Pacquiao vs Clottey - News and Updates, Live Online and Replay

Pacquiao vs Marquez 3 - ITS OFFICIAL - WHO WILL WIN?

2011-06-13T00:51:00.000-07:00

Pacquiao vs Marquez 3 - It's OFFICIAL.. Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will fight on November 12, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Who will win the fight? Find out more.Visit the Link Below. Pacquiao vs Marquez Fight

Pacquiao vs Margarito - Live Streaming

2010-11-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Margarito live streaming - Kindly follow the link to watch the Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito Live Online, Live Coverage. Time starts 10:00pm Eastern Time and 10:00am Philippine Time.

pacquiao vs margarito live streaming, manny pacquiao vs antonio margarito live streaming, pacquiao vs margarito live coverage, pacquiao vs margarito watch free online, pacquiao vs margarito online live streaming

Pacquiao vs Margarito - HBO 247 Final Episode

2010-11-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Margarito HBO 24/7 update - Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito HBO 24/7 released its Final Episode today. So be sure to bookmark this page and share this page to everyone.

Pacquiao vs. Margarito HBO 24 7 - 1st episode

2010-10-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

The mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito HBO 24/7 will premiers tonight at 10:30 pm. Go to http://pacquiao-vs-margarito.blogspot.com/ to watch live.

Pacquiao vs Margarito - its OFFICIAL November 13, 2010

2010-08-28T01:38:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated boxing event between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in November 13, 2010 ended because Mayweather refuses to fight Pacquiao and promoter Bob Arum confirmed that Pacquiao will fight Antonio Margarito of Mexico on November 13, 2010.

Manny Pacquiao(50 - 3 - 2) the 7th world title champion is looking to increase his ring to 8 when he faces Antonio Margarito(38 - 6 - 0) of Mexico. Antonio Margarito just recently denied to get his license by the California Athletic Commission but was relieve when he got his boxing license at Texas.

The Fight between Pacquiao vs Margarito is now official it is promoted by TOP RANK and will be held on November 13, 2010 at Dallas, Cowboys Stadium and will be aired by HBO Pay-per-view.

Mayweather defeats Mosley - Pacquiao's Next

2010-05-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather dominates Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather easily defeats Shane Mosley on their Non-title fight at MGM Grand Arena Today.

Mayweather will now to face Manny Pacquiao for their title fight. The Fight is said to be the worlds greatest boxing match up ever in boxing history.

Floyd Mayweather won by Unanimous Decision over Mosley

2010-05-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather won by unanimous decision over Shane Mosley, Mayweather Dominates every single round of their fight. Mosley Look to knock down Mayweather early on the second round, but Mayweather's Ability to regain his strength powers past Mosley the following rounds.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will now look forward to fight Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines after the Philippine elections or in the end of this Year.

Mayweather vs Mosley Video Replay will be available within this day. So be sure to come back to this blog once in a while.

Thank You Everyone.

Mayweather vs Mosley VIDEO REPLAY

2010-05-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Watch Mayweather vs Mosley VIDEO REPLAY here.. I will be uploading the Replay Video Guys.. So stay tuned..

Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision, Mayweather will now to look forward to face Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines in the end of this year. So be sure to support your best fighter, its either Mayweather or Pacquiao... Rock n'Roll..

Mayweather vs Mosley Live Stream HD

2010-05-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Mayweather vs Mosley Live Stream is now Available... Share this Blog to your friends and invite them to watch Mayweather vs Mosley Fight.

Mayweather vs Mosley Live Streaming

2010-04-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

Get your own Chat Box! Go Large!

Floyd Mayweather will try to dethrone Shane Mosley on May 1, 2010. The Event is entitled WHO R U PICKING will be aired by HBO Pay-Per-View at MGM Grand On May 1, 2010.

Mayweather will look to stop Mosley and then fight with Manny “PACMAN” Pacquiao after the Philippine Election.

Mayweather vs Mosley Live Stream will be available on the day of the Event. Make sure to bookmark this site and share it to everyone.

Pacquiao hints at retiring

2010-03-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

MANILA - BOXING'S pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao hinted at retirement on Monday, saying he didn't need to face Floyd Mayweather to cement his legacy in the ring.

'I reached my dream as a boxer without Floyd Mayweather in my career. I do not need him, they are the ones who need me,' Pacquiao, 31, told reporters upon his arrival back home in the Philippines following his latest victory.

He then emphasised his mother's repeated pleas for him to finally hang up his gloves after a phenomenal career that has seen him become the only fighter in history to win seven world titles in as many weight divisions.

'She kneels down and cries every time (she asks me to quit). That's a heavy burden when it's my mother doing that,' he said. Pacquiao appeared to be even more direct about retirement, in comments published on the website of local TV station GMA.

'It may not reach a point where I will fight Mayweather. I may announce retirement, I will talk with my family about it,' Pacquiao said, according to GMA. Pacquiao defeated Ghana's Joshua Clottey to retain his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) welterweight belt in the United States last week. He has now won 12 consecutive fights, eight by knockout, since losing to Erik Morales in March 2005.

Talks for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight fell through earlier in the year when the American insisted on Olympic-style drug testing, which the Filipino refused. The dream match is one of the most anticipated ever and could provide the biggest payday in boxing history for the fighters.

source: straitstimes.com

Philippine hero Pacquiao faces tough political fight

2010-03-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

MANILA — Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao will return home this week to a hero's welcome but his next challenge may see him go down for the count as he steps into the even more bruising ring of Philippine politics.

Pacquiao's latest victory has earned the superstar even more acclaim and wealth, but analysts warn that adulation and big spending may not convert to votes when he runs for a seat in Congress in May national elections.

"It will be a harder battle than all the battles he has waged in the ring," said political science professor Ronald Holmes of Manila's De La Salle University.

"They (the public) might be passionate about him in boxing but this does not necessarily translate into political support."

Pacquiao, 31, whose boxing riches have hauled his family out of deep poverty, appears to be taking his political future as seriously as his sporting career.

Soon after his weekend win over Ghana's Joshua Clottey in Texas to retain the World Boxing Organization welterweight title, he affirmed his desire to represent the southern Philippine province of Sarangani.

"Now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that is my campaign for Congress. The people of my province are among the poorest. They have been under-served for too long," he said.

"I know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to have escaped poverty, I am compelled to be a public servant for them."

But his opponent, Roy Chiongbian, is no pushover: he comes from a powerful family that has dominated business and politics in the area for years.

Members and allies of the Chiongbian clan have long occupied many of the top positions in the sparsely populated, rural and deeply impoverished province.

"It's not easy to discount the network they have established, the support they have nurtured through the years," Holmes told AFP.

One key feature of the Philippines' chaotic brand of democracy is the ability of clans to hold on to power by fair means and foul, with the same surnames being seen in political posts for generations.

Pacquiao has also tasted defeat at the polls before.

Despite being worshipped by his fans, he lost his first bid for Congress in his hometown of General Santos City in 2007, also to a member of a heavyweight political clan.

For his campaign team, Pacquiao's biggest priority now is to make personal appearances in the area and make up for the time spent outside the province while he pursued boxing glory.

"Time is running out for Manny's campaign because he has been away training and he has to make up, saturate the whole Sarangani province," said Mindaluz Gulle, executive director of Pacquiao's campaign.

Still, Holmes said Pacquiao seemed more prepared this time than he was three years ago.

"He has been planning the transfer (to Sarangani) for quite some time. He has been more generous in helping out people in many areas there," the analyst said.

Pacquiao's wealth has soared with each boxing victory -- he reportedly earned 12 million dollars for beating Clottey -- and he has invested heavily in his political career by helping local communities and spending on advertising.

He also has an important backer in Senator Manny Villar, a leading presidential candidate.

Villar persuaded Pacquiao last year to join his Nacionalista Party, ending the boxer's alliance with President Gloria Arroyo and her coalition.

Villar has since been using Pacquiao to bolster his own image, playing up the theme that they are both poor boys who fought their way to prominence but whose hearts are still with the country's downtrodden masses.

"When he arrives, we will help him campaign in Sarangani just as he will do the same for me," said Villar, who is running a close second in presidential polls behind Benigno Aquino, the son of late democracy heroine Corazon Aquino.

Nacionalista spokesman Gilbert Remulla is confident that Pacquiao can go the distance.

"Manny Pacquiao can take care of his own campaign. He has the logistics, the organisation that he built up for himself," he said.

source: google.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey Replay and Undercard

2010-03-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

Pacquiao vs Clottey - Highlights(FULL VIDEO NOT YET AVAILABLE)

Pacquiao vs Clottey - Undercard 1 Full Video

Pacquiao vs Clottey - Undercard 2 Full Video

Pacquiao vs Clottey - Undercard 3 Full Video

Pacquiao vs Clottey Replay

2010-03-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Clottey REPLAY - Still updating for 9th - 12th rounds

Manny Pacquiao win by Unanimous Decision over Joshua Clottey

2010-03-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao has won a unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey in their WBO welterweight title fight, dominating the bout against a defensive opponent.

Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) controlled Saturday's fight from the start, throwing mostly body shots because Clottey locked his arms in front of his face. The Filipino never slowed throwing punches and Ghana's Clottey (35-4) never got very aggressive. Neither fighter went down.

Two judges scored it 119-109, the other 120-108.

A crowd of 50,994 attended at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Pacquiao is next hoping for a megafight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., presuming Mayweather beats Shane Mosley on May 1.

Pacquiao vs Clottey LIVE STREAMING 100% VIDEO QUALITY

2010-03-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

CLICK PLAY TO REDIRECT TO LIVE STREAMING PAGE....

Pacquiao-Clottey fight: tickets to 45,000 seating capacity stadium sold out

2010-03-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

ARLINGTON, Texas (MindaNews/13 March) -- Screaming fans chanting the name Manny with the plaza doors of the Cowboys stadium opening to reveal the huge video board inside dramatically served as backdrop for Friday’s weigh in as Pacquiao defends today (Sunday in Manila) his WBO Welterweight title against challenger Joshua Clottey. Pacquiao came in at 145 ¾ while Clottey hit the welterweight limit of 147 lbs. The atmosphere was so festive that a stare down between the boxers ended with both breaking into laughter.

There was the traditional clenched fists, but everything ended with hugs and handshakes for both fighters and trainers. Buboy Fernandez threw Pacquiao’s pair of rubber shoes to the crowd.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones may have already gotten his numbers for his ticket sales for a 45,000 seating outlay, that a standing-room only ticket of $35 was announced to be also up for sale online.

More celebrities are expected to glitter ringside seats for today’s fight. Actor Robert Duvall and Dallas Cowboys safety Darren Woodson showed up to witness the official weigh in yesterday.

The fight will be aired live by HBO on pay-per-view and is expected to be seen by millions of boxing fans worldwide.

source: mindanews.com

Former ring foes predict a Pacquiao win vs Clottey

2010-03-13T04:31:00.000-08:00

GRAPEVINE, Texas—Many of them have tasted the power of Manny Pacquiao’s punches and came up short.

Now, these world champions are convinced Pacquiao will again emerge victorious in his defense of the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey on Saturday (Sunday n Manila).

Oscar De La Hoya, the former poster boy of boxing who hasn’t fought since Pacquiao made him quit in his stool on the eighth round, told it would be an easy victory for Pacquiao despite Clottey’s edge in height and heft.

Marco Antonio Barrera, who was stopped by Pacquiao in the 11th round in San Antonio in 2003 and was beaten anew in their return bout in 2007, picked Pacquiao to win by unanimous decision Friday.

The Mexican great, however, told the Manila-based sportswriters, that if it turns to be a knockout victory for Pacquiao, it would come in the ninth round.

Chicago’s David Diaz, who will try to regain the World Boxing Council lightweight title against Mexican Humberto Soto in the main supporting bout, also batted for a victory by Pacquiao, his tormentor by knockout in 2008.

World beaters who weren’t able to do battle with Pacquiao but were familiar with his exploits also gave the seven-time champion in as many divisions the nod over Clottey.

Former World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito said Pacquiao would win, but did not elaborate.

Jorge Arce, the reigning WBO junior bantamweight titlist, said Pacquiao will win by unanimous decision.

As expected, former champions Gerry Peñalosa and Brian Viloria batted for a victory by their countryman.

Penalosa said Clottey should fall in the last three rounds while Viloria predicted a knockout for Pacquiao in the sixth and seventh rounds.

Though boxing historian Bert Sugar picked Pacquiao to win, he didn’t discount the possibility of a Clottey victory.

Referee Kelly Bayless noted Pacquiao’s tremendous improvement in the fights he has officiated, but opted to stay neutral.

source: sports.inquirer.net

History of Manny Pacquiao

2010-03-13T04:30:00.000-08:00

PACQUIAO (50-3-2, 38 KO's), the -700 favorite to beat Joshua Clottey in the boxing betting odds, continues to cement his status as the mythical "pound-for-pound" champion, as well as the most massively popular athlete in the Philippines. Pacquiao got his start very early, turning pro at age 16, and won a decision over Edmund Enting Agnacio. He was only 106 pounds. Without an extensive amateur background, he did a lot of his learning on the job, and it showed. The future superstar took a lot of lumps early in his career, as after eleven wins he got stopped in three rounds against Rustico Torrecampo, whose record was only 11-4-4 at the time.

A little over a year after that, however, he won the OPBF (Oriental & Pacific Boxing Federation) flyweight title, and captured the WBC flyweight crown in 1998 when he knocked out Chatchai Sasakul. he only made one successful defense of that belt, and in September of 1999 he was knocked out in three rounds by the undefeated Medgoen Singsurat. That precipitated a move all the way up to 122 pounds, where he knocked out seven straight foes, culminating in a sixth-round stoppage of Lehlo Ledwaba to win the IBF title in a U.S. debut that got everybody's attention. He became a pretty hot property, and a favorite of the HBO people.

Boxing Betting Odds:
WBO Welterweight Title (12 rds. - 147 lbs.)
March 13 -- Arlington, TX
MANNY PACQUIAO -700
JOSHUA CLOTTEY +450

Over 9.5 Rounds -180
Under 9.5 Rounds +150

Boxing Props:
Manny Pacquiao by KO, TKO or Disqualification -150
Manny Pacquiao by Decision or Technical Decision +140
Joshua Clottey by KO, TKO or Disqualification +750
Joshua Clottey by Decision or Technical Decision +1000
Draw or Technical Draw +3500
Let's take a look at the story of Manny Pacquiao:

After four defenses, it was time to go into the featherweight division, and in a non-title fight in November of 2003, he scored an eleventh-round stoppage of Marco Antonio Barrera in which he beat up Barrera pretty decisively from beginning to end. That announced him as a major contender for the world title. When he got that chance, in May 2004, he floored Juan Manuel Marquez three times in the very first round, but couldn't put his man away. That allowed Marquez to get back into the fray, and he whittled away at the lead. The thrilling fight went to a decision, and at the end, John Stewart had it for Pacquiao by five points, while Guy Jutras had Marquez the winner by five points. The third judge, Burt Clements, scored it 113-113, and so the fight was a draw. There was no doubt by now that Pacquiao was going to be a major action star in boxing for years to come.

His plan for world domination hit a speed bump ten months later, however, as he was outboxed and outsmarted by Erik Morales in moving up yet again, this time to 130 pounds. Pacquiao beat Hector Velasquez to win the WBC title at super featherweight in September 2005, and used it to defend successfully in not one, but two rematches with Erik Morales, knocking him out both times, then in a one-sided rematch with Barrera, in which he scored a near shutout on two judges' cards. Then it was time to fight Marquez again, this time in March of 2008, and after another very interesting fight he came away with the WBC super featherweight title on a split decision, where Tom Miller's 114-113 card in his favor made the whole difference.

Then it was time to move up again, this time to the lightweight class, and he scored a ninth-round stoppage over David Diaz which came only three months after the win over Marquez, capturing the WBC-sanctioned belt at 135 pounds. He didn't stop, however, moving up again to fight Oscar De La Hoya, who had held the WBC 154-pound title just the previous year, weighing 142 pounds to Oscar's 145. Pacquiao never let Oscar get out of the starting gate, beating De La Hoya to the punch time after time, landing with absolute impunity, forcing a retirement of De La Hoya at the conclusion of the eighth round. Pacquiao had won all eight rounds on two of the scorecards when it ended.

Pacquiao fought Ricky Hatton for the IBO junior welterweight title in May 2009, and he just pummeled the outgunned Hatton for two rounds before Ricky finally went down and out. It was a pretty devastating performance, and left people wanting more. They got it on November 14, when he started slowly against Miguel Angel Cotto, but came on like a freight train, knocking Cotto down twice and rocking him to the point where people were calling for an end for several rounds before it was finally stopped in the 12th. The fight the world wants to see, against Floyd Mayweather, may still come. And by then Pacquiao might be a congressman; he is running for office to represent the Sarangani province, with the election coming in May.

source: betus.com

History of Joshua Clottey

2010-03-13T04:29:00.000-08:00

CLOTTEY (35-2, 20 KO's), the +450 underdog to Manny Pacquiao in the boxing betting odds, is a native of Accra, Ghana who now lives an trains in the Bronx. Against Pacquiao he gets an opportunity to win a welterweight title for the second time.

Boxing Betting Odds:

WBO Welterweight Title (12 rds. - 147 lbs.)

March 13 -- Arlington, TX

MANNY PACQUIAO -700

JOSHUA CLOTTEY +450

Over 9.5 Rounds -180

Under 9.5 Rounds +150

Boxing Props:

Manny Pacquiao by KO, TKO or Disqualification -150

Manny Pacquiao by Decision or Technical Decision +140

Joshua Clottey by KO, TKO or Disqualification +750

Joshua Clottey by Decision or Technical Decision +1000

Draw or Technical Draw +3500

Sign up now and get FULL access to all of BetUS features!

Let's take a look at the story of Manny Pacquiao:

He turned pro in Ghana in 1995, and it was pretty clear that he was going to outclass most of what was there. After ten relatively easy wins, he captured the Ghanaian 140-pound title with a 12-round decision over Marciano Commey in December 1995. After that, there were many dates in London, some of them against much more experienced foes. One of them was against Viktor Baranov, the former Russian champ, who he stopped in six rounds.

The fight that really eats Clottey's craw was his next one, as he faced Carlos Baldomir, who would later go on to win the undisputed welterweight title. In this fight at Wembley, contested for the WBC International title at 147 pounds, and where Clottey was ahead on all three judges' scorecards, he was penalized in the tenth for intentionally head-butting, then purportedly was leading with his head again in the 11th, which then prompted the referee to put a halt to the fight and award Baldomir the disqualification victory.

That could have been a breakthrough win for Clottey, but instead he went back to toiling in Ghana, then a few appearances, relatively obscure, in the U.S. An opportunity came in July 2006, as he fought Richard Gutierrez for the IBF Inter-Continental welterweight title (we don't mean to confuse you) and won majority decision. Since Gutierrrez went into that fight with a 21-0 record, that win was attention-getting. It also got him a title shot. Clottey was matched with Antonio Margarito for the latter's WBO championship in December 2006.

Though he was tough as nails, Margarito had too much in his arsenal, and won a decision over Clottey that was actually pretty decisive, drawing scorecards of 116-112, 116-112 and 118-109 in his favor. Of that defeat, Clottey was considered something of a "safe" opponent for Diego Corrales to face in his move from lightweight to welterweight. It was anything BUT safe. Corrales had his problems adapting to the new weight, and Clottey wasn't helping. He sent Corrales to the canvas twice, had him close to quitting when he spit out his mouthpiece, and rolled to a victory that wasn't even close, with scores of 97-90, 98-89 and 100-87.

