Freddie Roach: Manny Pacquiao Will Knock Out Joshua Clottey -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

When seven-division champ, Manny Pacquiao, defends his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, in Arlington, Tex., his trainer, Freddie Roach, will have a vast advantage in experience over his counterpart for the second straight fight.

For while Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), of the Philippines, will be in his 22nd bout with Roach, a four-time Trainer Of The Year, Clottey (35-3, 20 knockouts), a Bronx resident who is from Ghana, will be taking instruction from his former cut man, Lenny DeJesus.

DeJesus will be working as Clottey's chief second for the first time -- this after having served as an assistant to Kwame Assante during Clottey's June, split-decision loss to then-WBO king, Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs), of Puerto Rico.

"We've watched a lot of tape on Clottey. We know his characteristics, we know his mistakes, and we know his habits. I do feel that Manny Pacquiao, the way that he's fighting, and the way that he's training for this fight, and the gameplan on how to beat Clottey is in place," said Roach, who, with Pacquiao, is 19-1-1, with 15 knockouts since June of 2001.

"I know that Clottey is a big, strong guy, and I respect him, he's a great fighter, and he's a really tough guy," said Roach of Clottey, who weighed 154 pounds on Thursday, while Roach expects Pacquiao to weigh "around 149 on the night of the fight."

"But Manny Pacquiao, I feel, is going to overwhelm him with his speed and his combinations," said Roach, "and I do believe that we will be the first person to stop him before the 12th round."


Roach first worked in Pacquiao's corner in June of 2001, when Pacquiao won his second world championship at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a six-round stoppage of Lehlo Ledwaba for the IBF super bantamweight (122 pounds) title.

"Nobody wanted to fight that guy (Ledwaba). I mean, he was the most feared 122-pound guy in the world, and we knocked him out in the sixth round," said Roach, during a November interview with FanHouse in Las Vegas prior to the Cotto fight. "And that was after Manny had been knocked out twice -- the second time being like a year and a half before that."

A southpaw, Pacquiao was 11-0 when he was stopped by Rustico Torrecampo in the third round in February of 1996. Pacquiao was 26-1 before losing to Medgoen Singurat by another third-round knockout in September of 1999.

"The first time he got knocked out, he lost the title on the scales. He fought the fight anyway and got knocked out with a body shot," said Roach.

"The second knockout was a countrymen of his who hit him with a really good shot," said Roach. "Manny showed me both knockouts, and I asked him, 'do they bother you still?' He said, 'No big deal, it happened, but it will never happen again.'"

On the other hand, Roach has virtually promised to make a knockout loss a first-time experience for Clottey, whose lone defeats have been against former world champs, Cotto, Carlos Baldomir, and, Antonio Magarito -- the last two by disputed 11th-round disqualification, and, decision, respectively.

"Our job is to present Joshua Clottey as he is. A bigger guy, a stronger guy, probably, and a guy who has never been off of his feet. A real test for Manny Pacquiao," said CEO Bob Arum of Top Rank, who promotes both Clottey and Pacquiao.

Clottey did suffer a flash knock-down after being caught off balance by a Cotto left hook in the closing moments of the first round.

"That's what will sell this fight. Clottey is certainly a well-respected, terrific welterweight. He lost a very, very close decision to Miguel Cotto in his last fight," said Arum. "He won the [IBF] title by stopping [southpaw] Zab Judah. He's a formidable opponent."

For Clottey, however, the situation against Pacquiao, by comparison, could be even worse than it was for Pacquiao's last opponent, Cotto, in November.

Under the direction Joe Santiago, who was in only his third fight as a lead corner man, Cotto was viciously stopped the 12th round.

Clottey split with Assante over money, after which Clottey's preferred replacement, Godwin Nii Dzanie Kotey, was denied a Visa to America.

So DeJesus was recommended by manager, Vinnie Scolpino, and Clottey chose him a little more than three weeks ago.

Roach said that the amount of time Clottey (pictured, below at right) has had to work with DeJesus is not enough time to change what he knows Clottey to be as a fighter going against Pacquiao.

"Joshua Clottey is what he is. I mean, let's face it. He's fought the same way on every tape that I've watched -- whether he's fighting a southpaw or a right-handed fighter," said Roach.

"He's predictable even though he's good at what he does. But he does the same thing over and over and he's predictable," said Roach. "He might try to change that in this fight, but once he gets hit, he's going to revert back to what he is, and we're 100 percent ready for his style."

Pacquaio-Cotto ended with referee Kenny Bayless stepping in, wrapping his arms around Cotto, and ending it.

Roach criticized Santiago for not throwing in the towel sooner, and warns that DeJesus should be ready to stop save Clottey from similar punishment.

Asked if he believed that Pacquaio could dominate Clottey as well as he he did Cotto, Roach said, "Yes, I do."

"The beginning of the fight's going to be hard because he's a very good opponent, but we will break him down," said Roach. "I'm very confident the fight won't go 12 rounds."

DeJesus worked as a cut man in Pacquiao's corner as well, last being there for a March, 2005 loss to Erik Morales at super featherweight (130 pounds).

Since then, however, Pacquiao has gone 11-0, with eight knockouts.

"Lenny DeJesus used to work as a cut man for Manny Pacquiao at one time. He knows us pretty well, except that we've changed a lot since then. If he think that he's going to face the old Manny Pacquiao, then, that's not going to be the case," said Roach.

"But I respect him. He's a good boxing guy. Do I think that I'm a better trainer? I don't know. I just think that I have the better fighter," said Roach. "We've got the perfect game plan, and I don't care who trains Joshua Clottey for this fight. He can't beat us."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

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