Rafael Ramos is the third man of Pacquiao-Clottey Fight

According to some sources and reports veteran Rafael Ramos will be the third man when Manny “PACMAN” Pacquiao defends his belt (welterweight) against Ghanian Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Cowboys Stadium Dallas.


We’ve noticed that Rafael Ramos was the referee of the February 28, 2009 Fight between Juan Manel Marquez and Juan Diaz. Rafael Ramos has never been a referee of the Fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey.

Sponsored by Top Rank and in association with Dallas Cowboys, Manny PACQUIAO vs Joshua CLOTTEY – THE EVENT will take place on Saturday, March 13 in Cowboys, Stadium. Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) of General Santos City, Philippines will be defending the WBO(World Boxing Organization) welterweight title against the former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey (35-3, 21KOs) of Accra, Ghana.

Clottey’s training ‘frozen’

WHILE WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao prepares to celebrate a warm and cozy Valentine's Day with wife Jinkee, his opponent, Joshua “Grand Master” Clottey of Ghana has become a casualty of the blizzards and record snowfall hitting the US East Coast.

Clottey is based in New York which was smothered with 10 to 16 inches (25 to 40 centimeters) of snow a couple of days ago. This obviously will make the challenger stay indoors and unable to do roadwork. To add insult to injury, his trainer of choice, Godwin Dzainie Kotey has yet to be granted an American visa and still cannot join the former world champion in training.

Clottey has been living in the Bronx since 2003. In August 2008, Clottey beat Zab Judah by 9th round technical decision for the IBF welterweight title. He relinquished his IBF belt last year for the opportunity to fight Miguel Cotto where he suffered a split decision loss. Clottey does plan to move his training camp to Florida.

Meanwhile, seven time world champion Pacquiao, is currently on target with his training regimen under Freddie Roach and is so relaxed that he is scheduled to have a Valentine's show this weekend.

Promoters and organizers of the March 13 mega-fight in Dallas are worried that Clottey's predicament will lead to less interest and pay-per-view sales will drop as fans expect a one-sided bout in the Filipino's favor.

Sales of Pacquiao vs Clottey will be ranged against the PPV receipts of the Shane Mosley vs Floyd Mayweather fight. If Pacquiao wants to fight the winner, marketability and receipts will be used as a bargaining chip.

Source: globalnation.inquirer.net

Pacquiao vs. Clottey -Texas sadly can't make a decision

DALLAS, TX - While the World Boxing Organization (WBO) had officially secured the services on Wednesday of Texas referee Laurence Cole to work the MannyPacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight on March 13, it appears Cole has been reassigned to the co-main event and main event status now goes to another Texan, Rafael Ramos.

Ramos, of San Antonio, has had a long-time allegiance to the WBO while Cole has primarily worked World Boxing Council (WBC) fights.

The biggest fight in the career of Ramos was the fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz last year in Houston, TX.

The decision apparently was made not by the WBO but by William Kuntz, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Kuntz, a state official, doesn't deal with the media unless to his advantage so we will never know the truth as to why the switch was made. But trust me, politics, not smart professional boxing played the biggest part.

The WBO sent an email to the officials involved including Kuntz's office with the news that Cole would referee the main event and with the rest of the March 13 assignments.

Kuntz's decision came the next day.

Texas hasn't even decided what to do with Antonio Margarito yet and then all of a sudden they make a quick decision the day after the WBO made their decision.

"I'm happy for Rafael, but I'm working the WBC fight on the card," said Cole.

Cole is referring to the WBC World Lightweight Championship between Humberto Soto and David Diaz.

Source: examiner.com

The Top Five Boxers of the Post-Pacquiao Era

After dealing Joshua Clottey his first career KO loss, the P4P king Manny Pacquiao will probably have the final fight of his career against either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Sugar Shane Mosley at the end of the year, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest if not the greatest fighter of all time.

Boxing may never be the same again when Manny hangs his gloves for good, but there are at least five promising boxers who can still keep the fire burning in the sport.

5. Juan Manuel Lopez

This Puerto Rican sensation, who just won his second title in second weight division will win in a unification featherweight bout but only to let go of the titles to pursue another title in the junior lightweight division.

4. Nonito Donaire

Another Filipino great warrior, Nonito Donaire is definitely good for a couple of titles more in as many weight divisions. A possible return match with Vic Darchinyan, and another victory, will propel his P4P ranking. The Filipino Flash will probably have a shot at Juanma Lopez in three to four years and a win against him might put him all the way to the top.

3. Edwin Valero

This ultimate knockout artist can definitely surge in the rankings especially if the Venezuelan become the next Freddie Roach disciple. A raw Manny Pacquiao, this southpaw's skills will definitely improve under the tutelage of Pacman's coach.

His dream fight with Pacquiao may not come into fruition unless Manny unretires, but Valero will become the next important fighter in the planet.

2. Paul Williams

Known as the Punisher, Paul Williams will definitely dominate the middleweight division and will make it as one of the more popular divisions during the post-Pacquiao era. He will win all the belts at 160 and could even win in the supermiddleweight towards the end of his career.

1. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

His superb skills may have been overshadowed by his lack of courage, but once Floyd Mayweather Jr. learns how to shut up and make his walk as his talk, he will definitely have a shot at regaining the top spot in pound-for-pound race.

When Manny Pacquiao walks away from the game, Mayweather will have the opportunity to dominate the sport and be the next poster boy in the sport. But this will only take place after a self-reflection and a change of heart.

Source:  bleacherreport.com

Roach: If Clottey lays on ropes, he's dead

MANILA, Philippines -- Prized boxing trainer Freddie Roach has seen a loophole in Joshua Clottey’s defense that Manny Pacquiao could take advantage of when the two fighters slug it out on March 13.

“He's pretty strong and he has a good chin and he's a durable guy,” Roach said of the Ghanaian boxer in an interview with FightFan.com.

However, he described Clottey’s defense as very “passive”.

“Sometimes he goes to the ropes. I can't figure it out if he's being lazy and resting or he's trying to punch yourself out. But if he lays on the ropes and he has that passive defense on us, we're gonna kill him,” said Roach.

The trainer said that although Pacquiao did some “rope-a-dope” tactic during his fight with Miguel Cotto last November, he said the Filipino merely tested the Puerto Rican’s punching power.

“He was there for a reason. If he's just being lazy, then there's a problem with it but he has a reason, it's okay. I told him, 'I don't get the idea', but that's being Pacquiao,” said Roach.

The controversial trainer is currently overseeing Pacquiao’s training at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California.

He said he’s very impressed with the conditioning of the 7-time world champion, who is making his first title defense against Clottey.

“He looks pretty good... I was very happy with his performances,” said Roach.
Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao will stake his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown against the Ghanaian at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas on March 13.

Roach attributed Pacquiao's superb conditioning partly to his brief down time after the Cotto fight. He said the "rest days" have worked wonders for the Filipino.

Pacquiao took a two-month vacation from boxing following his sensational 12th round technical knockout win over Cotto.

“He plays basketball everyday… it's like his favorite sport. He runs and runs the court and he came in to the New York press conference [for the Clottey fight] at 148 pounds,” said Roach.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com