That gave Clottey new life. After wins over Felix Flores, Shamone Alvarez and Jose Luis Cruz, he got a chance to fight Zab Judah, with the IBF welterweight title on the line. That matchup was pretty tight, with Clottey taking some of the early rounds, but he tore up his bicep too. There was also allegedly an accidental head butt that opened up a big cut over Judah's right eye (actually it was a Clottey right hand). The bout was stopped and they went to the scorecards, and since Clottey was ahead on all three (albeit by margins of 87-84, 86-85 and 86-85) he was awarded the technical decision over an apoplectic Judah. This was very satisfying, since Clottey had been in an altercation with Judah in a New York gym several years earlier, when Judah had challenged him to street fight and then pushed Clottey's trainer.

Clottey got a payday in his last bout, and for an opportunity to fight Miguel Angel Cotto, he willingly was stripped of his IBF belt, because the organization wanted him to defend against their #1 contender, Isaac Hlatshwayo of South Africa. Of coirse, the Cotto fight was a gateway to better money, and he almost made the most of it. He was floored in the first round by a jab, then again a head butt came into the proceedings, suffered by Cotto in the third. By and large, Clottey wasn't active enough and wasn't capitalizing on advantages. He lost rounds by not being aggressive enough and even though Cotto looked like no one special, the split decision went against Clottey. However, he still remains viable, which leads him into this fight against Pacquiao.

source: betus.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey Time Starts

2010-03-13T01:12:00.000-08:00

Everyone wants to know the Pacquiao v Clottey start time for tonight’s big event from Cowboys stadium. The start time of the fight should mean that it’s available for the widest possible audience, and Pacquiao v Clottey could end up being a classic battle.

So what is the Pacquiao v Clottey start time? Here’s the info:

Pacquiao v Clottey start time

The fight takes place at 9pm ET / 6pm PST live from Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Here’s a preview of the big fight:

Tonight’s fight between Manny Pacquiao v Joshua Clottey will be for the Philippine star’s WBO Welterweight title.

This match has been surrounded by controversy, with Pacquiao originally scheduled to fight Floyd Mayweather before talks between the pair broke down irretrievably. Both camps blamed each other, but Joshua Clottey will hope that Manny Pacquiao’s mind will be elsewhere when they fight tonight.

Other talk about Pacquiao has been centered around his upcoming election campaign in his home country. It is no secret that the boxing champion is looking to start a career in politics when he hangs up his gloves, and rumours have spread that the date for that retirement could be sooner rather than later.

Now you know the Pacquiao v Clottey start time, who do you think is going to win?

source: breakingglobalnews.com

Pacquiao vs. Clottey Fight Time

2010-03-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao VS Clottey fight will start at 9PM ET/6PM PT live on pay-per-view. It is also available via online streaming and other live streaming channels.

The upcoming boxing welterweight fight for the WBO World welterweight championship is between Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey, which is set on Saturday night. The event will take place at the Dallas Cowboy’s stadium in Arlington, Texas.

A 33-year-old Joshua Clottey has a record of 35-3 with 20 KOs, while Manny Pacquiao has 50-3-2 with 38 KOs. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was disappointed he won’t be hosting a Pacquiao fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. as he had hoped.

Pacquiao vs Clottey weigh in

2010-03-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

About an hour ago, WBO welterweight champ and pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey stepped on the scales in Arlington at the final weigh-in before Saturday night's showdown.

Pacquiao showed up on the scales at a trim but solid 145 pounds while Clottey, as usual, looked like a brick, making the limit at 147 pounds.

Additional weights to follow...

Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey

2010-03-12T04:31:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey will be fighting for WBO World Welterweight Championship this coming March 13, 2010, Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey officialy weigh in today(Manny Pacquiao 145.75 lb, Joshua Clottey 147 lb).

Pacquiao registers 146 lbs, Clottey still overweight

2010-03-12T03:08:00.001-08:00

GRAPEVINE, Texas – It wasn’t only natural hard work ethic after all.

When Ghanaian Joshua Clottey was spotted doing a very early morning run at the lobby of the Gaylord Texan Hotel on Monday, he was not just trying to keep in tip-top shape. He was actually trying to lose extra poundage.

The suspicion that Clottey, a big welterweight, was still overweight was confirmed Thursday when he and his gang of four were spotted by Team Pacquiao member Roger Fernandez at the convention hall jogging wearing thermal suit for 45 minutes and then skipping ropes.

“Masama nga ang tingin nila sa akin, pero di ako umalis [They threw dagger looks at me, but I didn’t leave] said Roger, younger brother of Buboy, who is Pacquiao’s bosom buddy and trainer.

“I’m sure Clottey’s still overweight,” said Roger. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t do that [wear thermal suit].”

“He looks haggard and his stomach appears to be deep already,” added Roger.

In the final press conference Wednesday, Clottey’s chief trainer Lenny DeJesus claimed that Clottey, who has fought above the welterweight limit (147 lbs) 11 times, twice at 154, has made weight in his challenge for Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown.

As Clottey scrambles to shed pounds, Pacquiao relaxes as he weighed 146 even after a hearty lunch of beef stew and pakbet (vegetable stew) Wednesday, according to Roger, adding that the seven-time champion in as many divisions would still eat a full meal, hours before weigh-in Friday afternoon.

Making weight hasn’t been an issue for Pacquiao at 147 lbs. Fact is, conditioning expert Alex Ariza continues to give him protein shakes so as he’ll keep weight.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao vs. Clottey - Face-Off w/ Max Kellerman (HBO)

2010-03-11T23:19:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey meet face-to-face outside of the ring for this special interview with Max Kellerman. Road to Dallas: Pacquaio vs. Clottey replays every day leading up to the fight on HBO® or HBO2. Check local listings. Dont miss the live fight on HBO PPV on March 13. For more information, log onto HBO.com.

Arnel vows to properly sing anthem in Pacquiao-Clottey bout

2010-03-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - Arnel Pineda, the Filipino front man of popular American rock band "Journey," left Manila, Thursday evening, en route to Texas to sing the Philippine national anthem in Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's much awaited fight with Ghanaian boxer Joshua "The Grand Master" Clottey on March 13 (March 14 in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

In an earlier interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, Pineda said he will make sure that his rendition of "Lupang Hinirang (Chosen Land)" will be appreciated by old and young Filipinos.

"Ang sa akin ay kakantahin ko ito sa paraan na alam kong magugustuhan ng mga Filipino, bata man o matanda," said Pineda who was personally invited by Pacquiao to sing for his upcoming fight.

"Ito ang pambansang awit natin I have to make sure na maganda ang pagkaka-awit natin," he added.

He also said that he will definitely do his best to stay true to the correct rendition of the Philippine anthem to avoid receiving a reprimand letter from the National Historical Institute (NHI). He said he is confident that he will sing the anthem flawlessly.

"Kakantahin ko lang siya sa puso ko. Ang mga Pilipino na ang magsasabi kung tanggap ba nila ang pagkakanta ko," said Pineda.

The proper way of singing “Lupang Hinirang” became a big issue following the "incorrect" rendition of the national anthem by Concert King Martin Nievera during the May 2, 2009 fight of Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas.

NHI had also called the attention of Charice, Christian Bautista, and Jennifer Bautista, who also sang "Lupang Hinirang" in other bouts of Pacquiao, about their incorrect renditions of the national anthem.

According to Section 37 of Republic Act (RA) 8491, the rendition of the national anthem, whether played or sung, shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe.

Section 20 of the law also states: "The rendition of the flag ceremony in official or civic gatherings shall be simple and dignified and shall include the playing or singing of the anthem in its original Filipino lyrics and march tempo."

RA 8491 prescribes that any person who will violate its provisions may be punished by a fine of at least P20,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year.

Aside from singing in the Pacquiao-Clottey bout, Pineda is also set to go to US this coming April to record the latest album of Journey.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao-Clottey press conference

2010-03-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier today the final press conference for the March 13th Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey bout took place in Arlington, Texas. Las Vegas based photographer Chris Farina was able to capture some of the action while also taking time to note that this has been one of the busiest fight weeks that he has been a part of. The buzz in Dallas definitely seems to be building and the two fighters seem to be extremely respectful of each other just days away from this potentially great contest.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke of the great respect he has for both fighters as well as his relationship with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. Jones was disappointed to not have landed the potential Pacquiao-Mayweather bout but reportedly came with a huge offer to land Pacquiao-Clottey, one that Arum couldn’t resist. Jones went on to further state the magnitude of the event and pointed how the Stadium’s huge overhead jumbo-tron screen will give everyone a great look at the action.

With Clottey was his head trainer for this bout, Lenny DeJesus, as well as his manager Vinny Scolpino, who noted that ‘Clottey will show you a fight this Saturday night and will bring home the belt. That's what he's here to do’. Moments later DeJesus, a man of very little words, approached the stage and claimed he is hoping for the bout to be ‘quick and easy’.

Freddie Roach approached the dais and claimed that he was excited to be fighting at Cowboys Stadium. The Massachusetts native went on to state that Pacquiao had a great training camp and that he has never seen his fighter better. In an obvious sign of respect the trainer thanked Clottey and wished him luck.

Later Joshua Clottey was introduced as the crowd began clapping and chanting his name. Clottey noted that he trained hard and wanted to see if Pacquiao ‘can let me feel his punches’. Clottey went to state that no matter what happens in the ring he will always respect Manny. Before exiting Clottey wished luck to both Pacquiao and himself.

Arum mentioned how it was the ‘trash-talking’ guy that is killing the sport and seemed to commend both fighters for their obvious respect towards one another. Arum went on to talk about Manny Pacquiao and the hardships he had to overcome before introducing him on stage. Arum also seemed to have fun joking about Pacquiao’s upcoming run in politics, calling him ‘The Congressman’ Manny Pacquiao.

Sporting his custom, bright red Nike jacket and infamous hat, Pacquiao approached the stage. Manny mentioned that he loves that there is no trash talking between the two fighters, an obvious positive influence to all aspiring young boxers. Cutting to the chase, Pacquiao noted 'This is not about acting too much and goal is how we can give a good fight and good show’. Before exiting Pacquiao predicted that both fighters trained hard and that he simply wanted to give a good fight and not disappoint the fans.

Following the press conference both fighters posed for the camera as the media began taking several pictures of them. The bout is now just three days away and the boxing world is definitely starting to get excited for the contest.

source: examiner.com

Clottey won’t back down vs Pacquiao’s attacks

2010-03-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

In as much as he has high regard for Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey wouldn’t think twice engaging the Filipino World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion in fierce exchanges once only the two of them are inside the ring.

Boxing, according to Clottey, is nothing but business.

“I’ll make sure that if I throw a few [punches] it’s going to connect. And I’m going to cause damage. I believe in that," Clottey told reporters who gathered around him shortly after Wednesday's final press conference for his 12-round fight with Pacquiao at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

“If he’s going to throw a thousand punches, then I’ll block a thousand punches. And that will get him thinking I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to go backward. I’m going to stay there. I’ll make him fight. I want him to fight for the first time."

Without being indifferent to Pacquiao’s vaunted power, Clottey said he can’t wait to finally come face-to-face with the Filipino superstar for him to personally test once and for all if there is any truth to the Pacman’s legendary speed and strength.

“I want to see if I’m gonna feel Manny Pacquiao’s punches. Call me crazy, but I just want to see that," said the challenger from Ghana, who holds a two inch advantage in height (5-foot-8) and one-and-a-half inch in reach (68) over the seven-time world champion.

As usual, Pacquiao, wearing a black-red jacket with matching fedora hat, was gracious to his Ghanaian opponent, whom he referred to as a “very nice person" in a manner opposite to his menacing personality inside the ring.

He never forgot, too, to say how he will impress the crowd of about 40,000 who will troop to the $1.2 billion stadium, stressing he doesn’t want to disappoint them.

So off went Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach to the rescue, putting some zing to the event by coming up with a few juicy quotes alluding to Clottey’s fight plan.

“Blocking punches doesn’t win fights," said the four-time Trainer of the Year. “I think we can stop him in the late rounds. The accumulation of punches he’ll be taking in this fight he’s never seen before. I don’t think he’ll be able to handle it."

With no bad blood existing between the two, both Pacquiao and Clottey were all smiles during their customary face-off at the center of the stage shortly after the press conference, with the lovely Dallas Cowgirls cheering them behind.

It was the same thing when they stood back-to-back and side-to-side.

When it was over, Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs) even gave Pacquiao (50-3, 38 KOs) a warm hug before taking separate ways at the opposite end of the stage.

“No matter what happens in the ring, my respect for him will remain," said Clottey, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight king.

source: GMANews.TV

Malacañang concerned about Clottey’s tactics

2010-03-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

Malacañang Thursday advised Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to focus on his fight against Joshua Clottey this weekend and set aside his political ambitions for the moment.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said Pacquiao should particularly watch out for Clottey's "dirty tactics" in their World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight fight on March 13 in Texas.

He said Pacquiao risks getting hurt if he loses his focus on his challenger and worry about his political plans in May.

"We advise to him to watch out for headbutting since Clottey plays dirty. We advise Manny Pacquiao to be careful about dirty tactics by Mr. Clottey," Olivar said in a news conference in the Palace.

Olivar said the government is confident that Pacquiao, considered the world's greatest boxer, could defeat Clottey and keep his welterweight crown.

"We fully expect that Pacquiao will win. We hope he will not be severely injured by the dirty tactics that may be done by Clottey," he added.

He said the Palace continues to support Pacquiao despite reports he is allied with the political party of presidential bet Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

"Manny is a Filipino who we can be proud of and a national treasure. Politics is just secondary," he added.

Once the fight is over, Olivar said the Palace would respect any decision of the pound-for-pound king Pacquiao whether he would stay in boxing, retire, or pursue politics.

President Arroyo, a self-confessed fan of Pacquiao, has often paid tribute to the boxer after his every bout abroad.

Last year, she conferred the Order of Sikatuna to Pacquiao with rank of Datu for the honor he has brought to the country. He has won seven world titles in seven weight divisions, earning accolades as the world’s greatest boxer.

A few years ago, Pacquiao was bestowed the Order of Lakandula with the rank of “Champion for Life” for his unprecedented feat in international boxing.

source: mb.com.ph

Manny Pacquiao Plans to Fight and Sing on the Same Night

2010-03-11T04:57:00.000-08:00

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It seems farfetched but the lure of stardom could slightly delay Manny Pacquiao's entrance into the ring against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium for their scheduled fight on Saturday night. That is if the Filipino superstar -- who moonlights as a nightclub singer -- sees his face on the monstrous video screen that will be hover over the ring.

Known for his penchant for holding post-fight concerts with his band -- Pacquiao recently appeared and sang on Jimmy Kimmel Live -- Pacquiao hinted that he might just be tempted to break into song during his walk up to the ring.

"I think I'm going to see my big face up there. I'm going to see people screaming," said Pacquiao, 31, during an interview with reporters following a press conference at Cowboys Stadium. "It's a big screen. I'm really excited and happy. We're going to play my band's songs while I'm walking into the ring."

If Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) were to do so, it would be indeed be another milestone for the first fighter to win seven titles in as many weight classes.

After stopping Miguel Cotto in the 12th round to earn the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title in November at the MGM Grand in Las Vegaas, Pacquiao held an impromptu concert down the strip at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Pacqauiao had pulled a similar stunt following his May 2009 second-round stoppage of Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas.

And in the aftermath of Saturday's fight, assuming he wins, Pacquiao plans to do the same.

"I will have an after-fight party. Last night I practiced with my band. I'll practice tonight also," said Pacquiao.

"He's got a voice coach and everything. The MP band is here," said his trainer, Freddie Roach. "Manny's a performer. There's no stage big enough for Manny Pacquiao. He'll want to entertain all 45,000. He wants to entertain everybody. He loves it."

source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Pacquiao, Clottey more friends than foes

2010-03-11T04:51:00.000-08:00

GRAPEVINE, Texas – They were supposed to be combatants, but Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey appeared more like friends when they met at the final press conference of “The Event” at the cavernous $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium Wednesday.

Pacquiao and Clottey stood up from their corners, headed for the center of the stage, exchanged glances and then smiled at each other. They were still grinning when they were made to stand side by side and back to back by the swarm of photographers angling for right spots.

Since becoming pound-for-pound king in 2006, Pacquiao, who was accompanied by Dallas Cowgirls, brightened up the boxing scene with his pleasant behavior. He doesn’t trash-talk, belittle opponents and flaunt his exploits, forcing opponents to reciprocate with similar civility, thus avoiding pre-fight hostilities.

Clottey, who’ll be trying to snare Pacquiao’s welterweight crown Saturday, was no exception. Drawn by the Filipino’s genuine warmth and humbleness, the Ghanaian ended up an admirer.

Come fight time, however, Pacquiao, the only seven-time world champion in as many divisions, and Clottey, a fierce warrior longing for international recognition, will try to knock each other out as they try to make their countrymen back home happy and proud.

But for the moment, billionaire Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and the sparkling new stadium that can accommodate more than 100,000 fans, is satisfied with his successful return to boxing promotion.

Jones, along with co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, are hoping for a sellout crowd of 45,000, that would be more than double the 18,276 fans he drew when he stopped Erik Morales in the end of their trilogy in and at least 700,000 pay-per-view hits.

Also in attendance were WBO president lawyer Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel and Mark Taffet, head of HBO PPV.

Valcarcel, who gave Jones a plaque of appreciation for helping the sport, sad Pacquiao is in for a tough battle as Clottey has never been stopped in compiling a 35-win, 3-loss slate laced with 21 knockouts.

Taffet, on the other hand, tagged Pacquiao as the PPV superstar after his last three fights posted more than a million hits each.

Pacquiao (50-3-2 with 38 Kos) remains the heavy favorite though as his riding an 11-game winning streak, the last four coming by knockout over former WBC lightweight titlist David Diaz, future Hall-of-Famer Oscar De La Hoya, British pride Ricky Hatton and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, who bested Clottey by split decision last year.

With their wards refusing to make predictions, the responsibilities fell on four-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach, who’s handling Pacquiao and Lenny DeJesus, who’s got 40 years of involvement in boxing and is regarded as one of the best cutmen ever.

Roach earlier predicted a 6th or 7th round knockout of Clottey while DeJesus, who’ve been in Pacquiao’s corner five times from 2003-2005, said his ward has a 70 percent chance to dethrone Pacquiao, who’ll be performing with his own band in a post-fight party at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Pacquiao, a ferocious attacker, merely promised to give the fans a great fight while Clottey, a durable defender, vowed a performance of his life.

Roach said Pacquiao would overwhelm Clottey with the sheer volume of punches he’d throw from all angles.

Clottey believes he can either block or withstand Pacquiao’s assault and eventually wear him down.

Whoever is right will be known on Saturday, when Pacquiao and Clottey discard the pleasantries and waged an all-out-war that has a good chance of becoming a classic.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Manny Pacquiao Vs. Joshua Clottey: The Undercard

2010-03-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

So continues our marathon coverage of one of the biggest fights of 2010, Manny Pacquiao versus Joshua Clottey on Saturday. Previously: why and how Pacquiao-Clottey matters; how good is Clottey?; and keys to the fight, parts I and II. Next: the final preview and prediction.

It's gotten to the point where I'm not sure why I even dignify Top Rank undercards with their own blog entries on the weeks of big fights. At best, it's an excuse for me to verbally defecate all over how little the company -- like most promoters, for what it's worth -- could give a damn most of the time about putting on a top-to-bottom good product with its $50 pay-per-views. Were these undercard fights occurring anywhere but as the supporting bouts for such a major event, they'd warrant but a sentence or two in a round-up column. Adding insult to injury is that Top Rank boss Bob Arum constantly insists the undercards are, in fact, good, which is like the old aphorism about pissing on my leg and telling me it's raining.

So here's the capsule take on Pacquiao-Clottey undercard: It has a grand total of one fight that could headline even a small ESPN2 Friday Night Fights card, whereas if it was up to me, it'd be more like September's Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard, where one of the fights could have headlined an HBO Boxing After Dark show. What little credit I'll give the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard is that the three major supporting fights are likely to make up for a dearth of significance with what they'll provide in the way of entertainment. I suppose that's progress.

