MANNY PACQUIAO, WBO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
On the allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs…
Well, of course, I filed a suit on him because it’s not true. He’s accusing me…it’s not true, everything that’s he’s accusing me, and I want to clear my name because I’m a very honest person and believe in God. Of course what I’m doing in every fight is to give a good fight and train hard. I’m very disappointed in what he’s accusing me.
That’s why I decided myself to have a physical and I already gave to the media my medical [results] and it’s clean and nothing’s on it.
On the defamation lawsuit that was filed…
I just want to show it to them and to all the fans that I’m clean and I’m not cheating. I’m a very honest fighter.
On changing opponents from Mayweather to Clottey…
I’m still focused to my training and focused to the fight because forget about Mayweather. I understand Mayweather is making alibis to cancel the fight. I’m not the one making alibis to cancel the fight. The main thing is he don’t want to fight.
I have to train a different style like Clottey’s style so I have to practice a strategy for Clottey’s style.
I think Mayweather is scared to lose, you know? He’s scared to lose.
On his place in boxing history…
It’s very important to me, that’s why I filed a suit on them…it’s my sacrifice, I train hard. My trainer said they’re wanting me to stop in training, you know, to stop how training [for the random blood testing] and you don’t know how hard I sacrifice myself in training and pray to God. That’s why I have to defend myself.
On the possibility of Mosley fighting Mayweather…
I don’t know, but if that fight happens, it’s going to be a good fight and I think Mosley will win the fight.
More on blood testing…
I’m not turning down the blood testing. I agree to blood testing, but not the day of the fight. I tried that before the day of the fight, the Morales one, and I lost the fight because my body felt so weak and I didn’t recover. That’s why I don’t like blood testing so close to the fight.
Actually, I’m not concerned about the money. I’m mostly concerned about what I can give, my performance to the people of boxing and the people who are going to watch the fight. That’s why my concern is not only to myself, but to the people paying for the ticket and watching. They’re going to expect that it’s going to be a good fight. I don’t want them to be disappointed and maybe think, “Next time I don’t want to watch boxing because it’s a boring fight.” My concern is I am not only a fighter, but I am also an entertainer too. You have to entertain the people who are going to watch your fight.
On whether or not a fight with Mayweather will still happen or if it would be entertaining…
I think Mayweather is going to run long all day around the corner.
It’s going to be kind of boring if I don’t cut off the ring because I’m sure he’s going to run, run, run.
I’m still hoping that the fight will be pushed through some other time.
It’s gonna be a good fight if it happens.
On what concerns him about Clottey…
The size and he’s tough. He can take a punch. He can stand and fight toe-to-toe. I don’t want to underestimate Clottey because he’s a former champion too and he’s a nice guy.
JOSHUA CLOTTEY, FORMER WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
On whether or not it will be tough to win a decision…
Like I said, if I won the fight, I know I won the fight. But this one is going to be different because one thing I know for sure is that I know how to handle a southpaw good. I can handle a southpaw fighter so good.
On what it was like when he found out he would be fighting Manny…
Well, at first, I got an email from my manager that maybe we’re going to get a big fight with somebody, but he never mentioned the person. Then I went to I think Boxingscene and I saw that Bob Arum was saying that maybe Joshua was going to fight Pacquiao. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” I couldn’t even believe that, so I called my manager, because he told me to call him, and my manager confirmed to me that we’re fighting Pacquiao. I was like, “Wow!” That is a fight I love. I love to fight with Pacquiao because Pacquiao is the most guy that everybody wants to fight…I can’t believe that it’s me fighting Pacquiao. I’m so excited about it.
On whether or not Pacquiao is underestimating him…
No, no, no. There’s no underestimating me at all…Pacquiao can not understimate me. I’m too big to be underestimated, so I don’t think he is, but I think he’s giving me the chance to fight him. That’s why I respect him.
On whether or not his size will be advantage…
The reason why Pacquiao is most of the time beating the guys is people don’t realize he’s too small and as small as he is, he’s going to dodge your punches or move away from them. It’s like he’s going to fly, you see, because he’s too tiny. So those people are dangerous. Forget about the weight. Forget about how big I am. If he’s in front of me, then he’s too small in front of me; you can’t even see him.
I think I’ll have a defense that will surprise him a little bit.
On his gameplan for the fight…
I want to make this fight physical. I want to make it physical and see if Pacquiao can stand the physical. I’m going to try Pacquiao and Pacquiao is going to try me.
I’m not thinking that he’s too small.
