Why Not Manny Pacquiao Vs Edwin Valero?

When Floyd Mayweather put pen to paper to fight "Sugar" Shane Mosley late last month, boxing fans temporarily breathed a sigh of relief. The sigh was temporary, because we still yearn for a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown. Prior to that, Pacquiao quickly signed to fight Joshua Clottey.

But that's the wrong opponent for the Pac Man if you ask me. As a matter of fact, the perfect opponent for Pacquiao is eerily similar to him in terms of power, reach, speed, stance and stature. And it may not be who you think.

Enter Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KOs)

Like the Pac Man, Valero has a high knockout percentage, has a "69-inch reach (actually two inches longer than Pacquiao's), has extremely fast hands, is a southpaw, and stands close to 5'7." In many ways, he's Pacquiao's Venezuelan boxing twin. Therein lie the similarities.

However, the gulf that separates the two from meeting in the ring (i.e. in the United States) is as wide as the one surrounding Mexico. And that's not just a geographical play on words. In fact, Valero is not even cleared to fight north of the border.

Valero has been denied a U.S. visa because of a drunk-driving charge in Texas. He also had a severe motorcycle accident in February 2001 that left him with a fractured skull and required surgery to remove a blood clot. He was later indefinitely banned from fighting in the United States after failing a physical in New York.

If you think making the Mayweather fight was difficult, how hard do you think it would be to make a Pacquiao fight against a fighter who is banned from fighting in the U.S., has hardly been seen on television by casual and die-hard fans alike, and is more dangerous than a power line falling into a lake? However, if Antonio Marga-cheato is re-licensed soon, I guess anything is possible.

Ironically, Edwin Valero's nickname is Dinamita (which translates to dynamite in English), just like Manny Pacquiao's arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez. Before he calls it quits, Pacquiao has to fight a Dinamita again, preferably the one we haven't seen him against (Valero). Pacquiao versus Valero would be the perfect antidote for a super fight gone awry.

Source: bleacherreport.com

Roach cuts down on Pacquiao’s sparring

Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is not too far off his top fighting shape that trainer Freddie Roach will cut down on his sparring sessions in his preparations for his March 13 duel with Joshua Clottey in Texas.

In an interview with GMA News’ Chino Trinidad, Roach said 100 to 110 rounds - instead of the usual 150 rounds - will be enough to make the 31-year-old Pacquiao ready for Clottey.

“We don’t need that many rounds. We’re sharp from the last fight (against Miguel Cotto last November). We don’t need 150 rounds for this fight – maybe about a hundred, maybe 110, somewhere in that neighborhood," Roach said.

Pacquiao has so far logged 32 rounds of sparring with younger and bigger guys like Jose Buenavidez, Ray Beltran and Mike Dallas entering the last five weeks of training camp at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

Last Saturday, the Pacman got accidentally hit below the belt by Dallas (11-0-1) but instead of sulking, Trinidad reported that Pacquiao was fired up to unleash clean right hooks and left upper combos that nearly knocked out his 5-foot-9 sparmate down.



Roach said Pacquiao, the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s “Fighter of the Decade" and three-time “Fighter of the Year" Awardee, is fast getting there in so far as reaching 100% is concerned.

“He is already in good shape. The first day he came in the gym, he weighed around 147 pounds already. We have to keep the weight up and feed him five meals a day just to keep it up," the four-time Trainer of the Year winner said in an earlier interview with Fight News.

“He is doing great in sparring and we are studying his game plan as we watch Clottey tapes. He’s not ready to fight yet but we have about four and a half weeks till fight night and he will be ready then," he added.

Roach reiterated his confidence that Clottey, who has never been knocked out before, will suffer the same fate as previous Pacquiao foes like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Cotto.

“I have been studying him (Clottey) quite a bit now. He is very strong and has a good chin but he makes too many fundamental mistakes and I think Manny will be the first person to knock him out," he said.