    * Humberto Soto-David Diaz, lightweights. Diaz is the #9 lightweight in the world, according to Ring magazine. Soto's unranked in the division, but he's he #1-ranked junior lightweight. This, then, is the most important fight on the undercard. Diaz is a face-first brawler despite not being a big-league puncher, and Soto, probably the more skilled of the two bangers even with Diaz' Olympic pedigree, is periodically in good fights. But try to find anyone who's excited that this is as good as it gets. People in Chicago who (rightfully) love Diaz, maybe? Fight's in Texas. Mexicans? I suppose so. I'm not sure whether the appeal of either man in that market is all that high. And I'm somewhat continually dismayed by the bait-and-switch with Soto. He's going to fight Pacquiao, says Arum! (No he's not.) A couple years later: He's going to fight Edwin Valero, says Arum! (How long have we been waiting for that one? Any bets on whether it ever happens?) Soto hasn't notched a really good win since upsetting Rocky Juarez five years ago. In each of their last fights, Soto and Diaz beat Jesus Chavez, although Soto did so more easily; however, Diaz was rusty and coming off a long rest due to an injured knee. Soto should win, but Diaz should give him a rougher time than Chavez did.
    * Alfonso Gomez-Jose Luis Castillo, welterweights. Gomez is a fun, top-20 at best kind of welter who apparently maintains some kind of fan following from being on "The Contender" TV show many years ago. He's coming off a career-reviving win over Jesus Soto Karass, when he looked sharper than he had in a while; of course, the last time most of us had a long look at him was when Miguel Cotto turned him into chopped liver in 2008. Castillo has more or less been walking chopped liver since Ricky Hatton chopped him in the liver in 2007, the last time he fought an elite opponent. Castillo's ongoing pursuit of his boxing career saddens me, even if the risk to his health is not gotten to the dangerous point. It's because I have such fuzzy feelings toward him for participating in my all-time favorite fight, the 2005 classic with Diego Corrales, and I hate to see him going on as a shadow of himself. He's not a welterweight and he lost to Sebastian Lujan in his last bout against anyone who wasn't a corpse.
    * John Duddy-Michael Medina, middleweights. Duddy is a television-friendly fighter of just enough ability to not be a journeyman and who has a following amongst the Irish. Consider his record against journeymen. He beats your Yory Boy Camposes and your Walid Smichets with some difficulty, disposes of your Matt Vandas with somewhat less difficulty and runs through your Anthony Bosantes with virtually no difficulty. He will, however, lose somehow to your Billy Lyells. Medina, meanwhile, has no wins over anyone I recognize, although he does have a loss to talented prospect Vanes Martirosyan in which he was said to exhibit lots of will, not so much skill.

source: queensberry-rules.com

Clottey's Keys: Uppercut and Head Butt

2010-03-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

if Joshua Clottey were to pull off the upset this Saturday against Manny Pacquiao, his two key weapons are two of his attributes that Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach is well aware of.

His uppercut and headbutt.

Clottey has one of the best uppercut's in boxing. It's the punch he used to rip open a gash over Zab Judah's eye in his welterweight title winning effort in 2008. Despite the fact that the cut was ruled to be caused by a headbutt, replays show it was actually Clottey's uppercut.

Aside from the Judah fight, Clottey has used this punch to his advantage many other times. The Judah bout being the most notable.

Now the question is, is Pacquiao vulnerable to this punch?

After barely being touched in fights against David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao did feel contact from Miguel Cotto in his most recent fight. At least for a few rounds until it became a route,

If you go back and watch the fight, which is available on demand through many cable companies this week promoting the PPV, you'll see that Pacquiao eats a few head snapping uppercuts from Cotto in the fight. Noticeably in the third and fifth rounds respectively.

Pacquiao did not adher to Roach's game plan early on in the bout and did allow himself to get backed up against the ropes to feel Coto's power. It turned out Pacquiao could more than handle it. However, will the case be different against a much bigger opponent like Clottey? That's why we'll be watching.

Now to the headbutt. Clottey cut Cotto with a headbutt, was disqualified against Carlos Baldomir because of one and forced a technical decision against Judah because of a perceived butt.

While illegal, Clottey may use rough tactics in a subtle manner to turn this into his kind of fight.

Pacquiao's blinding speed is bound to give Clottey problems and likely going to be the key to the Filipino winning the fight. However, Clottey will need something to try to remain competitive. His uppercut and incidental (?) use of his head may be two ways he does that.

source: examiner.com

Pacquiao won’t be able to penetrate Clottey’s clamshell defense

2010-03-10T02:57:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao is in for a big surprise on Saturday night when he attempts to go on the attack against former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey. Pacquiao is used to having his way against a recent rag tag variety of beaten up and aging fighters but on March 13th, Pacquiao is going to find that he can’t penetrate through Clottey’s impregnable clamshell defense. I’ve seen Clottey in action in many of his fights, and it’s almost impossible to get shots through Clottey’s high guard and land anywhere to his head.

The only fighter I’ve seen who’s had any small degree of success at getting through Clottey’s guard is former World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in his 12 round decision win over Clottey.

And the reason Margarito was able to land effectively a small part of the time against Clottey was because he was throwing over 100 punches per round. With that many shots being fired at Clottey in every round, something was bound to get through his guard. Still, at the end of the fight it was Margarito who looked badly beaten up, not Clottey.

In fact, Clottey looked as if he had just gone for brief stroll in the park. His face was totally unmarked and he was barely sweating. That tells you a couple of things. One, Clottey has tough skin because Margarito was able to get through his guard with a number of hard shots in every round. And two, Clottey’s clamshell defense is almost impossible to get through with punches.

With Pacquiao, he’s going to have an even tougher time landing shots because he has such short arms and won’t be able to throw looping shots around the sides of Clottey’s guard the way that Margarito was able to do. Pacquiao will have to settle for just jumping around from side to side to try and get to the sides of Clottey’s clamshell defense. I don’t see it happening.

Clottey will shut Pacquiao down almost completely, and then rake him with shots to the head. Once Clottey starts walking Pacquiao down, the Filipino fighter is going start getting tagged a lot and beaten up. Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto both failed when trying to pressure Pacquiao. However, neither of them had the clamshell defense working for them.

In Hatton’s case, he was almost completely defenseless out there against Pacquiao, because Hatton foolishly made the mistake of trying to throw hooks. That didn’t work and he quickly was taken out by Pacquiao. Clottey is a whole different ballgame entirely. He knows how to block punches, so when he comes forward raining shots on Pacquiao, it won’t be a case of him taking big shots to the head the way that Hatton was in his 2nd round knockout loss last year to Pacquiao.

Clottey is going to end up shutting Pacquiao down completely the same way that Winky Wright shut down Felix Trinidad years ago, sending him into retirement. Once Pacquiao realizes he can’t land anything, he’s going to get desperate and will ask his Freddie Roach for help. Roach won’t have a clue I’m afraid. Oh, I know Roach will have a lot to say, but his advice will be completely worthless because Pacquiao won’t be able to pry Clottey’s clamshell open.

source: boxingnews24.com

Pacquiao going to end up in hospital—Clottey cook

2010-03-10T02:55:00.000-08:00

GRAPEVINE, Texas – (UPDATE) Joshua Clottey trusts fellow Ghanaian Kwaku Gyamfi with his life.

The gargantuan man, nearly six feet tall and around 300 pounds, on the other hand, swoons over Clottey’s boxing skills and swears his countryman will run away with Manny Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown when they tangle on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Not only that, Gyamfi, who acts as Clottey’s cook and assistant, believes his countryman will either pummel Pacquiao into submission or beat him up so badly the Filipino ring icon won’t be able to perform in his post-fight party for the first time.

“He [Manny] will be going straight to the hospital, with his face cut up and bruised,” Gyamfi told Manila-based sportswriters in a chance encounter at a Gaylord Texan Hotel bar here Tuesday. “He’s going to be hit by a brick.”

Gyamfi, who attends to Clottey’s needs at the Bronx in New York, said the secret to Clottey’s strength lies in African food.

In the HBO pre-fight documentary of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight dubbed Road to Dallas, Gyamfi was shown cooking salmon slices and vegetables for Clottey, who unlike him, didn’t predict an easy victory over Pacquiao.

Like Clottey, chief trainer Lenny DeJesus, believes The Event is going to be tough and interesting.

“This [Pacquiao-Clottey] is a dangerous fight,” said the 64-year-old DeJesus, who’s worked with Pacquiao and Hall-of-Famer trainer Freddie Roach as cutman for five fights from 2003-2005.

DeJesus said he respected both, but insists his partnership with Clottey has been a good one and is capable of toppling boxing’s No. 1 tandem.

“Roach may spring up a surprise for me, but I also have a surprise for him,” said DeJesus. “If he knew this is going to be an easy fight he would be talking, but he’s being careful.”

DeJesus said Clottey sparred for only 90 rounds, all against southpaws, as he sent all of his spar mates out after four rounds.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Cowboys boss wants more Pacman bouts

2010-03-10T02:52:00.000-08:00

DALLAS, Texas – Jerry Jones wants to monopolize the staging of big-time boxing and the Texas billionaire is training his sights on hosting future Manny Pacquiao fights at Cowboys Stadium.

“I am confident that when we see how the structure of the venue, what we do, what the presentation of the fight, how it really creates additional aura and additional excitement to the fight, it’s going to be hard to find some place else,” said Jones as Pacquiao was working out in front of the public Tuesday at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.
Coupled with Pacquiao’s enormous popularity, the Cowboys Stadium, what with its ultra-modern features, can compete alongside the more recognizable venues across America, including the heavyweight in Las Vegas, according to Jones.

“It’s like a Super Bowl. Pacquiao transcends boxing in terms of the credibility that it gives our Cowboys Stadium,” said Jones, who had initially dangled a $25 million site fee to host Pacquiao’s aborted face-off with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“The main reason I wanted the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was Manny, and he was the draw so certainly when that didn’t work, it had my interest piqued and I knew I wanted to get him here at all cost,” said Jones, who secured the rights to the Pacquiao-Clottey bout for a reported $7 million.

If everything falls into place this weekend, Jones is expected to be at the forefront of promoting another Pacquiao headliner, possibly against Mayweather.

Top Rank, which is joining hands with Jones, has a time-table that is already been set for Paqcquiao.

“October or November,” said Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez when asked when his company intends to have the next Pacquiao fight.

“But it would all depend on the (result of the) elections,” added Jimenez, aware that Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines in May.

source: mb.com.ph

Pacman flawless in final workout

2010-03-10T02:50:00.000-08:00

MANNY Pacquiao looked flawless in his final workout at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles on Monday, before taking the flight to Dallas, Texas aboard a specially chartered plane, along with his wife Jinkee and a planeload of 160 people.

Pacquiao and his entourage arrived in Dallas late Monday night, thrilled at the sight of the Pacman’s photo and logo on the seats of the plane, as well as the cups in the flight. Pacquiao and Jinkee checked in at his spacious suite at the Gaylord Hotel.

ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo, who was with the team, said the Filipino icon, who battles Ghana’s Joshua Clottey on March 13, was “really excited.”

She quoted trainer Freddie Roach as saying that after four rounds of sparring with Raymund Beltran and some furious flurries on the punch mitts before leaving for Dallas, Pacquiao was “the best I’ve ever seen him.”

Castillejo reported that Pacquiao was aggressive and sensational on the punch-mitts, and by all accounts looked ripped and ready for the performance of his life at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium of owner Jerry Jones, who is determined to make it the Mecca of boxing in this decade.

Roach indicated he and conditioning expert Alex Ariza had to hold Pacquiao back because they didn’t want to burn him out.

“Pacquiao normally averages 150 rounds of sparring, but will average around 100 rounds for this fight,” said Roach.

Clottey’s 1st KO loss

The celebrated trainer revealed that the more he watched Clottey, as well as Pacquiao, “the more confident I get that Manny will be the first person to knock Clottey out. I like Clottey, he is a nice kid and I don’t want to talk trash about him, but it’s just my feeling and I am very confident of my fighter.”

Roach said Pacquiao has studied the game plan. “He knows how to fight this guy. He’s watched the tapes now, not just 30 seconds when he gets bored and walks away. He sees the effect.”

Clottey, who arrived ahead of Pacquiao, looked comfortable as he checked out the ring at the Gaylord Hotel, where a fight card bannered by Filipino boxers Richie Mepranum and Dennis Laurente, will be held on the eve of The Event.

Two more Filipinos—Eden Sonsona and Michael Farenas—will be on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.

Clottey didn’t seem bothered by Roach’s prediction of a knockout win by Pacquiao, believing in his own ability to take a punch.

“I have a good chin and we African fighters take a lot of punches, but I have a good chin. I never expect myself to get in the ring to get knocked out. I never expect that. No,” said Clottey.

The challenger’s game plan

Clottey’s fight plan is to use his size to overcome the smaller Pacquiao, who may well enter the ring on fight night giving away at least 10 pounds in weight to the challenger, who some expect to come in around 160 pounds.

Trainer Lenny De Jesus, however, told Standard Today, he wants to send Clottey into the ring at around 155 pounds.

However, Clottey seems to have other plans. “I will be stronger than him because after the weigh-in, I am going to eat and I am going to blow up.”

Clottey said he hasn’t felt better. “This is the best I felt. It started when I went to Africa, where I was training on the beach. I came to America, went to Florida and we went to the beach all the time. So I was training a lot.”

Clottey’s manager Vinny Scolpino and trainer de Jesus, who worked in Pacquiao’s corner for six fights and ended his ties when Shelly Finkel took over as the Filipino’s promoter, both realized that Clottey probably lost a fight he should have won against Miguel Cotto because he didn’t throw too many punches in the last two rounds. This is something they say they have corrected.

source: manilastandardtoday.com

Pacquiao to bank on speed to beat Clottey

2010-03-10T02:49:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines –Manny Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, believe that the 7-division world champion’s speed will compensate for his size when he goes up against the bigger Joshua Clottey of Ghana on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“My quickness will be the key, my speed,” Pacquiao told Reuters, adding that Clottey cannot be underestimated.

“He's a good fighter, and he's bigger than me, and I have to be very focused in the fight,” stated the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion.

Roach, for his part, noted that skill still rules over size.

“But I don't think size wins fights… I think skill does. He may be a little stronger than Manny on the inside, he might hit a little harder, but I think our speed will nullify that,” the American trainer said.

Pacquiao, who has a record of 50-3-2 (with 38 knockouts), will defend his belt against the Ghanaian who has 35 wins (with 30 KOs) and 3 losses.

The pound-for-pound king already arrived in Texas just days ahead of his title defense at the “The Event” fight card.

Curfew, leg problem

Pacquiao’s training camp for the Clottey fight was marred by a reported leg injury. The Filipino boxing sensation already assured that his leg is fine and ready for Saturday.

According to Michael Leahy's article on The Washington Post, Pacquiao felt the pain in his leg three weeks before the Clottey bout.

“Listen, son, we gotta take care of this leg problem now,” Roach was quoted by The Washington Post as saying.

Pacquiao, however, still wanted to jog despite the leg pain. Roach just allowed him to do so on grass or a soft track, not on the roads.

The four-time Trainer of the Year recipient also reminded Pacquiao about his curfew.

He was quoted as telling his ward: “You seem tired today. You are getting up late again. When people keep you up late, it affects your workouts… I'll enforce the curfew if I have to. If you have to come to my house, you'll sleep on my floor.”

“You're the boss,” the three-time Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade replied.

Two more fights

Roach has always been vocal that he wants Pacquiao to fight one or two bouts and then retire while on top of his game.

He said that after Clottey, Pacquiao will most likely face his supposed March 13 opponent, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“Manny says things to me like: ‘I will knock him out; I will crush him.’ He's never talked like that about another fighter,” said Roach.

He went on to say that it does not matter if the posters say Pacquiao-Mayweather or Mayweather-Pacquiao.

“Mayweather can be first on the posters. He can act like the champion. I'll go into the ring first, I'll do whatever he wants. . . . He can run from me just so he fights in these four corners,” Pacquiao’s trainer added.

Negotiations for the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout fell apart after the fighters’ camps disagreed on the Olympic-style drug testing protocol.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Ali no match to Pacquiao

2010-03-09T04:10:00.000-08:00

DALLAS, Texas — Joined by an entourage that would put Muhammad Ali’s own gang to shame, Manny Pacquiao blew into this city late Monday night with the promise of a sensational showing against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey this weekend at Cowboys Stadium.

“I am going to put on a great show for the fight fans,” said Pacquiao as the chartered Boeing 737 touched down here from Los Angeles with his entire training team led by Freddie Roach and friends in tow.

As the passengers began to emerge from the plane to a waiting bus that brought them to the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, somebody from Top Rank Inc. was stunned with the number of people that were making their way out of the chartered plane.

All in all there were 141 passengers on board the plane, most of them Pacquiao’s friends from Southern California and elsewhere in the US as well as those who traveled all the way from the Philippines, including the media.

“This (flight arrangement) is much better because we all get to travel together,” said a beaming Pacquiao, pleased with the atmosphere of revelry that prevailed during the close to three-hour journey.

During Ali’s heyday, there were about 30 or so individuals who joined him in his travels to the Philippines and elsewhere.

Not counting another batch arriving here in the coming days, it is expected that the return flight this Sunday to Los Angeles would be full. The plane can accommodate 170.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao is going to flex his muscles before the media at 1:30 p.m. at the basement of the Gaylord Texan on Tuesday after Clottey held his own workout Monday as Pacquiao was busy preparing for the trip here.

“Joshua really looked big and strong,” said publicist Ed Keenan, who was on hand during the workout that Top Rank PR chief Lee Samuels said “had a very good turnout."”

Earlier in Los Angeles, Pacquiao closed out his sparring session with a four-rounder against Ray Beltran.

Roach almost had to beg for Pacquiao to take off the gloves so he could dress up for the flight to Texas.

source: mb.com.ph

Manny charters 'Air Pacquiao' for flight to Dallas

2010-03-09T04:09:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao on Monday took a flight from his training base in Los Angeles, California to Dallas, Texas where his March 13 fight with Joshua Clottey will take place.

This, however, was not an ordinary flight for the 7-division champion. He chartered a 170-seater plane to take his whole entourage to Dallas.

After his last workout at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym, Pacquiao took his wife Jinkee to the airport where their chartered plane awaited.

The plane, which has a big photograph of Pacquiao on its door, carried the logo: Air Pacquiao. Even some of the items inside the plane had the logo.

The boxer even sat in the cockpit, playing “pilot” complete with uniform.

When asked why he decided to charter a plane, Pacquiao said: “Gusto ko, sama-sama lahat.” He even brought along his dog, Pacman.

Some of the local media covering the event could not help but be impressed with Pacquiao’s “new mode of transportation”.

“Grabe, dati mga kotse lang convoy…Ngayon, whole plane,” said Manila Bulletin’s Nick Giongco.

“[I’m] so happy na makasama ako dito,” said Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Roy Luarca.

Traditionally, Pacquiao takes a convoy from Los Angeles to the site where the fight takes place. However, Dallas is 1251 miles (2014 kilometers) away from Los Angeles.

Pacquiao was mobbed by the press shortly after they arrived at the Dallas Forth Worth Texas Airport at around 10 p.m. on Monday.

After a short meeting with the press, Pacquiao boarded a special utility vehicle on his way to the Gaylord Luxury Hotel where he was met by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

The boxer will take a night’s rest before starting his final training days before fight night.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Clottey might pull off a surprise in fight vs Pacquiao

2010-03-09T04:07:00.000-08:00

GRAPEVINE, Texas ( MindaNews/08 March) - Up to now, Joshua Clottey has not made any definitive claims he’s going to win the welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao this Saturday ( Sunday in the Philippines) at the Cowboys Dallas Stadium.

