Friday, February 5, 2010

Roach: “He’s [Clottey] not going to be able to catch us” [Pacquiao]

By Dave Lahr: Freddie Roach seems to have it all figured out already how his fighter World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is going to be able to beat 32-year-old challenger Joshua Clottey on March 13th in their fight at the Dallas Cowboy stadium. Roach, in an article at Abs-Cbn News and AOL Fanhouse, had this to say about the strategy for fighting Clottey: “Clottey’s accurate if you stand in front of him, but the thing is, we’re going to be in and out and side to side and use our angles on him… It’s going to be very similar to the Oscar de la Hoya fight, I feel.”

This isn’t exactly earth shattering information here. Clottey’s weaknesses are already well known, even by casual boxing fans. There’s no real mystery about what it takes to beat Clottey. You have to use movement against him, get in and get out and make sure you don’t stand in close to him so that he can get his shots off.

Clottey can be beaten even if a fighter does decide to stand and trade with him all night long, as he tends to tire out by the 6th round. However, if Pacquiao were to decide to stand in front of Clottey all night long, he might end up getting a little beaten up by Clottey, because he can punch a little before he typically tires out. But as far as Roach saying that Pacquiao will be going in and out and side to side against Clottey, that’s nothing new either.

That’s like saying the sun will come up tomorrow morning. Come on, Roach, we all know that Pacquiao fights like that all the time. Give us something different that he’s going to do for a change. Pacquiao always uses the in and out style of fighting, and always has. If you look at Pacquiao’s earliest fights of his career, way before Roach began training him, Pacquiao was using the in and out style of fighting even then. So for Roach to say that Pacquiao is going to use that style against Clottey in their fight, it’s not anything new. Yeah, Pacquiao will use the in and out style of fighting and he also be throwing combinations. Thanks for telling me that, Roach.

Roach also has these pearls of wisdom to say about the Pacquiao-Clottey fight: “De la Hoya strategy” to be effective, Pacquiao would again rely on his superior speed.” Oh really? Why did Roach even mention that? Of course, Pacquiao is going to need to use his better speed to beat Clottey, no matter what strategy Pacquiao uses against him. Pacquiao isn’t going to out-slow Clottey into submission.

Pacquiao will do what he always does – throw fast shots. If Pacquiao was to throw slow punches, he’d be asking for it. Pacquiao is good only as long as he has fast hand speed. Once his hand speed goes, Pacquiao will be like a bird without wings. He might be able to beat some guys, but I think he would start getting the stuffing beaten out of him.

Roach also says, “He’s [Clottey] not going to be able to catch us.” I don’t know what Roach means with that comment. Does that mean that Roach is going to have Pacquiao running from Clottey all night long? If so, that doesn’t square with Roach’s comments about Clottey being the more exciting fight compared to a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight because of his ability to mix it up. If Clottey is not going to be able to catch Pacquiao, as Roach says, then that sounds like a boring fight to me.

God, I hope Pacquiao doesn’t run from Clottey. That will be painfully boring to watch. I think this is a crummy fight to begin with because Clottey was beaten in his last fight against recent Pacquiao victim Miguel Cotto, but if Clottey isn’t going to be able to catch Pacquiao, then that seems like Roach will have Pacquiao playing a hit and run game all night long. That sounds like a horrible fight. I think I’d rather watch Mayweather-Pacquiao, thank you.

Source: boxingnews24.com

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