Pacquiao will be defending his WBO welterweight title against Clottey, who has previously vied for the same belt in June 2009 but yielded a close split decision to then champion Cotto. - GMANews.TV

Source: GMAnews.TV

ARUM: PACQUIAO CAN FIGHT TOMORROW

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says “Fighter of the Decade” and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao “can fight tomorrow” even as he noted that trainer Freddie Roach’s job is to “have to slow him up.”

Arum told us that he is “getting rave reviews on his (Pacquiao’s) performance in the gym and everybody is saying they can’t believe how great he’s looking.”

The astute promoter said “everything is excellent” in terms of the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey WBO title defense of the Filipino hero at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13 as well as the “Pinoy Power III/Latin Fury 13” fight card on Sunday, February 14, Manila Time.

Arum said all the fighters on the card which showcases five promising Filipinos against Latino counterparts. He said “all the fighters are in good shape. All the fighters are confident and they are all coming to win” which has stirred a lot of interest both among the Filipino fans and their Hispanic counterparts.

The fights will be telecast in the Philippines by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN over its pre-eminent Channel 2 at 10:30 a.m. with a replay over Studio 23 at 8:30 p.m. It will also be telecast globally to Filipinos abroad on The Filipino Channel TFC which is widely followed.

Meantime, Oscar De La Hoya continues to ignore the call of respected, award-winning boxing writer and lawyer Thomas Hauser to sign a waiver that would allow the Nevada State Athletic Commission to release the results of drug tests conducted on De La Hoya when he was fighting and to allow people associated with the tests to talk publicly.

Arum who was De La Hoya’s promoter has told boxingscene.com he “knows what the history is” adding that Hauser knows exactly what he is alluding to.”

While indicating even in his conversations with us that he was not going to say much about the issue, Arum told boxingscene.com “I know when it happened, how many times it happened. He also pointed out that there was a grace period when they tested fighters for steroids.”

We inquired from the current NSAC executive director Keith Kizer about Floyd Mayweather Jr’s use of the pain-killer Xylocaine which is reportedly banned in 49 US states except Nevada and there was the contention it was the reason Mayweather Jr didn’t want to go to Dallas for a planned showdown with Pacquiao and wanted to fight to be in Las Vegas.

We also inquired whether Nevada would consider banning the drug or will Mayweather be found guilty of drug abuse if he uses Xylocaine. We mentioned the fact that Thomas Hauser insists that De La Hoya needs to sign a waiver for results on his drug tests before your time, to be released. It also involved - he says - the right to talk to people involved for public consumption.

Source: philboxing.com

Arum: Over 30,000 tickets already sold for Pacquiao-Clottey

By Chris Williams: With little more than a month to go for the March 13th clash between World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Joshua Clottey, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying “we’ve sold well over 30,000” tickets to the fight, according to Boxing Talk. That’s a phenomenal number for a bout that figures to be mismatch. Clottey, 32, isn’t well known by casual boxing fans, and he’s not exactly been a world beater during his career, losing to Antonio Margarito, Carlos Baldomir and recently to Miguel Cotto.

The tickets appear to be getting purchased on droves by boxing fans who want to see Pacquiao only, even if he’s not fighting an interesting opponent like Floyd Mayweather or Shane Mosley. There are some estimates that the Pacquiao-Clottey fight could end up selling as many as 65,000 tickets by the time the fight takes place. That would be an incredible number for the fight, which will be taking place at the Dallas Cowboy stadium, in Arlington, Texas.

Historically, fights that have taken place in stadiums and sold in big numbers of have been competitive ones with two famous fighters going at it. In this case, Pacquiao pretty much is taking part in a stay busy fight against a good but far from great fighter in Clottey. While Clottey is ranked number #1 by the WBO, he might be perhaps the 10th or 11th best fighter in the division, if that.

However, if boxing fans are willing to purchase tickets just to see Pacquiao fight, there’s no point in him having to take risks by facing dangerous fighters like Mayweather and Mosley, both of whom would have a good chance of beating him.

Arum promotes Pacquiao and stands behind his fighter in regards to the random blood tests that sunk Manny’s fights against Mayweather. Arum says “We [Pacquiao] have no absolute problem with random testing, as long as it’s urinalysis, and as long as it’s done by a legitimate boxing commission.”