But a much closer understanding of his statements shortly after his workout today at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in this city shows it might turn out to be a totally different fight for the Pacman so far.

Unlike Pacquiao’s previous opponents, Clottey can withstand a combination of punches targetting his chin.
“I have a good chin, it comes natural for me, he said, stressing that “unless you take time to connect,” Pacquiao can’t get me by throwing many punches.

He also claims his answer to Pacquiao’s being a south paw is his right hand punching. “I have a sharp right hand, and can throw it from afar. So it’s always dangerous.”

Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs) is a natural welterweight compared to Pacquiao who has to add more pounds for the 147 pounds weight ceiling. But the Ghanaian boxer said he will add on more pounds after the weigh in, making him more formidable upon entering the ring on fight night.

He also has a strange strategy of not watching any of the tapes of the Pacman’s previous fights. “ I never watch any of Pacquiao’s tapes, he said, adding “I concentrate more to become more fit for the fight.

His workout today consists of doing the ropes, shadow boxing and a display of some combination of punches with his trainer around the ring.

Clottey is a native of Accra, Ghana, and is now fighting out of Bronx, New York. He won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title in 2008 by defeating three-time world champion Zab Judah. He also won over two-division world champion Diego Corrales and undefeated contender Richard Guttierez, and a close decision loss to to world champion Antonio Margarito.

He, however, lost a controversial split decision to defending WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. Clottey is presently rated No. 1 by the WBO and No. 4 by the World Boxing Association (WBA).

Pacquiao ( 50-3-2, 38 KOs) will be defending the WBO welterweight title he snatched from three-time world champion Miguel Cotto via a 12th round knockout on May 2, 2009.

Addressing the millions of Filipinos rooting for Pacquiao, the Ghanaian boxer said he highly respects the seven weight division world title holder, but confidently predicts its going to be a “ very very close fight for both of us, so watch us very closely.”

Clottey warned the first round will be the most crucial round for him. “After the first round, we’ll gonna know what’s gonna happen.”

source: mindanews.com

Arum says Pacquiao-Clottey will sell as many PPV buys as Pacquiao-Cotto

2010-03-09T04:05:00.000-08:00

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he thinks that this Saturday’s fight between World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Joshua Clottey will do as well as the Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto bought in terms of pay per view buys, according to an interview of Arum at Boxing Talk. The Pacquiao-Cotto fight sold 1.25 million pay per view buys, which a good portion of it was driven by fan interest in seeing Cotto fight. Arum says that at the least, he sees the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight doing no worse than 900,000 to 1 million PPV buys.

This is obviously very wishful numbers for a fight that matches Pacquiao, a big star going up against a little known fighter like Clottey. Below, I’ve listed Pacquiao’s biggest fights of his career and shown what his pay per view buys were for each of the fights. You can be the judge of how you think Pacquiao will do against Clottey.

Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya – 1.25 million PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto = 1.25 million PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton = 830,000 PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez = 400,000 PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. David Diaz = 250,000 PPV buys

***

In contrast, here is Floyd Mayweather’s best pay per view numbers:

Mayweather vs. De La Hoya = 2.4 million PPV buys
Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez = 1.05 million PPV buys
Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton = 850,000 PPV buys

As you can see, it’s asking a lot of Pacquiao and Clottey to bring in the kinds of numbers that the Pacquiao-Cotto brought in. The reason is Clottey is probably a lot less well known than Hatton and Marquez in the United States. Clottey is probably as about well known to the casual boxing fan as David Diaz is. I still think the Pacquiao-Clottey fight will do better than Pacquiao’s fights against Diaz and Marquez simply because Pacquiao is better known to the boxing public because of his fights against De La Hoya, Cotto, Marquez and Hatton in the past two years.

Pacquiao will draw well in spite of the fact that he’s facing pretty much a nobody on March 13th . However, I think Arum is deluded if he thinks that a fight between Pacquiao and Clottey is going to bring in the same numbers as Pacquiao’s bout against the much better known Cotto.

That’s ridiculous to even consider. Unlike the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, there isn’t going to be an HBO 24/7 Pacquiao-Clottey series. Instead, there was one special, “Road to Dallas”, which showed once on HBO, and had none of the interesting inside information that the usual 24/7 series typically have. Additionally, there appears to be little marketing of the fight by Arum and Top Rank. I’m still not seeing commercial advertisements for the fight even though it’s less than a week away.

Without the fight being marketed to boxing fans that have no idea who Clottey is there’s no way that the Pacquiao-Clottey fight will do as well as Pacquiao’s bouts against Cotto and De La Hoya. That sounds like wishful thinking to me. If anything, I think it might fall into the 800,000 PPV neighborhood. It could reach a million PPV if enough new fans of Pacquiao want to see him fight and don’t care who he fights against. But they have to know about the fight, and with almost zero commercials being played on Cable to alert fans about this fight, I can’t see how they would even know about the fight.

source: boxingnews24.com

Arnel Pineda to sing anthem in Pacquiao-Clottey bout

2010-03-09T04:03:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines -- It's confirmed.

Arnel Pineda, the Filipino front man of popular American rock band "Journey," will sing the Philippine national anthem in Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s much-awaited fight with Ghanaian Joshua "The Grand Master" Clottey on March 13 (March 14 in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

In an exclusive interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, Pineda confirmed that he was invited by Pacquiao to sing "Lupang Hinirang" in his upcoming fight.

"Pupunta ako sa Dallas to sing sa laban ni Manny [Pacquiao].This Thursday [ang alis ko]. (I am going to Dallas this Thursday to sing in Pacquiao's fight.)," Pineda said.

"I'm really happy kasi matutuloy na. Nahihiya na ako kay Manny kasi pangatlong invitation na ito sa akin. Baka kasi isipin ay iniisnab ko. So finally, matutuloy na. (This is my third invitation from Manny who might think I'm snubbing him. I'm happy this is finally pushing through), " he said.

The crooner said he was not able to sing in Pacquiao's previous fights because of his hectic schedule as Journey's vocalist.

Pineda, who was introduced over the phone to Pacquiao by common friends, was also present during the boxer's birthday party in General Santos last December.

Pineda is currently part of ABS-CBN's weekly variety show "ASAP XV."

Aside from singing in the Pacquiao-Clottey bout, Pineda is also set to fly back to US this coming April to record the latest album of Journey.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Team Pacquiao heads to Texas for final countdown of Clottey bout

2010-03-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

The road to Arlington, Texas begins for Team Pacquiao Monday (Tuesday in Manila) as it heads there for the final countdown of the Filipino ring idol’s 12-round showdown against Joshua Clottey of Ghana.

A chartered plane that leaves Los Angeles at around 3 p.m. Monday will bring Manny Pacquiao and around 150 people to Arlington, the seventh-largest city in Texas, following a three-hour flight covering 1,251 miles.

The fantastic $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium owned by billionaire Jerry Jones will be the site of Pacquiao’s 12-round title fight against Clottey this Saturday.

This marks the first time in three years that the 31-year old southpaw from General Santos City is fighting outside of Las Vegas since scoring an eighth round knockout of Mexican Jorge Solis in San Antonio, Texas in 2007.

The change in venue and atmosphere hardly deters the champion, staking for the first time the 147-pound title belt he won four months ago with a 12th round technical knockout of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

"We’re ok and we’re ready," said Pacquiao Sunday afternoon at his posh Palazzo Apartment in Hollywood, where he personally supervised the final day of the three-week long weight loss challenge he put up for his bloated staff.

Pacquiao skipped his road work Sunday and instead attended Mass at the nearby Christ The King Church accompanied by his close family members and friends. He later had lunch at his $2 million house located just outside of the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Hancock Park.

Prior to his departure for Texas, Pacquiao will be doing his final sparring in training camp at the WildCard gym as he is scheduled to go four rounds against old hand Ray Beltran.

"We’re just going to maintain everything. I have no weight problems," Pacquiao told Manila-based sports writers.

Asked on whether he’s having problem meeting the 147-weight limit, Pacquiao smiled and said, "No, I just eat when I want to."

Pacquiao is arriving in Texas a day after Clottey planes in. The challenger is set to hold his public workout at the Convention Hall of the Gaylord Texan Hotel on Monday, while the champion does his own on Tuesday.

The final press conference of the match, dubbed "The Event" and promoted by Top Rank, is on Wednesday.

With less than a week before finally facing Clottey in the ring, Pacquiao wished his opponent the best.

"Good luck to both of us. May the best man win," he said the Filipino.

Pacman’s "Biggest Loser" challenge
American Tim Sladeck, meanwhile, emerged the best man in the weight loss challenge participated by 87 personnel and friends close to Pacquiao.

Sladeck, also an associate of Pacquiao adviser Michael Konz, won the top prize of $20,000 for losing the most in weight during the three-week contest. The winner lost a total of 49 pounds, going down from 214 to 165.

He also won an additional $3,000 as the contest rules call for participants to lose 15 percent of their body weight. Sladeck lost 22.5 percent of his body weight.

In all, 38 participants were able to meet the test and took home $3,000 each, bringing Pacquiao’s total prize close to $135,000 or about P6.3 million.

source: GMANews.TV

Clottey says Pacquiao bout like a miracle

2010-03-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines – Ghana’s Joshua “the Grand Master” Clottey thinks that things are going his way ever since he was chosen to fight Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao on March 13, even if he experienced a setback in his training camp.

“I never expected to be in such a huge fight like this, which is the biggest pay day of the year. It's like a miracle, like something is being worked out. It's like a miracle, something is coming, and I'm so happy,” Clottey told Lem Satterfield of Boxing FanHouse.

The Ghanaian stated another reason for saying that his chance to fight Pacquiao is like a miracle.

“They never talked about me moving to a catchweight. We're fighting at the welterweight limit, so it's like, a miracle,” he noted.

Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Cowboys, Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Clottey stepped in the March 13 fight card after talks for the Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather, Jr. blockbuster bout collapsed.

However, the Ghanaian’s trainer, Godwin Nii Dzanie Kotey, was denied a United States work visa.

Despite such setback, Clottey and his manager, Vinnie Scolpino, found a new trainer in Lenny DeJesus.

“The training is going fine, because it's easy with me to connect with anybody. Lenny, he's a nice person. He talks to me. Lenny talks to me about boxing,” said Clottey.

“Lenny can tell me things like, ‘Go into the ring, go to his body.’ If I go to the body, and it doesn't work, I have to change my whole plan in the ring.”

Focused only on training

Clottey (35-3, with 20 knockouts) elaborated on his training camp in Florida.

“When I'm in the gym, that's the time I fight more,” he stated.

“And you know one thing, I don't like any thing being around me when I'm training. That's the only thing I think about is the training. Nothing makes me happier now than thinking about the training and the fight, and believe me, I've trained so, so, so, so hard.”

He added that he is happy with DeJesus, his cut man during his fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last June. Cotto beat Clottey via split decision at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Cotto then yielded his WBO welterweight title last November to Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Clottey Too Strong?

2010-03-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday night sees the next chapter unfold in what has become the gladiatorial career of Manny Pacquiao. Proudly and justifiably held as boxing’s poster boy, the sport seems in more need of his services right now than vice versa. Thankfully for the fight game and its needy, often disappointed fans Manny’s still here. Still accepting the bigger fights and the bigger challenges.

David Diaz was a stepping stone. I never for one moment doubted the Filipino’s ability to take what little he’d offer and come back with substantially more. That the American went 9 rounds is testament to his resolve. Manny couldn’t have hit him harder with a baseball bat.

Against Cotto there were doubts. It was clearly a fight in which Pacman would do well; Cotto likes to box but can’t seem to avoid fighting when in with a fighter. Manny’s feet would be quicker, it was generally accepted he hit harder, and Miguel had wilted before coming apart as the rounds wore on against the heavy-handed, anything but fleet-footed Antonio Margarito. This was the key consideration of the Cotto Paquiao matchup; how much had the Puerto Rican learned? However we may judge the David Diaz’s of this world, Cotto is an accomplished, genuinely world class performer. Though he’d been drawn into the odd crazy round or two (the Demarcus Corley fight springs instantly to mind) Cotto had shown his true colours in classy wins over the legendary Shane Mosley and once-possibly-future-legendary Zab Judah. At the time I thought Mosley was washed up. I still had hopes for Judah. It’s a funny sport to call at times..

Cotto had also impressed against the previously undefeated Urkal, Quintana and Torres. He was the real deal, no doubt. And Pacman blew him away. It was stunning. In July ’08 I was thrilled for Margarito. He was Rocky; he was everyone watching not ardently behind Miguel. For five or six minutes he walked through all the patience and pain of the previous 8 or 9 rounds and looked unstoppable. He was a boxing legend that night. He was boxing. Last November as the Puerto Rican clung on through the dying rounds and Manny just refused to stop taking him apart I could barely watch.

How quickly things change, and how difficult they are to call. Floyd Mayweather, though unquestionable legend himself, once again proved that he is definitely not boxing. He may be poster boy for half the sports and image rights agents who can clamour for his attention, but walking through 8 rounds of hurt to clutch all of our imaginations as he battles the odds in the dying rounds he is not. Would he fight Manny? Certainly. But the money, locations, gloves, ropes and anything else he could think of had to be his.

Mayweather’s loss. Our gain. Saturday night will be all about 2 great fighters fighting for greatness. For Clottey, it’s a deserved chance for recognition on the biggest of stages. For Pacman, it’s just more fun. More fans, more lightning combinations, more singing. And we’ll miss him when he’s gone.

To fully appreciate the legacy he’ll eventually leave it’s necessary to bear in mind he’s fighting thousands of miles from home. Though the U.S. is fairly unchallenged as boxing’s big time venue (hoards of supporters of the likes of Hatton and Calzaghe in recent years cementing the point) it’s possible to underestimate the challenge faced by a fighter making such a move. When red-hot Juan Manuel Marquez dropped a hotly disputed decision to Chris John in Jakarta 2004 most observers were quick to dismiss the loss, citing hometown decision making as the most likely issue, yet when the Rocky Juarez scored an unquestionably generous draw 5 years later in Texas most tried to justify the decision as John’s own shortcoming, slowing down in the latter rounds. While it’s never prudent to isolate individual fights as comparisons, the challenges faced in fighting halfway round the world are nothing short of substantial. Both in and out of the ring. Fortunately, Manny’s had nothing to complain about. He’s had high’s and lows, fought an incredible round first time out with Marquez then learned a great lesson through the conclusion of the fight. But these days Manny doesn’t do decisions. These days he doesn’t take the chance.

He’s stronger, faster and more resolved than the electrifying but somewhat erratic pugilist who burst onto the scene with a breathtaking derailment of a then peak Barerra in 2003. So far he’s lost nothing of his speed and his power seems to increase naturally with his weight. So why should Clottey succeed where Cotto was found so wanting?

It’s an old cliché, but styles make fights. Records do not throw punches. If they did the Ghanaian would have came unstuck against the too-fast Judah. He didn’t. He’d have been out of depth against the world class Cotto. He certainly wasn’t. The Margarito loss raises eyebrows on the Clottey record, but that was nearly 4 years ago now. And Tony can fight, unquestionably. What seems to be of greatest interest here is the comparisons that can be drawn – though shouldn’t be – between Clottey’s fight with Cotto and Pacquiao’s. Wouldn’t life be great if it was as easy to assess an upcoming fight as that? Pacman’ll walk through him, right?

For Joshua Clottey, this is the culmination of a life spent building to this moment. It’s a payday but I don’t think that’s really the point. He’s a tough man, a hard fighter. He wants a piece of what Manny’s been getting. Loath though I am to bet against the Filipino, I think he’ll get it. I anticipate the same electric atmosphere, free foot movement and creative combinations from Manny, but I also see the Ghanaian getting on top of him at times and fighting the kind of fight Ricky Hatton hoped to conjure. In doing so I believe Clottey will present a stronger challenge than Manny’s been faced with so far. I see this as an exceptionally close call and I don’t see a stoppage. Saturday night might just raise a few more of those eyebrows picking future fights based on records.

Either way, Manny wins. Were he to lose and bow out only the sport and its fans would suffer. If he wins, if he scales more phenomenal heights and simply marches through everything Clottey offers? Then what? Perhaps well see ‘Money’ Mayweather travel halfway across the globe for modern day thriller in Manilla? Whatever happens come Saturday, however hard this game is to predict, I think we’re all safe betting Floyd just won’t take the chance.

source eastsideboxing.com

Pacman Stars on Jimmy Kimmel Show Again

2010-03-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao may be preparing for his bout against Joshua Clottey but during his final media day workout Wednesday in Los Angeles the pound-4-pound champion had other things on his mind.

"If I had to live my life without you near me, the days would all be empty," Pacquiao sang to a handful of media members before he was to appear on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show.

Pacquiao was once again a guest on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show again Wednesday night and he sang Glen Medioras’ 1980’s hit love song "Nothing’s Going to Change My Love For You."

Pacquiao’s first appearance on the Kimmel show was right before the fight against Miguel Cotto last November. He said he loved being a guest on the late night talk show so much last year that he decided to do it again for this fight.

"I like Jimmy Kimmel because he’s kind of funny," said Pacquiao. "It’s a funny show. It’s for the fans that. The fans wanted me back there and guest and it’s a good show."

And the fans definitely did want to see the pound-4-pound champion again on the show.

Hours before the taping in Hollywood, hundreds of fans lined up for a chance to see Pacquiao perform.

"We’re here to see Manny," said an excited Paolo Amador. "Pacquiao’s the man, man. The best boxer in the world!"

Some even imitated Manny’s first appearance on the show by singing "Sometimes when we touch."

Vince Caluag, a 21-year-old student, said it’s great to see a person from the Philippines represent Filipinos on a mainstream late night talk show like Jimmy Kimmel Live.

"He just represents the Filipinos so well," said Caluag. "He’s a great model for our country, a great person and he’s humble too."

It’s not known if Pacquiao will continue to make appearances on the Kimmel show before each of his fights, but if he continues to win after each appearance, expect Pacquiao to become a regular late night figure.

source: asianjournal.com

David Diaz Exclusive Interview - Diaz vs Soto On Pacquiao-Clottey Undercard

2010-03-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

David Diaz is scheduled to square off against Humberto Soto March 13 on the under card of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This fight will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title once held by Diaz. This bout represents a crossroad fight for both fighters. I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with the former champion. Here is what he had to say:

Q: David, how are preparations going for your upcoming fight against Humberto Soto?

A: Well, they’re actually pretty good—can’t complain. Everything’s been marching along pretty good so we should be primed and ready for the 13th.

Q: This fight will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title that you once held. How does it feel to be getting another shot at this title?

A: It’s great. Not everybody gets to fight for the title again and it’s a golden opportunity and we have to try and take advantage of that..

Q: Now this will only be Humberto Soto’s second fight north of the junior lightweight division. Do you think your natural size advantage and experience at the weight class is something you can utilize in this fight?

A: I hope it is. I hope I can be the stronger guy that night and we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.

Q: You will be fighting on the under card of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight, and I’m just curious, how do you see this one going down?

A: Actually, this one’s going to be pretty tough. I just got to see how he takes Clottey’s defense away because he’s got a tight defense and it’s going to be something to see what he can do against that.

Q: Now when you fought Pacquiao, you were stopped in the ninth round but a lot of observers in the boxing community feel that you did better against Pacquiao than some of his more recent larger opponents—guys like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto. What is it mean to you to have that distinction that in the last couple of years, people think that you performed better against Pacquiao than anybody?

A: Well, I mean it just shows that I come to fight. Whether it be Pac-Man or whether it be anybody else that I’m fighting, I come to fight and try to get the best performance I can out of it, and you know what—to do a little better than these other guys—yeah, it feels good.

Q: Negotiations for the proposed mega bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather never got worked out, but instead, Mayweather is now scheduled to face Sugar Shane Mosley. What are your thoughts on this one?

A: That’s going to be a tough fight for Floyd, but I still think Floyd is going to have the upper hand on this one.