One thing I know about me is that I know how to handle a southpaw. I never lost to a southpaw in my life before. All of my boxing career, amateur, professional, southpaw always easy for me to handle. What do you call him, Zab Judah, he had speed, but when I fought him, my blocking and my tight defense always make him confused. Pacquiao throws more than Zab Judah. Pacquiao is smaller than Zab Judah. That is the difference you have to worry about, but my blocking is still going to be good.
I’m training already.
When I was going to fight Cotto, I told you people that I’m going to pressure him. That’s me. I pressure people. I did that, right? I pressure him and he was running away all around the ring. My fight, again, with Pacquiao, is to pressure him. I’ll pressure Pacquiao.
Cotto is stronger than Pacquiao, it’s true, but you know, Cotto don’t respect Pacquiao. He think Pacquiao is too small to hurt him. When you see Pacquiao standing in front of you, you think, “Oh, he’s just too small. He’s this little guy.” You know, that’s what hurts you. I’m not thinking that at all. Send me in the ring at first, you’ll see that I will give him a lot of respect. He’s not going to suprise me with any punch.
I have a stiff jab…I think I will jab him a lot.
On allegations that Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs…
The way Pacquiao is just beating the guys, you see, anybody can just say something because it’s unbelievable. By beating Oscar like that, beating Ricky Hatton, beating Cotto down, especially the Cotto fight. Mayweather started thinking that maybe something is going on because of the way Pacquiao beat Cotto. But I think one thing that you have to think is that Pacquiao let the guys drain themselves to make the weight, so when they do that, they already lose. So that’s why he beat them all.
FREDDIE ROACH, PACQUIAO’S TRAINER
On Pacquiao sparring with Amir Khan for this training camp…
Yes. They’ll be sparring together and helping each other out getting ready for their fights. Yes they will work together.
On Clottey’s weaknesses…
I’m not sure if he takes breaks because he needs a rest or if he’s just being lazy, so I’m going to study his tapes a little bit more. I’m just coming off the Mayweather tapes and getting into Clottey. I know him pretty well because I’ve seen the Cotto fight quite a bit, but again, I’m just studying him a little bit deeper and come up with a perfect gameplan. By next week, we’ll have the gameplan down and we’ll start working on it in the gym.
On what will be the difference in the fight…
Speed. The thing is that everybody has got an asset and it’s not a secret that’s why we can compete at this level at this weight. Manny Pacquiao has speed and power and that’s the key to winning the fight.
He has a passive defense and let’s his body wide open for a while when he puts his hands up high like that. When we dig to the body and break him down, I think we can get him out of there.
On whether or not Clottey is a more difficult fight than Mayweather…
Yes, of course. The thing is Mayweather, he doesn’t like to engage that much. That’s why it’s really hard to find him. This is a much better fight for the fans, I think, and for the people. That’s why we took it. We accepted this fight because it’s a tough fight, he is the number one contender, he’s completely the opposite of what Mayweather brings to the table, but we’re really not worried about Mayweather right now because he doesn’t want to fight us.
More on the Clottey fight…
We’re going to be ready to go 12 hard rounds because he is a big, strong guy. He’s never been knocked out before.
I think if we break him down, we can get him out of there in the late rounds, but again, he’s never been knocked out before and that’s our goal.
On whether or not a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao will ever happen…
Yeah, when Mayweather loses a little more money gambling, I think he’ll fight us.
On whether or not Mayweather will fight Mosley…
That fight won’t happen. Come on, he’s been ducking Mosley for years.
He tested positive before with Balco so there is some drug history and they say steroids run through you for the rest of your life, so there is an issue there.
I think Mayweather would outbox him. I think Mayweather would win that fight. It’s a very competitive, good fight. I’d like to see that fight, but the thing is I’d rather see Pacquiao fight him and go with the commission rules and the rules of the sanctioning body, the WBO in this case, not Floyd Mayweather’s rules because who the fuck is he? We don’t work for him.
On whether or not Pacquiao will ever fight below welterweight again…
No!
Whether or not they’re concerned about Clottey’s size…
It’s always a concern, of course, but the thing is going into the ring, my guy is going to be about 149 and the other guy is going to have about 10-12 pounds on him and be bigger, but size doesn’t win fights. Ability does!
On a fight with Shane Mosley…
Let’s face it, Shane would love to fight Manny right now. The thing is if he beats Mayweather, if that fight does happen, and he wins, we will fight him and that will be a great fight. Shane’s a very good fighter and I respect him quite a bit.
Source: newyork.fighthype.com
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