Clottey can sneak one in early. It’s not pretty, it’s not exactly legal but it happens in every fight and the best fighters are the ones who can get away with it.

Josh Clottey has excellent defense, something Cotto and Rickey Hatton didn’t have. It’s going to force Pacquiao to fight through his opponent, he won’t be left with wide-open shots for easy jobs and power punches. Clottey’s defense has been so good that he’s only been knocked down one, that knock down came in his last fight to Cotto but if you re-watch the fight you’ll see Clottey was off balance when the jab landed, yes it’s still a knock down but you won’t get many who say Cotto put him down.

The biggest factor working in Clottey’s favor is size; he’s a much bigger fighter and depending how well he cut weight for the fight he could have an extra 10-15lbs on him when he steps into the ring Saturday night.

The biggest knock on Clottey is that he is a slow starter and slows down in the championship rounds.

When he steps into the ring on Saturday, Clottey will have a chance to become a legend, he’ll be facing off against the most popular fighter in the world and arguably the pound for pound champion. He’ll need to put together 12 perfect rounds to upset the Champ but he has the chin, the defense and the x-factor to beat Manny Pacquiao.  Even if he doesn’t, he will do enough to become a household name.