Q: Aside from your loss to Pacquiao, the only other loss in your professional career came at the hands of Kendall Holt. What did you learn from that experience?

A: To listen to my corner. My corner was telling me to stay inside, don’t go toe-toe, don’t be standing up with the guy, and you know, I wanted to show them—hey, you know what, he’s got nothing on me. He actually didn’t up until the referee stopped it, but you take those fights and you move on.

Q: David, if you beat Humberto Soto, where would you like to go from there?

A: God willing, everything will come out alright—unify. I mean that’s the only proper thing that I think a champion would want to do is fight another champion, and to unify would be awesome.

Q: Do you have any regrets in your career thus far, and if so, what are they?

A: No, I don’t have any regrets. I mean everything that’s been played out in my career, I take it because it’s been a learning experience. Yeah, finally it has taken me awhile to get to the championship fight, I don’t have the bank account that I would like, but hey—you take what’s given to you and hopefully we can build on that.

Q: You’re going on 34 years old, David. You just mentioned earlier that you ultimately want to unify the titles in the lightweight division, but how much longer do see yourself fighting professionally?

A: Professionally at this level, maybe two good years. Two good years, that’s all. I got two good years to try and become undisputed if everything goes well on the thirteenth. If not, then we will start looking for the exit. Yeah, because you know what, we’re getting up there and we can leave this sport for the young guys.

Q: Do you have an official prediction for your upcoming fight with Soto?

A: No, no predictions. I’m not Nostradamus.

Q: Okay, David. For my final question, do you have anything else you would like to say to all of your fans out at East Side Boxing?

A: To all my fans out at East Side Boxing—I really appreciate your support. Thanks for hanging in there for me, and God willing, everything will come out alright on March 13 and we’ll be champions again.

Q: Great. Thank you, David. Thank you very much for the pleasant conversation and I wish you the very best of luck in your fight.

A: Thank you very much, I appreciate that.

source: eastsideboxing.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey - Road to Dallas HBO 24/7

2010-03-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Clottey "THE EVENT" - Road to Dallas HBO 24/7 FULL VIDEOS

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey: The Third World-War

2010-03-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

After the Second World War, people wished and prayed that there would never be another World-War again. But their prayers went unanswered, because come March 13 the world of boxing has decided that there would be "THE (Third-World-War) EVENT" between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey: two boxers coming from the Third-World countries.

It's amazing how these two third-world boxers have the power, charisma and privilege to fight in the first-world country and get the interest of the whole world of every class to watch them fight and be entertained and might be shocked.

Yes, because these fighters come from third-world countries, but they are undoubtedly the two first-world-class boxers who are capable to do the unthinkable.

Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey were both born in poor families. They were not born boxers; they were only born to survive and boxing showed them the way how to survive and they surely survived so well.

At first they were just fighting against hunger and poverty, but now they are going to fight against each other: the two great survivors of poverty.

They both entered the painful world of boxing just to support their humble families, but now the whole wold support them and pay them more than many other jobs can offer.

Clottey and Pacquiao are already both winners in this fight. They have already won their living and now they are only fighting to entertain the world of boxing and to establish better their future and their legacy.

Pacquiao is giving Clottey another chance to prove to the world that he won his fight against Cotto, as many boxing experts also believe.

It is Clottey's time to show to the people that if Manny had an easy win against Cotto, against him it would not be that easy.

And most of all, Clottey has now the privilege to shock the world and discover that he is better than what boxing experts think.

Some people think that Manny Pacquiao is just uselessly risking his legacy in fighting Joshua Clottey. Pacquiao has everything to lose and Clottey has nothing to lose and everything to gain with this fight. They may be right, but that where exactly lies the greatness of Pacquiao.

Manny always wants challenge and there is no greater challenge than when you risk everything only to gain something. Pacquiao is not only fighting for his personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

He knows that fighting Clottey, a bigger, taller, stronger, and tougher guy would create a great spectacle in the boxing world which is dying because some boxers use boxing only to make money and choose only the opponents whom they can 101 percent beat.

Clottey has all the physical advantages to Pacquiao, and yet this doesn't frighten Manny, but challenges him to use all his skills to overcome his disadvantages.

Clottey is great with his defence and Manny is great with his offense. But is Clottey's defence good enough to stop the offense of Manny?

No one wins just by defence and everyone wins by offense. In boxing, the offense is your sword to kill your opponent and your defence is your shield to protect yourself from being killed by the sword/offense of your opponent.

Take away the sword/offense and you can never kill your opponent with your shield/defence. Take away the shield/defence and you can still kill your opponent with your sword/offense.

Therefore in boxing the offense is more important than the defence. The offense is the STAR in boxing and the defence is just the BODYGUARD of the STAR.

Now who is more important: the star or the bodyguard? That's why in boxing what they count for is your offense and not your defense.

I don't really care who wins the fight, but what I do care is that both boxers would give us the greatest fight. I can no longer wait to experience this Third-World-War between the First-World-Class boxers.

May the best boxer win and may they help the boxing world keep breathing. As long as there are still boxers who are willing to fight, no matter what, no matter how much, no matter who, no matter how, the boxing world would never die.

Boxing is already in our blood. We are all born fighters, but we just have different opponents to fight against in this life and the world is our ring. While we are still in this ring, we just can't do nothing but fight and fight well until the end.

source: bleacherreport.com

Roach predicts 6th round KO win for Pacquiao

2010-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES – Freddie Roach is now giving Joshua Clottey a shorter shelf-life against Manny Pacquiao on the evening of March 13.

“Six or seven rounds,” said Roach, who had previously predicted a ninth-round knockout victory by the Filipino fighter at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

After presiding over Pacquiao’s penultimate day of sparring inside the Wild Card on a rainy Saturday afternoon, Roach was compelled to alter his forecast a week before the scheduled 12-round world welterweight title fight.

“Manny looked very, very sharp today,” said Roach, stressing that “there’s not much that he (Clottey) can do” against a fighter who is going to “overwhelm him with punches from all angles.”

Roach said he expects Clottey to be in the thick of the fight only in the first four rounds but Pacquiao will take charge soon after, paving the way for another smashing win by the fighter many consider as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound.

Pacquiao picked up apart Abdullai Amidu, his Ghana sparmate, and the regular guy David Rodela, for a total of six rounds in another dazzling display of power and speed.

On Monday, Pacquiao will have his last sparring session – this time for only four rounds – before he hops on a chartered flight en route to the venue for next week’s fight.

Joining him on the three-hour trip on a jumbo jet leased by Pacquiao are members of his huge entourage and select individuals with legitimate business to take care of going into the final days before the fight.

Pacquiao is a huge favorite although Clottey is a livewire underdog owing to his being a natural welterweight, somebody who should be much bigger than his foe by the time they get it on around 10 p.m. Dallas time (12 noon of March 14 in the Philippines).

Team Pacquiao will be billeted at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in the city of Grapevine, which will put up a makeshift gym on its basement for the sole purpose of hosting Pacquiao’s final workouts.

Meanwhile, Clottey admitted that he’s longing for the attention that Pacquiao is getting from almost everybody.

Almost two years ago – after crowning himself the International Boxing Federation welterweight king – Clottey arrived to a rousing welcome in his native Ghana.

Clottey said in the documentary The Road to Dallas, which is being aired on US television, that he is craving to experience the same thing all over again.

“I want it to happen again,” said Clottey, who has a stab at stardom on March 13 versus Manny Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium.

Clottey, who has been living in New York the last seven years, has a huge following in his native land but is unknown in America and when people say he doesn’t stand a chance against the pound-for-pound king, the boxer doesn’t feel insulted.

“It doesn’t make me upset,” said Clottey “(but) it makes me stronger.”

Former Pacquiao cutman Lenny De Jesus, who has assumed the role of Clottey’s chief trainer, summed it all up with a curt message.

“If we hit him right, we’ll knock him out,” said De Jesus, who was in the corner of Pacquiao in at least four fights, including the landmark victory over Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003.

source: mb.com.ph

Pacquiao vs Clottey HBO 24/7 - Road to Dallas Preview

2010-03-07T01:02:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey "THE EVENT" - Road to Dallas HBO 24/7 Preview

Roach “Pacquiao will put Clottey away inside 9”

2010-03-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Popular trainer Freddie Roach who is celebrating his 50th birthday today says he will be happy to see Manny Pacquiao beat Joshua Clottey in the first round of their fight scheduled for March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“I have said that the fight will be long and that it’ll probably end late, like nine rounds but I would be very happy if Manny wins in one round,” Roach said on Thursday, the eve of his 50th birthday.

Roach must have been impressed by what he saw during the past few days how Pacquiao demolished his giant sparring partners one after the other. Roach also knew that Clottey can be had in the first round as what happened when he was knocked down by Miguel Cotto in the first round of their fight a year ago at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.

But all along, Roach has been saying that Pacquiao will get Cotto inside 12 rounds. The other day Roach said Pacquiao will try finish Clottey inside nine rounds.

Popular sports writer Joaquin Henson says: "Pacquiao will exploit Clottey’s lack of foot movement for sure. Clottey has a tendency to walk into an opponent’s range without throwing punches, making him an easy target. Pacquiao will run rings around Clottey and rain punches from all angles. If the Ghanaian isn’t able to move away from Pacquiao’s winging space, he’ll be a sitting duck and punching bag for the Filipino icon".

To his credit, Clottey has never been stopped. He’s known for his resiliency and durability. Clottey is bigger than Pacquiao and will definitely be heavier when they clash. But as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, Henson added.

Manny Pacquiao entourage leaves Monday for Arlington Texas for the final phase of his training and preparation before he climbs up the ring to face Joshua Clottey of Ghana before some 45,000 boxing fans at the huge Cowboys Stadium.

source: theboxinghistorian.com

Pacquiao hurts Roach's chin in gym

2010-03-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

HOLLYWOOD – For 15 rounds non-stop, Manny Pacquiao went for the kill.

And a good number of times, he caught his master, Freddie Roach, on the chin or just too hard on the body, and made his two-hour workout at the Wild Card Gym look like the real thing.

“Sorry coach, sorry,” said Pacquiao as he backed off after one of his right hooks glanced the chin of his trainer.

But Roach, who celebrated his 50th birthday Friday by putting on his three-inch body armor and working the mitts with Pacquiao, really didn’t mind. He’s gotten used to it anyway. Even if it hurts.

“He hurts me and knocks the wind off me sometimes,” he said.

But it’s all part of his job, and Roach would like to see Pacquiao do the same against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In fact, he sees Pacquiao winning by knockout.

“Kill the body,” was Roach’s constant reminder during their 15-round session with the mitts. He believes that Clottey, bigger but older, has never been hit to the body as hard as Pacquiao would hit him.

On top of the ring, they worked on the different angles and on running rings around Clottey and at the same time planting solid blows to the side of the body and to the head which they hope would work.

“There’s nothing he can do when you’re not standing in front of him,” said Freddie during breaks that never lasted more than five seconds. “There’s nothing he can do. Take advantage of that.”

They were almost whispering to each other as they map out the plan, always looking for something new, always looking for ways to make things better and making things worse for the opponent.

“We’re not going to leave a pattern,” said Roach on top of the ring. He wants Pacquiao to keep Clottey guessing all night, guessing where his punches are coming from and guessing what his next move would be.

Pacquiao was just having a good time on the ring when Roach, after 15 rounds non-stop, said it’s time to call it a day.

“Uno-mas. Uno-mas (One more. One more),” Pacquiao kept on repeating.

But Roach would have none of it.

“When will you ever get tired? Go get water. I need to rest,” he said.

And then it was over.

“Masaya kami (We’re happy),” said Pacquiao, who earlier in the morning ran up Mount Lee, the tallest peak in Los Angeles, and ended up looking down at the very famous landmark, the Hollywood Sign.

“Lumampas pa ako doon sa sign. That was my longest run in training and it took me more than an hour to get to the top. It was like running a marathon uphill. Grabe talaga,” he said.

Notes: The birthday song
filled the Wild Card Gym after the two-hour workout, and Manny Pacquiao presented Freddie Roach with a birthday cake. Roach blew the candles and made a wish: Knock Clottey out...Each of the 87 persons who joined Pacquiao’s weight loss contest had to sign a waiver prepared by Dr. Allan Recto just to make sure that the boxing superstar won’t be held liable if something happens to any of them. Pacquiao has offered $3,000 to anyone who’d lose 15 percent of their body weight inside three weeks. Dr. Recto said it’s no joke. Most of those who joined the contest, you see, are non-athletes, just plain individuals, and trying to lose so much weight in so little time may cause them harm. Some of them are said to be starving themselves to death just to get the money. Based on Dr. Recto’s official list, there are those needing to lose as little as 15 lb and one as much as 40 lb. “We prepared the waiver to make sure no one sues Manny if something bad happens to him or her,” said Dr. Recto. As an icing on the cake, Pacquiao has offered another $20,000 to the one who will lose the most in weight, percentage wise. The final weigh-in is set Sunday. Get the ambulance ready.

source: philstar.com

Pacquiao vows new technique vs Clottey

2010-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines – With or without the alleged injury, 7-division champ Manny Pacquiao said he is all set for his world title defense against Joshua Clottey, adding that he has a "new technique" against the Ghanaian.

Pacquiao said all he is waiting for is the fight date itself on March 13 (March 14 in Manila).

"Right now 100% conditioned na tayo, ready na tayo sa fight. Maintain na lang sa kondisyon," said the Filipino champ, who will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.

He also said the alleged injury he earlier experienced will not affect his performance against the bigger Clottey.

"Wala namang injury, sore lang ang muscle," he said.

The power-puncher from General Santos City also claimed that he has the answer to Clottey’s larger build—strong punches and skillful defense.

“We’ve created a new technique,” said Pacquiao. “It’s going to be exciting, and a lot of action in the ring.”

The Pacquiao-Clottey fight, dubbed as “The Event” will take place at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Clottey, for his part, said he is ready to take away Pacquiao’s welterweight title—and Manny’s Filipino fans are afraid that the Ghanaian meant it.

“I’m very, very, hundred percent for sure that I am the only one who can beat him!” Clottey said at a training session for the press at New York’s Kingsway Gym on Thursday.

Lenny de Jesus, Clottey’s trainer, believes Pacquiao is going to pass his prime.

“Pacquiao has been at the top for five years, I think his time is coming. Clottey is ready to fight tomorrow,” De Jesus claimed.

Fight seen to go until late rounds

Pacquiao fans in McAllen, Texas are not taking the fighter from Ghana lightly. Many believe Clottey can bring the scheduled 12-round boxing match to its later rounds.

“Mga ten. Bagsak yan si Clottey,” said Boboy Yongson, one of Pacquiao’s fans.

“I think the fight is gonna go the distance. Pacquiao will win by a close decision,” said boxing promoter Anthony Cavasos.

Foreign boxers also shared their own prediction regarding the outcome of the fight.

Junior lightweight boxer Jorge Luis Teron of the US, ranked 12th by the Word Boxing Association (WBA), said Clottey’s good defense will allow him to hold out: “It’s going to be real hard for Manny to knock him out. I think it might go to a decision.”

National American Boxing Federation reigning lightweight title holder Brandon Rios, also of the US, is confident for a Pacquiao victory before Round 12: “Clottey is a good fighter; he takes a lot of punches. I see a win later, maybe a knockout (for Pacquiao)." With reports from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News; Merpu Roa, Don Tagala and Joseph Pimentel, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao by decision vs Clottey, says Chavez Jr

2010-03-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Even Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., son of the legendary Mexican namesake and champion, sees Joshua Clottey as a tough opponent for reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.

But when asked to whom he’ll bet his money, Chavez Jr. said it’s on Manny, without batting an eyelash.

“I think Manny Pacquiao will win the bout by decision," said the 24-year old Chavez through an interpreter just as he was about to leave the Wildcard gym in Hollywood after staying for about two hours watching the Filipino southpaw in training.

Wearing a cream long sleeve polo over jeans, Chavez Jr. slipped inside the gym without much fanfare, and quietly observed at the corner as the 31-year-old Pacquiao did his thing inside the ring.

Chavez Jr. admitted he came over just to visit and watch how the charismatic and fearsome puncher from General Santos City trains in person.

“Manny is a great boxer, he has talent and is the best of the best in the world right now," added the light-middleweight prospect, who owns a ring record of 41-0-1, with 30 KOs.

Just as he was winding down with his training, Pacquiao went over to Chavez, had a little chat with him and said “your father was a great boxer." The two later had a photo op together.

As the only seven-time world champion in seven different divisions and current pound-for-pound king, Pacquiao is heavily favored to beat Clottey in their title fight dubbed as “The Event".

Chavez Jr. is also under Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions just like Pacquiao and Clottey.

Last year, Chavez’ camp made known their intention to face the Filipino ring icon in the ring shortly after the Pacman beat Englishman Ricky Hatton, but the plan never materialized as they want the fight to be made at the 154-pound limit, a catch weight deemed too heavy by Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach.

But asked on the possibility of the match finally pushing through, Chavez Jr. smiled and said, “maybe someday."

Chavez Jr. said he’s set to fight in June, although has not been informed yet as to who will be his opponent.

His father, JC Chavez Sr. was a six-time world champion in three different weight divisions – super featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight. Upon retirement in 2001, he compiled a record of 107 wins, six losses and two draws, including 86 KOs and was ranked No. 24 in ESPN’s Greatest Boxers Of All Time.

source: GMANews.TV

Pacquiao ready to rumble

2010-03-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES – Sometime during the fast and furious punch mitt sessions that Freddie Roach did with Manny Pacquiao on Friday afternoon, the top trainer did something that he normally didn‘t.

After constant pounding from Pacquiao’s heavy hands, Roach motioned to his prized pupil to stop, telling boxing’s pound-for-pound king that he has done enough to cap another day of hard work at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

“No more,” a visibly exhausted Roach said as Pacquiao continued to throw punches as the crowd that gathered watched in awe. “Go get some water (for you to drink).”

Pacquiao would not have any of Roach’s excuses, no matter how valid they were.

“I am just warming up,” said Pacquiao as those in attendance laughed.

But Roach still managed to calm down Pacquiao, who still amazed onlookers by training without letup even after two hours of continuous high-paced action.

With exactly a week to go before Pacquiao tangles with Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Pacquiao said he is more than ready, telling a foursome of visiting scribes from the Philippines that “he can’t wait to get to the ring.”

From what took place during the 15 rounds of mitts, it became clearer and clearer that Pacquiao and Roach have all the battle plan all figured out.

As if on cue, Pacquiao would dig a left to Roach’s bodyguard after unleashing his trademark blinding combinations.

“Kill the body,” hollered Roach as Pacquiao was about to unload another barrage.

Roach said the key for Pacquiao is to “win the exchanges” and “stay away” from Clottey’s firing range.

Pacquiao’s superb showing made the day of Roach, who celebrated his 50th birthday.

After the workout, Pacquiao presented his master a cake as some gym rats shared on Filipino culinary delights like lumpia (spring roll), pansit bihon (stir-fried noodles), chicken adobo (stew), and beef caldereta (pot roast).

source mb.com.ph

Pacquiao to hand Clottey 1st KO loss says Roach

2010-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

It may be wishful thinking, but the earlier Manny Pacquiao stops challenger Joshua Clottey in their March 13 welterweight title fight, the better.

"If he gets him in one, I’m much happier, believe me," Roach told a couple of Manila-based sportswriters shortly after seeing the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion go through eight rounds of sparring Thursday (Friday in Manila) at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood.

"But Clottey has never been knocked out before, and I don’t think that’s going to happen. But you never know."

Clottey, 32, and from Accra, Ghana, but now based in Bronx, New York, has never been knocked out in his 39 pro fights, with all three of his losses coming either by unanimous decision or disqualification.