The problem here is that Mayweather wants random blood tests for a fight between him and Pacquiao to take place, not just urine tests. Mayweather feels that the blood tests are the best method for checking for performance enhancing drugs. However, Mayweather needs help with the Nevada Athletic Commission, who only mandates that urine be checked for drugs, if he wants to try and push for random blood testing to be taken before a fight against Pacquiao in the future.

Although Pacquiao and Arum are agreeable to a certain amount of blood testing to be taken before a fight against Mayweather, both want a cutoff point well before the fight. In the case of his failed fight with Mayweather, Pacquiao wanted the blood tests to stop 24 days before the fight. Mayweather didn’t agree with this number, and countered with 14 days before the fight.

As for the blood testing, Arum says “Blood testing is very dangerous.” He fears that a nurse could “miss the veins” when drawing blood,” causing the fighter’s arm to be sore for several days after the blood draw. Arum also thinks that the urine testing is “even more effective than blood testing.”

Unfortunately, Mayweather doesn’t agree with Arum on this point. It comes down to whether Arum and Pacquiao will give in on these issues. If not, then Arum is going to have to look for someone else other than Mayweather after Pacquiao finishes up with the Clottey fight.

Mayweather is fighting Shane Mosley on May 1st, and if Mayweather wins that fight, Mosley won’t be a good option for Pacquiao for obvious reasons. But then again, Pacquiao is fighting Clottey, who was just beaten in his last fight, so you can’t really rule out Pacquiao fighting Mosley even if Shane loses to Mayweather.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Joshua Clottey a DEFENSIVE fighter

Manny Pacquiao recently failed to negotiate a fight against the former Pound 4 Pound king Floyd Mayweather because of the random blood testing that Mayweather camp wanted both fighters to take. Pacquiao was keen to accept the said test but should not be 12 days before the fight because it might weaken him, and Mayweather’s Camp didn’t accept those excuses, thus it paves way to Joshua Clottey.

Manny Pacquiao, the Fighter of the Year 2009, the Decade Fighter and the winner of the world championship in seven different weight classes, takes on the former world champion from Accra, Ghana on March 13, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium. Pacquiao’s new opponent Joshua Clottey beat Zab Judah of the United States for the IBF Welterweight title in August 2008 and recently lost in a split decision against Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto last June 2009.

Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Joshua Clottey landed the biggest boxing fight in his career when he meets Manny Pacquiao on March 13, 2010. In 1999, Joshua Clottey was disqualified for frequently butting Argentina’s Carlos Baldomir in the 11th round of a Fight for the International Boxing Council welterweight title at the Wembley Arena in London. Joshua Clottey was docked by two points for butting Baldomir in the 10th and did it again the next round, resulting to his disqualification. Joshua Clottey led on the three Judge’s scorecards, 96-92, 95-93, and 96-92 before his eviction/disqualification.

Joshua Clottey remains confident that he has what it takes to beat Manny Pacquiao. Joshua Clottey even said that he has a lot of things to beat Manny Pacquiao, defense (never been knocked out) and aggressiveness is the key to win the fight said Clottey. Clottey also said the he in not about to underestimate the Filipino champ. I can only view 3 weaknesses of Joshua Clottey, first is Clottey has a tendency to walk into an opponent’s range without throwing punches, making him an easy target for his opponent, another weakness is I can see for Clottey is that he is poor in foot balance, which was evident when he was floored by a Cotto’s left jab in the first round, Clottey got up at the count of two and seemed more embarrassed rather than hurt, and the last weakness if fading in the late going, a psychological more than a conditioning problem.

Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey already begin their training at Wild Card Gym, Los Angeles, CA and in Bronx, N.Y. respectively. Manny Pacquiao looks tremendous in his training while Joshua Clottey has a serious problem from possibly losing his trainer; Trainer Godwin Dzainie Kotey isn’t granted a visa from the American Embassy in Accra, Ghana.

Promoted 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.

Tickets will range from $50 to $700 at ringside and the fight will be televised on pay-per-view by HBO. DNPNMKHQQNZZ