On Wednesday during Pacquiao’s open public workout, Roach, who turns 50 on Friday, March 5, boldly declared that the challenger won’t last the distance; even singling out that Clottey will break down come the ninth round.

Roach said he did mention round nine as the possible time when Clottey will go down since "they (reporters) forced me to pick a number."

"And I pick No. 9 all the time because that’s my favorite number," the four-time Trainer of the Year stressed.

And neither will he coerce Pacquiao to go for a knockout on the ninth round just because he predicted so.

"No, no, no," he repeatedly said. "I would never do that."

"But it won’t go 12 rounds, that’s my prediction."

Roach pointed out Clottey, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion, hasn’t fought a fighting machine like Pacquiao in his entire career.

And like the great Oscar De La Hoya, the great disciple of the great late trainer Eddie Futch believes Clottey will be forced to quit the 12-round fight.

"The thing is, he’ll be going to be overwhelmed by the punches, and he’ll get it from so many angles. He’s never fought a guy who swarms over him like Manny Pacquiao," said Roach.

"He’s not used to that. Like Oscar (De La Hoya), we’ll let him quit it, I feel."

Roach felt more confident of a Pacquiao victory after the world’s top pound-for-pound king sparred for five rounds with Abdullay Amidu and old timer David Rodela.

The popular Filipino southpaw even had to take it easy on his long-time sparring partner the moment he bloodied the nose of Rodela with a bruising straight left.

"He looked really good, really sharp today. I’m very happy where he’s at, the game plan is in place and he knows what to do," said Roach later.

Knowing that Clottey has a very dangerous uppercut, Roach has that thing taken cared of during training camp, now on its seventh week.

"He (Clottey) is very fine with it. So I want Manny to keep his distance, that’s what we’re working out in sparring. He did a beautiful job of keeping the distance today in sparring. He knows what I want," Roach said, pointing out they’ll fight more like the way they did when Pacquiao fought Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez when the champion "slides out, slides to the side and uses the counterpunch."

Six more rounds are scheduled on Saturday and four on Monday, after which, it’s off to Dallas in the final week leading up to the fight.

source: GMANews.TV

No changes in Pacquiao fight plan against Clottey

2010-03-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

The man behind Manny Pacquiao’s training and conditioning for his March 13 showdown with Joshua Clottey is maintaining the same formula and program the Filipino had in his last fight against Miguel Cotto.

Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza mentioned that no changes were made in training camp, since the plan they did against Cotto is just as ideal against Clottey, whom Pacquiao will face at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas next week.

Ariza initially asked master trainer Freddie Roach if a new blueprint will be made for Pacquiao’s first defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown, but the four-time Trainer of the Year felt there’s no need to do so.

“There was no need to make changes. But we focused more on his strength training because of his (Clottey) size. Other than that, everything was the same and identical," said Ariza, working on his fifth fight as Pacquiao’s conditioning coach since first coming on board in 2008 during the boxing icon’s lightweight title fight with David Diaz.

Outside of Pacquiao’s strength, the only other aspect Ariza tried to develop was the body of the seven-time world champion in order to hold his weight.

At the moment, Ariza said Pacquiao weighs 153 pounds, six over the welterweight limit of 147.

But there’s nothing to worry about.

“It’s no problem. He’s losing around three or four pounds after workout," Ariza revealed.

The conditioning mentor from Colombia said they’re planning to maintain the weight until Pacquiao’s final workout on March 11.

“We plan on going all the way until his last workout to get to 147," he added.

On the day of the formal weigh-in, Ariza plans to get Pacquiao not lower than 147 pounds. And by fight night, he expects the Filipino southpaw to come in at around 149 to 150 pounds.

source: GMANews.TV

Free Live Showing of Pacquiao-Clottey fight in Manila

2010-03-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines -- Manila residents will have the chance to watch for free the live telecast of Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao's fight against Ghana 's Joshua Clottey on March 14, through the giant screens to be set up by the city government in several venues throughout the city.

Residents in District 1 can see Pacquiao slug it out with Clottey at the Tondo Sports Complex; District 2 residents at the Sentro ng Malikhaing Manileño (formerly Patricia Sports Complex); District 3 residents at the Rasac Covered Court; District 4, Dapitan Sports Complex; District 5, San Andres Sports and Civic Center; and District 6, Sarmiento Covered Court.

Projectors and LCD screens will be used for the no-commercial break showing for the residents.

All in all, the city government said that a total 20,000 people would get the chance to watch the fight live and for free and that the sites would be ready to admit people as early as 8 a.m.

Marshals will be assigned to man the entry of the sports complexes to ensure that there will be no overcrowding, shoving or chaos.

He added that the free screening was meant to accommodate Manila's poor residents who could not afford the expensive tickets.

“We want to give them access, so they would be able to watch the event live, as it happens in Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

Security measures, meanwhile, will be coordinated with the Manila Police District.

source: inquirer.net

Where to watch the Pacquiao-Clottey fight

2010-03-05T03:37:00.001-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - Here are some places where you, your family, and your friends can watch the much-anticipated Pacquiao-Clottey fight on March 14:

Glorietta 4. At Cinemas 1 and 2 of Glorietta 4. P600 per head, food and drinks not included. Visit Glorietta 4 cinemas or call 752-7880 to inquire about seat availability.

SM Malls. At all SM Cinemas nationwide. P550 per head, food and drinks not included. Visit your preferred SM Cinema or call 831-7000 local 2670 to inquire about seat availability.

Shangri-La Plaza. At Shang Cineplex. P700 per head, food and drinks not included. Visit Shang Cineplex or call 633-2227 to inquire about seat availability.

TGI Friday's. At all TGI Friday's branches. P750 per head (P250 is consumable; will be deducted from the food bill). Booking is made on a first come, first served basis.

National Sports Grill -- Greenbelt 3. P500 per head (main dining hall) and P300 per head (Al Fresco), food and drinks not included. Booking is made on a first come, first served basis.

Dencio's Metrowalk. P620 per head, inclusive of breakfast (beef tapa), iced tea, and beer. Booking is made on a first come, first served basis.

Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. At the Isla Ballroom. P1,500 net per head, inclusive of breakfast buffet. Call 633-8888 for reservations.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao gears up for tough fight vs Clottey

2010-03-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum thinks Joshua Clottey will be a more difficult opponent for Manny Pacquiao than Miguel Cotto did four months.

"This fight’s gonna be harder than the Cotto fight," said the veteran boxing promoter, who came all the way from his cozy Top Rank office in Las Vegas to attend Pacquiao’s media day workout at the Wildcard gym in Hollywood on Wednesday.

"Why? Because Clottey is more durable than Cotto," explaining that the Puerto Rican’s durability has been questionable since losing to Antonio Margarito two years ago for the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown and then later, struggling off with a win over Clottey.

"Had Cotto put pressure on him (Margarito), he could have won that fight," Arum recalled.

The 31-year old Pacquiao hacked out a 12-round stoppage over the Puerto Rican to wrest the WBO 147-pound title belt in a match where the Filipino suffered a swollen right hand, a deep gash under his left eye and a broken right eardrum.

Prior to that November meeting with the Pacman, Cotto retained his WBO crown at the expense of Clottey by way of a controversial split decision which many believed the fighter from Ghana won.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

And so Arum believes this one’s not going to be a picnic for Pacquiao as what many people believe it would be.

The 77-year old Harvard educated boxing official admitted Clottey being the "bigger and stronger fighter, although Pacquiao is the much better and smarter athlete."

Still, it would take a lot for the current pound-for-pound fighter in the world to get past his 32-year old challenger.

The truth is, Arum is not even convinced Pacquiao would be able to knock Clottey out.

"It’s gonna take all that. Manny has to beat Clottey, no less knock him out," said the Top Rank chairman.

"I would be much more surprised if Manny knocks him out. I look for this to be a distance fight. I don’t know how you knock Clottey out."

source: GMANews.TV

JOSHUA CLOTTEY READY TO ROLL

2010-03-05T03:30:00.000-08:00

Ghana’s Joshua Clottey and his trainer, the well-known and respected cut-man Lenny De Jesus have a great deal of respect for pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao but that doesn’t mean they are not ready to beat him in their showdown at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13 in a fight to be telecast in the Philippines on Sunday by Solar Sports.

The strategy will be for Clottey who will come in around 155 pounds at fight time to try to wear down Pacquiao by making him punch himself out in seeking to fulfill trainer Freddie Roach’s prediction of a knockout in nine rounds.

Clottey’s manager Vinny Scolpino was quoted by Mark Vester of boxingscene.com as saying Clottey wants to shut the mouth of Roach … “He wants to beat Freddie Roach. That’s his motivation. He wants to put him in his place. He beats Pacquiao, he puts Freddie in his place too.”

In a telephone conversation with insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports after Clottey’s media workout at the Kingsway Gym in New York, trainer De Jesus said he plans to let Clottey come in at 155 pounds “at the most, so he can move , so he can do his thing. We are ready to roll.”

Asked whether he feels Clottey has an even, fifty-fifty chance, De Jesus shot back, “No, I got a 75 percent chance. The reason being I’m the guy who trained him. I’m the guy that put him in condition. Believe me when I say this is going to be a good fight and a tough fight for Manny Pacquiao in many years and he’s got a real 147 pounder on his hands.”

De Jesus who earlier claimed that Pacquiao made Roach and not the other way around said “it’s going to be tough work for Manny to knock out his kid (Clottey)” pointing out that he can take a big shot.

The trainer who has been in boxing for over 30 years said he had Clottey spar with 175 pounder Alejandro Berrio of Colombia, a knockout artist and said "he did very, very well.” Berrio who lost to Lucien Bute in an IBF super middleweight title fight in October 2007 has a record of 28 knockouts in 29 wins with 5 defeats.

Despite his handling Clottey’s preparation for the WBO welterweight title fight against Pacquiao and predicting that his fighter has a more than even chance of scoring a stunning upset, De Jesus who worked in Pacquiao’s corner in six fights with the last being his first bout with Erik “El Terrible” Morales in 2004 spoke highly of Pacquiao.

De Jesus said “you’ve got to give it to Manny Pacquiao. He has done wonders for boxing and I think he’s the best, even better than the great little guy Flash Elorde.”

Clottey himself noted that Pacquiao comes in and starts throwing punches and said he’ll be ready because, the Ghanian pointed out, “ My body can take it. When he throws punches at me I will block him and that will confuse him.”

Clottey said in reply to Pacquiao’s 30 punches he will throw 4 and “the four will connect while I will block most of the 30. I will wear him down for sure.”

source: philboxing.com

Manny Pacquiao on Jimmy Kimmel Live

2010-03-04T23:49:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao on Jimmy Kimmel Live Part 1

Manny Pacquiao on Jimmy Kimmel Live Part 2

Manny Pacquiao on Jimmy Kimmel Live - Pacquiao Sings

I will wear Down Manny Pacquiao said Joshua Clottey

2010-03-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

Former champion Joshua Clottey will try to wear down WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Pacquiao's stamina is one of his biggest advantages over opponents. Clottey has figured out a strategy to stop it. He put together a plan to make Pacquiao punch himself out.

"We all know Manny Pacquiao. When he comes, he starts throwing. I'm just ready. My body can take it. When he throws on me, I will block him and that will confuse him. He'll throw 30, and I'll throw four. The four will connect. The 30, I'll block most. I will wear him down. For sure," Clottey told Reuters.

If that strategy doesn't work until the very end, Clottey will have his back against the wall. He will end up losing most of the rounds, and the fight, unless he knocks Pacquiao out.

Clottey's manager Vinnie Scolpino said his fighter wants to shut the mouth of Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. Roach has predicted a knockout win for his fighter. Clottey wants to teach him a lesson.

"He wants to beat (Pacquiao's trainer) Freddie Roach. That's his motivation," Scolpino said. "He wants to put him in his place. He beats Pacquiao, he puts Freddie in his place, too. Roach says he (Pacquiao) is going to knock him out.

source: boxingscene.com

Battle ready Pacquiao eager to face Clottey

2010-03-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao declared himself fit and ready to go with barely two weeks left before he stakes his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Joshua Clottey.

“We’re 100 percent ready," said the Pacman before a throng of press people who came over at the Wildcard gym in Hollywood, California to grace his media day workout Wednesday. “We just need to maintain my condition."

But while Pacquiao refuses to come up with a categorical statement whether he can knock out Clottey in their March 13 bout, the man responsible for turning the Filipino ring icon into the boxing great that he is today was more exact to the point.

Freddie Roach, the current best trainer in the brutal world of prize fighting, declared the 31-year old Pacquiao would put Clottey away later in their scheduled 12-round bout at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

And by later Roach specifically meant it could come sometime in the ninth round.

“A knockout in the ninth is likely," said Roach, while awaiting Pacquiao to arrive at the Wildcard gym here for his scheduled media day workout on Wednesday.

Acknowledging that Clottey, the 32-year old challenger from Ghana, has a durable chin, Roach said that slowly Pacquiao “will break him (Clottey) down to the body."

When pressed by the throng of media men who came over to watch the public workout about the possibility of scoring another knockout win, Pacquaio remains non-committal, again expressing his deep respect for the talent and power of Clottey.

“I never underestimate any of my opponents," said the reigning WBO 147-pound king. “It’s really hard to say (about scoring a knockout). Of course, I believe in my power, but he also has power. So, we’ll just see each other in the ring."

The seven-time world champion from General Santos City has a ring record of 50-3, with 38 KOs. He won eight of his last 11 fights by way of stoppage, including that sensational 12-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto, the same man who beat Clottey in his last bout in June of 2009.

Pacquiao said winning by knockout over Clottey may only come as a bonus, stressing there would be no problem with him if ever he comes out victorious through the judges’ scorecards.

“It doesn’t matter to me, (if it goes 12 rounds)," said the world’s top pound-for-pound king, casually dressed in his blue Nike Manny Pacquaio t-shirt on top of a red short and a pair of red Nike boxing shoes.

“I do 30 rounds everyday in the gym, and the fight is only for 12 rounds, so going over 12 rounds is not a problem to me."

The last time Pacquiao went the distance came in 2008 when he eked out a close, but highly controversial split decision over Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in their long-awaited rematch.

Prior to his media day workout, Pacquiao and his team jogged for about an hour at Griffith Park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica mountains, and later on, called it a day after appearing for the second time in the popular talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he once again showed his singing prowess by belting out the prominent George Benson ditty “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You."

source: GMANews.TV

Pacquiao turns Jimmy Kimmel Live into Pinoy Karaoke Night

2010-03-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

Philippines, give it up for your boy Manny Pacquiao because I'll be damned he just officially conquered Hollywood- again!

By golly he just turned The Jimmy Kimmel Show into a Filipino Karaoke Extravaganza, and if you ask me, he sure hit that ball out of the ballpark. Pacquiao is definitely a once in a lifetime athlete and personality in the mold of Muhammad Ali. It's amazing how he owned the stage as if he was simply working the boxing ring.

How can you not love this guy?

Pacquiao smiled and laughed all night as he answered the toughest of questions and the not so tough ones thrown at him by the witty host.

I used to say Pacquiao was born to fight. I take it back. Pacquiao was born to entertain. You can tell by the look in his face and how at ease he was in front of the ABC studio cameras that he loves to perform and please.

When asked whether he was going to do an encore performance of his previous appearance on the show wherein he sang "Sometimes When we Touch", Pacquiao gladly accommodated and turned the Late Night Show into a Filipino Late Night Karaoke session as he sang George Benson's "Nothing's Gonna Change my Love for you".

Gotta give it to the show's producers as they threw in some "Karaoke-esque" video transitions to complete the transition of the late night talk show into the Manny Pacquiao variety show. Love it or hate it, Pacquiao had the crowd at it's feet and it's hard not to applaud the man for doing his own thing. Let's face it, how many boxers can you think of that can pull that one off?

Only Manny. And that's why he is so beloved by the Philippines. Pacquiao is the real thing. He is genuine and authentic to himself and truly represents what right with Filipino culture.

Pacquiao displayed all the characteristics that has endeared him to his fans all over the world. He was charming, witty, funny and upbeat. Just for the record, I couldn't care any less about love songs but somehow Pacquiao singing it makes it look cool- and that is what Pacquiao truly did since he stepped into mainstream boxing and captured the world's imagination. Pacquiao made being Filipino "cool". And it is.

Pacquiao perfectly captures and represent the Filipino culture through his genuine smile, kind-hearted nature, hospitable attitude, generous ways and most of all his courage and strength to put his nation, his fans and his family first and do whatever it takes to make them proud.

Hats off to you Manny! As a Filipino living here in the US, you definitely made each and every Filipino believe that despite all the hardships we go through and through the lows you came from and how high the unimaginable lengths you have already achieved, that anything is definitely possible. Mabuhay ka Manny Pacquiao!

source: examiner.com

Watch Pacquiao sing on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' (videos)

2010-03-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

Sporting a red jacket with a Philippine flag, a white shirt, and blue jeans, boxing’s current pound-for-pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao graced ABC’s popular late-night show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010.

Cheers for 'Pacman' >

Pacquiao walked to a live studio audience which erupted cheers – many in the crowd were Filipinos or Filipino-Americans. The crowd chanted “Manny! Manny! Manny!” which prompted television host Jimmy Kimmel to jokingly implore his audience to calm down.

Kimmel began his comedic assault: So, you’re still living with all those guys?

Manny, looking down, seemed initially uncomfortable at the question.

Pacquiao: I live with 10 guys now.

Kimmel: You never get any privacy?

Pacquiao: I get a little privacy.

If I had to live without you near me

The days would all be empty

The nights would seem so long

With you I see forever oh, so clearly

I might have been in love before

But it never felt this strong

Our dreams are young and we both know

Theyll take us where we want to go

Hold me now, touch me now

I dont want to live without you.

Nothings gonna change my love for you

You oughta know by now how much I love you

One thing you can be sure of

Ill never ask for more than your love.

Questions on Floyd Mayweather, Jr

Kimmel went on to touch on the botched fight negotiations with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Pacquiao explained his position to take a blood test given certain parameters.

Pacquiao walked into the comedic trap set up by Jimmy Kimmel: “Lets take a urine test right now!”

Pacquiao laughed.

He added: I think he [Mayweather] wasn’t ready for the fight. The job of the fighter is to train hard and to fight in the ring, not to change the rules because NSAC [Nevada State Athletic Commission] is there to implement rules. I am open to fighting anybody.

Kimmel found another joke. This time, the sport’s pound-for-pound king did not grasp Kimmel’s poking sarcasm, who implied that the Filipino was too good for his Ghanaian opponent. (A $500 bet on a Pacquiao win yields $100 under recent odds.)

On Joshua Clottey

Kimmel: Have u heard of Joshua Clottey before?

Pacquiao: Yeah he fought [Miguel] Cotto.

Kimmel: Most people believe that you won’t have trouble.

Pacquiao: The fans are very confident. For me, nobody knows. He’s [Clottey] also bigger, and a former world champion. I don’t underestimate my opponents. I respect my opponents.

Kimmel: Did u train how to sing tonight?

Pacquiao: Yeah. I trained today [boxing] and I trained how to sing.

Kimmel: You go on “American Idol.” If they don’t like you, beat the crap out of them.

Last Fight ?

Kimmel: Will this be your last fight?

Pacquiao: This will be my last fight before the election.

Kimmel: If you’re the president, will you continue fighting?

Pacquiao: [Laughing] I’m not running for president, I’m running for Congress.

Kimmel: What song will you sing?

Pacquiao: “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You.”

Pacquiao, as usual, sang with effort and heart at the classic George Benson song. He sang a shortened version with the show’s live band. Again, the crowd yelled Manny! Manny! Manny!

Kimmel had earlier called Pacquiao as the best singer in boxing. On March 13th, Joshua Clottey may yet hope that is “Pacman’s only talent in the ring in the middle of Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The show taping occurred on the same day at Disney's El Capitan Entertainment Center, located on Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of LA's star studded Walk of Fame.

Other celebrities that appeared on the show tonight include actor Ethan Hawke who stars in an upcoming film with Richard Gere “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

source: examiner.com

Pacquiao to win in round 9 said Roach

2010-03-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

HOLLYWOOD, California, March 3, 2010 - The world's biggest name of the decade in boxing, Pound-for-Pound King Manny Pacquiao, seeks to sustain his momentum to craft an entertaining, yet sweeping victory on March 13 at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium over the tough panther from Ghana, Joshua Clottey, whose record exhibits 35 wins and 3 losses, with 20 knockouts. The fight, dubbed "The Event", exhorts a contest in the welterweight division at 147 pounds limit, of the which the former's WBO Welterweight Championship belt is on the line.

Pacquiao, in an exclusive interview during the open workout for the media today at the famous Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, says he is one hundred percent ready for Clottey this March 13.

Asked if he expects a knock out win over the "black panther", he says: " If I knock him out, then that's a gift for me. You know, Clottey is a very good fighter. He is strong, too, with good defense."

However, Freddie Roach predicts otherwise.

"Clottey has a good defense but not too strong and he can be as solid as shell," says Roach, the celebrated trainer, whose tutelage on Pacquiao has molded the latter from being a singular fisted fighter into a multi-dimensional knockout artist. "But Pacquiao has a game plan specific to break Clottey's shell of defense and I believe Pacquiao's both hands are too fast for Clottey's defense."

"I know Clottey has a good chin, but Manny (Pacquiao) will break him down to the body," says Roach.

In fact, "I believe a win by knockout in the ninth is likely," says Roach over Clottey who has never been knocked out of his three professional losses.

"But, Clottey has a very difficult style and Pacquiao has a game plan that suits his style and he is ready to go for twelve rounds," Roach adds while wearing his vest to prepare his mitts session with Steve Forbes, a fast-punching of orthodox stance from Portland, Oregon and one of the current sparring partners of Pacquiao.

Forbes and Pacquiao had a common foe, Oscar de la Hoya, whom Pacquiao devastatingly won over by referee technical decision in round 8 in 2008, which prior to that match in the same year Forbes lost to De la Hoya via unanimous decision. But such result was seen by many boxing experts as a controversial win by De la Hoya considering the damage that the former had delivered to the Mexican-American legend. Forbes is set to fight this Saturday, March 6, against Harrison Cuello in Connecticut.

On the other hand, Top Rank Godfather Bob Arum sides no one as to which of the two fighters, Pacquiao and Clottey, is likely to win.

"Clottey is a difficult fighter because he is a tough fighter who can fight back with big hooks and jabs even after a knockdown," says Arum, referring to Clottey's controversial loss to Miguel Cotto mid of last year just before the latter fought Pacquiao last November. "Everyone is scared to fight Pacquaio, but Clottey takes the challenge to fight him and even without any bullshit."

Arum fires up judgment upon the failed negotiation of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, which he thinks Pacquiao as faultless of his persistent refusal over Mayweather's cumbersome demand on drug testing by a series of blood draws inside 30 days of the fight date, that which has erupted a widespread controversy and lawsuit against the Mayweather camp and its cohorts, putting as well in question the integrity and validity of Pacquiao's kingship in today's boxing world.

"But, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.... he's scared to fight Pacquiao. He has a lot of excuses. He is scared of getting knocked out!" Arum adds.

Arums says he is excited to make this Pacquiao vs. Clottey boxing event to happen. "This is historic to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and to the boxing world. And Jerry Jones, owner of the said 1.3 billion dollar facility in Arlington, Texas, and I are happy to give this special boxing event a better venue in the annals of the history of boxing - all for the boxing fans.

source: philboxing.com

I’m ready to rumble says Manny Pacquiao

2010-03-03T03:38:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao can’t wait to get his hands on Joshua Clottey.

“I am ready to rumble,” said Pacquiao, who faces the Ghana banger on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

“I can’t wait to get into the ring. I am feeling very good and I am excited to put on a memorable show for the boxing fans. I want to make them happy again,” added the fighter widely regarded today as pound-for-pound king.

Pacquiao’s preparations - his sparring sessions particularly - have actually started to drop in the number of rounds as his team revs up for the trip to Dallas on Monday.

Pacquiao had gone 12 rounds of sparring in one day last week.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, is hosting an open media workout today (Wednesday in the US) with his promoter, Hall of Famer Bob Arum, in attendance at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

Once he gets to Dallas, Pacquiao will host another open media workout at the basement of the Gaylord Texan Hotel in the city of Grapevine on Tuesday.

Clottey is actually mimicking Pacquiao’s routine.

On Thursday, Clottey will open the Kingsway Gym in New York to members of the media and will do the same thing on Monday in Texas.

The Clottey fight will be Pacquiao’s 18th outing on US soil, the first time in Dallas although he has fought in another Texan city, San Antonio, in 2003 and 2007.

Pacquiao is an overwhelming 5-1 favorite to retain his World Boxing Organization welterweight title belt.

source: mb.com.ph

Clottey - Pacquiao is not into Steriods

2010-03-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

Unlike Floyd Mayweather Jr., Joshua Clottey doesn’t believe Manny Pacquiao is into performance enhancing drugs.

“I don’t think Manny Pacquaio is doing that thing," said challenger Joshua Clottey during a conference call for his March 13 fight with World Boxing Organization (WBO) 147-pound bout with the `Pacman.’

“If he’s doing that thing, he is killing the sport."

Mayweather’s belief that Pacquiao is using steroids caused the collapse of the negotiations for the fight potentially expected to be the biggest and richest in boxing history.

Mayweather’s camp demanded that he and Pacquiao undergo Olympic style drug testing before and after the bout. Although the 31-year-old Filipino is not against drug testing per se, he is not sold to the idea of doing the procedure random style.

Mayweather again found the perfect opportunity to raise the issue during the initial press conference of his May 1 fight with reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Shane Mosley in New York.

“I can’t say how many fights Shane has won in the past because we know Shane was using enhancement drugs. That’s something we do know," said Mayweather, referring to Mosley’s claim that he unintentionally used steroids prior to his fight with Oscar De La Hoya in 2003."

“It’s no different that Pacquiao," stressed the unbeaten American. “I offered Pacquiao the fight. I said, `We’ll give you $25 million.’ I never met a man who wouldn’t take a $25 million drug test."

But Clottey doesn’t buy such an idea. And not because he’s fighting Pacquiao in a showdown considered the biggest in his boxing career.

The 32-year-old challenger from Ghana has too much respect for the man acknowledged as the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter today.

“I respect him too much. He is a very nice guy, to be honest with you, I feel comfortable around him. He is nice and respects everybody and I know where he is from," Clottey said.

“Between he and God, it is going to someday be a problem. I wouldn’t make him do that steroid thing because I believe in him. I know he throws a lot of punches. I respect him for that, so I couldn’t ask him to do that."

Vinny Scolpino, Clottey’s manager, also believes that drug testing for a fight shouldn’t be part of the negotiation for a contract, not unless it is part of the procedure required by the boxing body where the match will be held.

“If the commission wants to implement other drug-testing rules, let them implement them. We abide by the rules that are set for us, then we move forward. Manny is a super champion and we all hope he is doing the right thing. If the commission finds it in their drug testing, they find it.

“We are going to abide by the rules set by the state. We are professionals in the sport. Joshua is a professional, and if that commission in that state says to do this, we do it," said Scolpino.

source: GMANews.TV

MANNY PACQUIAO IN PERFECT SHAPE

2010-03-03T03:33:00.000-08:00

With his left leg not bothering him any longer Filipino boxing hero and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is in perfect shape for his showdown with big and strong Joshua Clottey at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13 in a fight to be telecast in the Philippines by Solar Sports.

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza said Pacquiao added an Irish fighter whose name he couldn’t recall to his list of sparring partners with whom he went a total of ten rounds.

The sparring partners included Ghana's Abdulla Amidu (18-0, 17 knockouts)and longtime sparring partners Raymund Beltran and David Rodela.

Ariza said "it went very well and he (Manny) looked really good." In fact the conditioning expert was so enamored with Pacquiao’s showing that he said "he doesn’t look good, he looks great."

He said they worked "on a little bit of everything" which included his hand-speed, his movement in going at his opponent from different angles and darting in an out.

When asked whether Pacquiao was sort of winding down Ariza chuckled and said "hopefully, that’s the problem. It's hard to get him to slow down."

Ariza said he was happy that Pacquiao's bothersome left leg was holding up well even after he went jogging at Griffith Park on Monday.

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz was in the meantime busy working on flight details of the trip to Dallas next Monday as well as room assignments and ticket allocations which are always a headache as a Pacquiao fight approaches.

source: philboxing.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey Viewing Party at Mardi Gras Casino

2010-03-03T03:32:00.000-08:00

Hallandale Beach, FL, March 03, 2010 --(PR.com)-- What: Watch seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey on the BIG 16’ HD screen at Mardi Gras Casino on Saturday, March 13.

There is no cover charge for the viewing party, but seating is limited and will be offered on a first come first serve basis. In addition, a $10 UFC Buffet will be available for the party.

When: Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Where: Mardi Gras Casino, 2nd Floor
831 North Federal Highway
Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
Ph: 954-924-3200

About Mardi Gras Casino
Mardi Gras Casino is located at 831 North Federal Highway on the corner of US-1 and Pembroke Road. The casino offers over 70,000 square feet of casino excitement featuring 1,300 Las Vegas-style slot machines including new linked Progressive slots, video roulette, and virtual blackjack; 24-hour action packed poker; simulcast and greyhound racing; and various dining options. For more information, call 954-924-3200.

source: pr.com

Pacquiao too much for Clottey - Analyst

2010-03-03T03:29:00.000-08:00

Dissecting the upcoming showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey, boxing analysts expressed belief the Filipino pound-for-pound king will throw his weight around the Ghanaian challenger.

“It would be a good fight but I think Pacquiao is infinitely superior to Joshua Clottey," Ronnie Nathanielsz said in a TV interview with GMA.

Fellow veteran analyst Eddie Alinea agreed, saying the Pacman will even deliver what others have failed to do – stop the durable Clottey.

“Manny will be the first person to ever knock Clottey out," Alinea said. “Manny is a perfect fighter…magaling pa ang kanyang trainer [Freddie Roach]."

The Filipinos’ take on the March 13 duel between the WBO welterweight boss Pacquiao and the 32-year-old Clottey was shared by The Ring editor Michael Rosenthal, who did not foresee a competitive fight.

“The Filipino has evolved into a near-perfect fighting machine – skilled, fast, powerful, resilient, experienced, well-prepared, you name it. Clottey is very good, nothing more. This fight will not be close," Rosenthal wrote in The Ring.

He said Pacquiao’s baffling speed and work rate will enable him to dominate the challenger.

“Clottey said he’ll be able to hit Pacquiao enough to slow him down – as he did against quick-handed Zab Judah - but I don’t think he can do it this time. Pacquiao’s ability to land fast, hard punches and avoid Clottey’s counters because of his mobility will be the key to the fight," Rosenthal noted.

“Even if Clottey frustrates Pacquiao to some degree with his defensive skills and lands some counters, he will get outworked and lose a one-sided decision or get stopped late anyway. Clottey would have to change his approach to boxing to match Pacquiao’s pace, which isn’t going to happen. Clottey’s only chance to win is to hurt Pacquiao and then take him out. That isn’t going to happen, either," he added.

Clottey, though, should not be totally counted out, according to Doug Fischer, another Ring editor.

Fischer said Clottey’s size, defense, durability, body punching and underrated footwork will make this a competitive fight.

“Few fighters love a shootout as much as Pacquiao because the dynamic southpaw does his best work against aggressive opponents. Clottey’s hit-and-cover-up tactics may frustrate the Filipino, who will have a difficult time landing clean punches to the bigger man’s chin and body," he wrote.

He also took note of Clottey’s rock-solid chin and ability to withstand a high volume of power shots, as demonstrated in his gigs with Miguel Cotto, Judah and Antonio Margarito who all failed to hurt him.

At the same time, Fischer gave credence to the hard and accurate left to the body that Clottey is capable of landing, a key punch in his fights against Cotto and Margarito.

“Pacquiao proved to have world-class welterweight whiskers during his showdown with Cotto, but how well does he take a genuine 147-pounder’s punch to the body?" he wondered.

Another factor that might work against Pacquiao is the possibility of suffering from leg cramps during the fight, like what happened in his outing against Juan Manuel Marquez.

“Kasi si Pacquiao, mahilig sa basketball, yan ang problema. Because he plays on different court, running up and down, he puts too much pressure on his knees and legs sometimes," Nathanielsz said.

The Pacman actually got a shin splint recently but Team Pacquiao has apparently made the necessary adjustments that allowed him to heal and move forward with his intensive training for the Clottey fight.

source: GMANews.TV

Roach - Manny Pacquiao’s speed is key

2010-03-03T03:26:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao’s speed is key, says Roach

IT’S been said time and again by astute Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and trainer Freddie Roach among others, that speed kills.

That’s the axiom that Arum always trots out when boxing writers talk about opponents being bigger and stronger than Manny Pacquiao.

Joshua Clottey, the Ghanaian fighter who takes on Pacquiao in a fight card billed as “The Event” at the Dallas Cowboys stadium on March 13, fits into the pattern of being bigger and naturally stronger.

But as Arum has pointed out in the past before Pacquiao pulverized Oscar De La Hoya that while a good big man will beat a good little man, the more telling axiom is that speed kills.

Conditioning guru Alex Ariza and Roach believe that Pacquiao’s speed will “kill Clottey.”

The only concern in Ariza’s mind is Pacquiao’s left leg, which bothered him some weeks ago.

“But it’s holding up well and should be okay for the Clottey fight,” Ariza told Standard Today.

Pacquiao needs to get daily massages and therapy to make sure he is not bothered by it when he steps into the ring against Clottey.

source: manilastandardtoday.com

Pacquiao will be KO said Clottey

2010-03-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

Joshua Clottey believes he is capable of ending Manny Pacquiao’s (1/6 to beat Clottey at Betfred) winning streak ahead of the two stepping in the ring on March 13.

The Ghanaian is somewhat of a stand in for Pacquiao after his scheduled super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr (1/3 to beat Shane Mosley in the bout betting) fell through after an argument over drug testing.

Clottey will now step in to face the Phillipines fighter at the Cowboys Stadium sporting a record of 35-3 with 20 of his victories coming via knockout.

However, the 32-year-old lost his last fight in June, albeit in controversial circumstance, to Miguel Angel Cotto, the man who Pacquaio handed a beating to four months later

Despite that defeat Clottey (8/1 to beat Pacquiao on points) is confident he can beat the P4P King when the two square off in under two weeks.

“I wasn’t really thinking about this fight at all,” said Clottey.

“But I know I can fight anybody and I know I can beat any boxer.”

Clottey believes the reason why so many boxers have failed to beat Pacquiao is because they haven’t had a good defence and claims despite his size advantage it will be his ability to avoid the punches that will win him the fight.

source: Bettingpro.com

Clottey Could Resort to Dirty Tactics to Win Over Pacquiao

2010-03-02T02:35:00.000-08:00

Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey of Ghana may resort to his known 'dirty tactics' fighting style in order to gain advantage over Manny Pacquiao when they collide on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Joshua Clottey may try to employ dirty tactics to win over Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in their upcoming fight scheduled for March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas.
Clottey, who is known for his dirty tactics in boxing, has a history of questionable headbutting, low blows and holding in his past title and non-title fights.

The fighter known alternatively as “The Hitter” “The Grand Master” and “Satan” has been described as instinctively dirty. In 1999, he led in the three judges’ scorecards but couldn’t stop himself from butting Baldomir and was disqualified in the 11th round to blow a golden chance to win the International Boxing Council (IBC) welterweight crown at the Wembley Arena in London.

In 2006, Clottey was deducted a point when he fought Richard Gutierrez. In June last year, Clottey also inflicted heavy damage on Miguel Cotto in their fight at the Madison Square Garden in New York. The head butting caused 20 stitches on Cotto's head.

In his 2008 title fight with Zab Judah for the the IBF welterweight title in Las Vegas, referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight when the ring doctor ruled that Judah could not continue fighting due to bad cut inflicted by Clottey on Judah's right eye. The referee said it was caused by a headbutt but Judah's handlers said it was a legitimate punch that caused the damage.

With Clottey's questionable fighting style, Manny Pacquiao may just end up losing the seemingly easy fight due to possible intentional headbutting, low blows and other dirty tactics which Clottey may resort to in order to snatch the title from the pound-for-pound king.

Joshua Clottey who hails from Ghana is a former IBF welterweight champion. He was reported to make at least $1million for his date with Pacquiao on March 13. The prize money is so far the biggest in his entire boxing career.

Clottey and Pacquiao will collide at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the WBO welterweight crown currently held by the Filipino boxing superstar.

source: digitaljournal.com

Clottey won’t last 12 rounds vs Pacquiao said Ariza

2010-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines – Even if Ghana’s Joshua Clottey is bigger than 7-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino’s conditioning coach thinks the Ghanaian will not have enough strength to go the distance in his March 13 bout.

“I don't think Clottey will last 12 rounds. I think Clottey might just stop because he will get hit too much. I think Clottey will get tired of getting hit,” Alex Ariza told Brad Cooney of 8countnews.com.

“If Manny moves the way he's been moving in sparring, I just don't see Clottey being able to take the beating that he is going to get.”

Ariza, however, mentioned that he is concerned about the beating that Pacquiao will get from Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

He shared that he and Pacquiao focused “a little more” on strength training.

“Clottey is strong so that's my biggest concern… The physical punishment Manny might take is my biggest concern. Clottey is so much bigger, but we will have Manny ready for whatever comes his way,” stated Ariza.

Pacquiao’s conditioning coach went on to divulge on the status of their training camp in Los Angeles, California.

“I think we are right on schedule, maybe even a little ahead of it. He looks great, the weight is great, the conditioning is great.”

The Filipino boxing superstar trains at the Wild Card Gym which is owned by his coach, Freddie Roach.

Ariza even commented on Pacquiao’s LA training: “I am not a big fan of LA training because of all of the people here. I thought we had a good camp in the Philippines last fight. Manny trained well over there, but he looks good over here too.”

Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Clottey, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion. Their match headlines the pay-per-view event entitled “The Event.”

source: abs-cbnnews.com

How can 45,000 be a sellout when the stadium holds 80,000?

2010-03-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

By Dave Lahr: What I don’t understand is how the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight be called almost a sellout at 45,000 when the Dallas Cowboy stadium holds 80,000? What is it that? I know the stadium was retrofitted to fit 45,000 fans, but they keep saying that they can easily adjust it to fit even more fans at a moment’s notice, so how does that make it a sell out if it reaches 45,000? Is it me or does that just seem like some gimmick that they’re using to brag about and make it seem like the stadium is sold out when in fact it’s not.

If the stadium is sold out, then it means that 80,000 fans purchased tickets for the fight, not 45,000. I’m not even all that impressed with the 45,000 figure. I keep hearing that it’s near that total, but they don’t give the exact totals for the tickets that are currently sold. Why not?

That just makes me not trust any of the numbers. Whatever the amount of tickets that do eventually get sold for the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight, I don’t expect it to be anywhere close to 80,000 fans, and I’m now thinking that it won’t even get to 45,000 either. My guess is that it will be lucky to bring in 30,000 fans, which will seem kind of ridiculous in a huge stadium like the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

This is just hype for a fight that doesn’t have two stars. I think they wasted the stadium on this fight. They could have easily fit the same amount of people that will be attending the fight in the MGM Grand by putting in outside seats. This is like way overboard for a fight that isn’t that big of a deal.

You got to have to an opposing big star if you want to fight in a huge stadium like that. In this case, it’s just Pacquiao versus some guy that nobody has heard of except for hardcore boxing fans. And what makes this even worse is that Clottey lost his last fight. How does that look? Pacquiao just finished fighting Miguel Cotto, who was had recently been torn apart by Antonio Margarito.

Pacquiao also fought Ricky Hatton, who also was beaten up and taken out not long before he faced Pacquiao. Oscar De La Hoya, another Pacquiao victim, had lost three out of his last six fights going into his bout with Pacquiao. What is up with that? Is boxing so bad off that those guys have to be selected as Pacquiao’s opponents? Why not Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Shane Mosley? Don’t tell me. I already know.

But as far the Pacquiao-Clottey fight being called a sell out if 45,000 tickets being sold, I think that’s the silliest thing I’ve heard before, because the stadium holds twice that total. If you have a stadium that you can retrofit at a moment’s notice to fit any number up to 80,000, it’s ludicrous to call it a sell out when they’ll keep selling tickets up until 80,000 tickets are sold. I mean they’re not going stop selling tickets when 45,000 tickets have been sold, are they? Of course not, which is why it’s crazy to say the fight is nearly a sellout.

source: boxingnews24.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey Fight Event Schedule

2010-02-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Clottey Fight event schedule:

Open Workouts:

Monday, March 8
1:30 pm: Joshua Clottey
2:00 pm: Humberto Soto

Tuesday, March 9
1:30 pm: Manny Pacquiao

Wednesday, March 10

12:30 pm: Official Press Conference begins at Cowboys Stadium – East Plaza (closed to the general public)

1:30 pm: Press Lunch Cowboys Stadium – Main Club South (closed to the general public)

Undercard Press Conference:
Thursday, March 11
1:00 pm: Press Conference Begins - Gaylord Texan – Grapevine A&B
Weigh-In (Open to the Public):

Friday, March 12
5:00 pm: On Scale Cowboys Stadium – Outside East Plaza

Current Fight Day Schedule:
4:00 pm: Doors open
5:00 pm: First bout
8:00 pm: Televised fights begin
10:00 pm: "The Event" Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey

Joshua Clottey Training Videos

2010-02-28T01:07:00.000-08:00

New Joshua Clottey Training Videos
Joshua Clottey - Pre-Dawn Beach Run

Joshua Clottey - Hits the Mitts

Joshua Clottey - hits the bags

Joshua Clottey - Stretching And Sit Ups

Joshua Clottey on Manny Pacquiao

2010-02-28T01:00:00.000-08:00

BOB ARUM: We are a little over two weeks away and we are very excited about the full house we are going to have at Cowboys Stadium with Manny Pacquiao, who is the most exciting fighter in the world today and we couldn’t find a more competitive opponent that Joshua Clottey. Clottey has a heart like a lion and he is a terrifically balanced fighter who comes and gives it everything. We think that whoever wins this fight, at the end of the night, they will be saying that this is the best fight that Manny has ever, ever been in. This is the toughest fighter that Manny Pacquiao, the Fighter of the Decade, has been in the ring with. There are many experts saying they wouldn’t be surprised if Joshua Clottey won this fight.

VINNY SCALPINO: Joshua has been training very hard and his team around has been reporting wonderful things. So we are ready to rumble.

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I would like everybody to know that I have been training very hard and that the owner of the Cowboys and Bob Arum will be very happy and I want to make everyone happy, that’s what I am doing now. I am training to do my best and to bring my best to the ring.

Can you talk about your confidence level going into this fight?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: Like I always said, Manny’s a good fighter, he’s the best now. This is my 40th fight in the professional ranks and it is the most special and I’m taking it a special way. I think this is the third time going for the WBO title and my fourth world title overall. I have had a fight with Cotto and now Manny Pacquiao. I was so surprised that I had this opportunity to fight against Manny Pacquiao and when Bob Arum and Top Rank called me about this opportunity to fight Manny Pacquiao, I was so happy and I want to win this fight in a big way.

I think you are right. He does throw a lot of punches. He throws a lot of punches to people when he sees the openings. He won’t see the openings with me. When I block the punches it will always make him think. You see, I have my game plan. I know what is going to happen in the ring. I always come to fight and I always see my openings. My game plan is to chase him, but if he is going to be there, fine.

Do you think you need to throw more punches to win the fight? Against Cotto it seemed as if you needed to throw more…

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I think you are right. You know, I’m not a flyweight. I am not a bantamweight. I am a welterweight and welterweights only throw punches that connect. I can throw shots which connect and land and cause damage. Not throw a lot of punches that he is deflecting and blocking. If you look at the last fight, I won the last round. He threw punches and I blocked them and I threw punches and they connected. I will throw punches that cause damage.

My training is going to show when I get in the ring, but with Manny Pacquiao you don’t have to miss with him. When he is throwing you have to let him do it. Like you said, they come from many angles. I have my plan.

Manny has made tremendous improvement as he has moved up in weight, which has caused suspicion. Do you have any reason to believe he is doing anything illegal and why aren’t you requiring to take additional tests?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I don’t want him to do that because I respect him too much. He is a very nice guy to be honest with you and I feel comfortable around him. He is nice and respects everybody and I know where he is from. I don’t think Manny Pacquiao is doing that thing. If he is doing that thing, he is killing the sport. Between he and God, it is going to some day be a problem. I wouldn’t make him do that steroid thing because I believe in him. I know he throws a pot of punches. I respect him for that so I couldn’t ask him to do that..

What would a victory mean to you?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: A victory would mean very, very more than a lot to me. That’s why I am so happy about this opportunity. And second, if I beat Manny Pacquiao I am going to be very much happy, because he is the best fighter out there. He is the man now and he’s giving me a chance to fight him and if I beat him, I’m going to be on top of the world. It will be very important to the people in my country and that is very important in life.

What was it like growing up?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: When I was a young boy growing up I saw the boys in the area and I

said I wanted to fight them. I fought one and then I wanted to fight again like a revenge. I beat him and I became a boxer. My life was not easy for me at all. I had to go all over the world to become champion. I came to America after fighting in England where things were very wrong. Then I came here and things were moving along with Top Rank and Bob Arum and I have to give thanks to them.

These are both your fighters and it must be difficult for you…how do you see this fight playing out?

BOB ARUM: Of course I have and the more I play it over in my head I realize how competitive this fight is going to be. Nobody, with any real certainty, can predict this fight. Everybody knows how Manny Pacquiao fights. Everybody knows the angles that he throws punches from. Everybody knows that Joshua Clottey is a tremendous defensive fighter and can put a real hurting on an opponent. Everybody knows that Clottey is the bigger man and Manny is the smaller man. People talk about how much Manny has gone up in weight, but he really hasn’t gone up much. He couldn’t make 130 so he fought at 135 pounds. He was 138 when he fought Ricky Hatton. If he gets on the scale now at the weigh-in weighing 142 or 143 that’s because he ate breakfast and lunch on the day of the weigh-in, so if he had to he could still make 135 pounds. The idea that suddenly Manny Pacquiao has become a big man is just not true. Joshua has the size and he is a natural welterweight…Manny Pacquiao isn’t and that makes intrigue in the fight. Even Joshua would admit that Manny is the favorite in the fight because he has such a great resume but I can go either way.

What do you think Manny’s weak spots are?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: No matter what people are going to talk about him, he is the best now. When he beats guys, like in the Cotto fight, he beats guys that don’t have a good defense. I have a defense. I will never say anything bad about the guy because he is the best now. When I walk in the ring with Manny Pacquiao and I lost, I will tell everybody I lost the fight. But I keep telling people I didn’t lose the Cotto fight because I don’t feel that I did. When I walk into the ring, I do what I want to do to win the fight, to do my best.

When I walk into the ring I will know what I need to do to win the fight.

What areas do you need to improve to become great?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I trained a lot for this fight. I trained really hard for this fight. I trained when I was in Africa. I run to the beach from my house here and I do everything I can. That is good for me because I am going to be fighting the best guy out there and if I don’t prepare correctly and he is hitting me with the punches he throws, he is going to hurt me so I am protecting myself at the gym. So when I get to the ring I will be fine. I promise everybody a good fight, that’s what I’m telling you.

How surprised were you when this fight came about?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I wasn’t really thinking about this fight at all. But I know I can fight anybody and I know I can beat any boxer. It looked like somebody didn’t want to fight. All the guys were talking about Pacquiao vs. Mayweather and it looks like he didn’t want to do it and it’s good for me. If they didn’t do it, I get in. I feel like it was a blessing from God.

Bob, can you talk about the venue?

BOB ARUM: As you will see on March 13, there is no stadium or arena in the world like Cowboys Stadium. It is an architectural marvel – just the paintings alone. But that is not what makes an exciting event. What makes the event super exciting is that screen that goes from one 20 yard line to the other and is super high definition. The screen will be 30 feet above the ring. Every replay and every punch in the fight will be seen in really high definition. Indeed, as pretty as the Cowboy Cheerleaders are, wait until you see them on that big screen, it is something really special. Until you see it and until you’re there, it is very difficult to describe the experience. I know that they just had the NBA All Star Game and the players were on the bench waiting to get in as the game was going on and many of them were watching the game on the screen rather than right in front of them on the floor.

When I saw the Cowboys-Eagles game sitting in Jerry Jones’ box, I found myself half the time watching the game on the screen than watching the field just because just because the picture is so incredible. I think that’s what helps make it. It has lounges, the Patrón Lounge, the concession stands. Yankee Stadium has a lot of that but it is really an experience to be in the huge arena and watch an event.

What about Margarito, was it a disappointment he not being on the card?

BOB ARUM: We are disappointed. The Texas Commission said they would have to hold a hearing and if they did we realized we wouldn’t get a result until it was too late. So instead we did the Humberto Soto/David Diaz lightweight championship in its place.

Did steroid testing come up in the negotiations for this fight?

BOB ARUM: My view is that is not a topic for negotiation. That is something for the commission to decide. If a boxer would like more stringent testing than is applicable in that state, he should go before the commission, present his case and let the commission decide. It is not for a bunch of amateurs to start talking about and start making demands – that is what’s called chaos. That’s what you have to do and that’s what you have commissions for. You go before the commission and you tell them I want such-and-such done and you let the commissioners decide – that’s what they are getting paid for – to handle those kind of questions.

VINNY SCOLPINO: I couldn’t agree with Bob more. If the commission wants to implement other drug testing rules, let them implement them. We abide by the rules that are set for us then we move forward. Manny is a super champion and we all hope he is doing the right thing. If the commission finds it in their drug testing – they find it. We were going to abide by the rules set by the state. W are professionals in the sport, Joshua is a professional and if that commission in that state says to do this, we do it.

Is 40,00 people still a target?

BOB ARUM: We didn’t set the stadium up for 40,000, we set it up for 45,000 and we are on our way to selling out.

There are a lot of Hispanics in Dallas. We are selling a lot of tickets to Hispanics. On the principal undercard bouts we have Hispanics. We have Jose Luis Castillo fighting Alfonso Gomez, John Duddy, who is Irish, fighting Michael Medina, a Mexican from Monterey, middleweight, and David Diaz against Humberto Soto for the WBC lightweight title. On the non-televised portion of the card, it is loaded with Hispanics like Roberto Marroquin of Dallas – the Hispanics and Mexicans will be well-represented. Manny Pacquiao has fought many Mexicans and when I was down in Mexico identified Manny as a Filipino/Mexican and the Mexicans in California feel that Manny is one of them.

When did you feel it was a reality to be having a fight at Cowboys Stadium?

BOB ARUM: Well, you remember back when we were involved in the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, Jerry had called me at home. I knew Jerry, he had come to a couple of fights and he said, ‘Bob, we want the fight in Cowboys Stadium.’ We set up a meeting and Mayweather’s guy, Richard Schaefer, canceled the meeting the day before and it was kind of embarrassing for us. I knew in my mind that Cowboys Stadium would be a great venue for this fight. When the Mayweather fight fell out and the fight was made with Joshua Clottey, the first call I made was to Jerry Jones. I told him I want to come out and make a deal with Cowboys Stadium. He invited me out and it was in conjunction with the Cowboys-Eagles game. I was there that night and the next day, Jerry, Todd [duBoef] and myself and Jerry’s staff and Steve Jones had a meeting and we made a deal.

Could you get more than 45,000?

BOB ARUM: That’s up to Jerry. Right now everyone would have a tremendous view of the fight. We could expand but right now we are on target to sell the 45,000 tickets and we’d be very happy doing that. I know yesterday we sold 350 tickets and we are on course to do that again today. By the time the fighters get into town, we would have sold well over 40,000 tickets. We would then have 3,000 or 4,000 tickets to go and it would be up to Jerry to expand.

Are you worried about the training situation?

VINNY SCOLPINO: I think Lenny [DeJesus] brings a lot of experience, probably over 40 years and he was with Pacquiao during many of his fights. Lenny has always been more than just a cut-man, he also trains a lot of fighters. He brings a wealth of experience, he knows the business, he knows what to do in the ring whether he’s a cut man or whether he’s a trainer. So we are comfortable. Joshua is comfortable with him and we are ready to rumble. We feel comfortable coming out of that rind with a victory with what we are doing. Josh was training in Ghana with another trainer and we tried to get that trainer in but we weren’t sitting on the sidelines hoping and praying that that trainer would get in. We had plans. If the trainer joined us from Ghana we would love it. Right now we are comfortable with what we have and Josh is a true professional. Josh is so excited to get in that ring with Manny. We are ready to rumble. When that bell rings, everything changes. Right now they are respectful of each other and are true professionals, but when that bell rings, those hats come off. Fists are going to fly.

Are you disappointed your trainer could not get to the States, there were reports you brodke down and wept, is that true?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: It is true. We have been together for a very long time. If he could get his visa, I would fly him here. They are not going to give him his visa and I can’t wait for him because I have to get ready to fight and my life is on the line. When I get in the ring my trainer will give me motivation. I had him in Ghana for weeks and that matters. In other fights, my cut man, Lenny, was pushing me a lot so I thought I would use him as my trainer.

Are you ready for Manny Pacquiao and how do you plan on beating Manny Pacquiao?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I am very much ready for Manny Pacquiao. I keep telling people that I am going to fight and I know it’s not easy. It’s not going to be easy for me and it’s not going to be easy for Manny Pacquiao because I am going to fight the guy who the people think is the best.

I have never watched his tapes. I never sit down and watch him and I never sit down and talk about him. The only thing I think about is me and what I have to do when I come into the ring. I have been training very hard for myself to get to the ring and do my best. When I get to the ring, the fight will start and that’s what I’ll do.

Will your size make a difference in the fight like it did in the Cotto fight?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I am not talking about whether I am bigger or stronger than Manny Pacquiao. I don’t want to talk like that because little guys beat the big guys out there. I am not thinking about that. The writers make the story so good. I know I’m big and I’m strong but I’m not thinking about that. I just train to get in the ring to do my best. I just know what kind of a fighter he is. I just have to be me. That is most important to me.

I have known Lenny and he is a very good man. He was my cut man with Cotto. So my trainer could not get a visa and I picked him to be my trainer for this fight. Miguel Diaz used to be my cut man but he will be with Manny Pacquiao for this fight.

Do you feel Pacquiao-Mayweather could be made in the future?

BOB ARUM: Life goes on, that what these boys fight for. If Joshua beats Manny, who knows? If Mosley beats Mayweather then we do a Mosley-Clottey fight. That’s what makes boxing interesting. If I did a walkover fight, for example, Pacquiao and Malignaggi, which was at one point bandied about, people would say I was just keeping Pacquiao busy and they would have been right. But there is danger in Manny losing this fight. Clottey is a very dangerous fight. There is also the chance that Mosley goes back to the fountain of youth, which he got for the Margarito fight and if he gets in the ring with Mayweather could very well beat Mayweather – the Mosley that fought Margarito. If these were walk-over fights, nobody would give a damn. The fight that everyone wanted to see didn’t happen for one reason or another and I’m not here on this call to cast blame on the other side, but on March 13 we have a really good fight, a competitive fight, a fight that could go either way and a fight that will be Manny Pacquiao’s toughest fight.

Did you say you haven’t watched tape of Manny’s fights?

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: That is right. I never watch tapes of people. I don’t like watching tapes but I know how he fights. When I get to the ring I know how he is going to be.

Negotiations to get to this fight?

BOB ARUM: In all the fights that I’ve done, this whole series of fights, the Hatton fight, the De La Hoya fight, the Cotto fight…it was never any kind of serious problems in the negotiations. There were a couple of problems that went back and forth and the Mayweather negotiations threw me for a loop because they became so acrimonious and so in a lot of ways nonsensical, that it led me to believe rightly or wrongly that the Mayweather side never wanted to do the fight. Now the negotiations for the Clottey fight took about 24 hours. They contacted Clottey in Africa and I spoke to Vinny and Pat English the lawyer and we put it together quite promptly. But that has been that way with every fight, that we can put it together without much back and forth. Whether it was the presence of Al Haymon because we had problems with the Williams fight with Kelly Pavlik, I don’t really know. I just know that the Mayweather negotiations were extremely difficult and extremely acrimonious and kept the fight from happening.

If we believe, and I certainly believe that boxing is a big-time sport, boxing is on a crest and boxing isn’t a niche sport or a dying sport, but it’s a big-time sport and putting it in big stadiums like Cowboy Stadium, like Yankees Stadium, like the new stadium in the Meadowlands, proves that point. Because when you put your product in venues like that, what you’re saying to the world that boxing is a big-time sport and can hold its own past any other sport. We know what’s happening in Mexico…boxing is getting higher ratings than soccer and certainly any other sport going on regularly on terrestrial TV on a Saturday night. We know it from Germany where arenas are constantly sold out and the ratings are through the roof, we know if from England and the Philippines and Japan. We don’t know it yet from the United States but I’m telling you, it’s like the sleeping giant that is there. Boxing in the U.S. will takes its place the same way that it is doing it in the rest of the world like a big-time sport. Putting these events in these stadiums will prove that and demonstrate that.

JOSHUA CLOTTEY: I would like to thank the media and all the questions that they ask me and the answers that I put through. I want to thank God and Bob Arum and the Top Rank crew. I am very happy that this fight is coming up on the 13th of March and I’m going to do the best that I can.

BOB ARUM: I am really looking forward to March 13 and this great event in Cowboys Stadium. The telecast is $49.95. I have explained the undercard and it will be a great night of boxing. Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders all over the place, fireworks. It will be a real event and that’s why we have named it THE EVENT. More importantly this will be the best fight you have seen. This will be the toughest for many Pacquiao. You’ve heard today how determined Joshua Clottey is and you’re going to see fireworks in the ring and that’s what boxing is all about. Thanks for being on this call and we’ll see you on March 13th.

source: doghouseboxing.com

Pacquiao vs Clottey Primer on Solar TV

2010-02-27T04:43:00.000-08:00

A dose of boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao is in store for the Filipinos as Solar TV airs some of his memorable fights 15 days before ‘The Event’ when the Filipino ring icon stakes his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Joshua Clottey of Ghana.

The TV special is a two-week series featuring the last 14 fights of the 31-year old boxer considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today, leading up to his March 13 showdown (March 14, Manila time) with Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

The Pacquiao-Clottey primer will be aired nightly at 11 p.m. over Solar TV.

For its initial presentation on February 28, relive Pacquiao’s first shot at full-time stardom when he battles Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera in their 12-round fight in San Antonio, Texas (Destined For Greatness)

On the first day of March, watch ‘Moment Of Truth’ as Pacquiao battles long-time Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in a controversial draw of their 2004 title fight in Las Vegas.

March 2 features his non-title bout against Fahsan Por Thawatchai in the ‘Yanig Sa Taguig’ match, followed by the first of his classic trilogy with Eric Morales (Coming With Everything) on March 3.

Up next on March 4 is his bout with Hector Velazquez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (Double Trouble) in a fight that serves as prelude to Pacquiao-Morales II (The Battle) on March 5 and Pacquiao-Morales III (The Finale) on the 6th.

source: mb.com.ph