By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
From here, the boxer who has earned world titles in seven weight divisions will concentrate on running for a congressional seat in The Philippines.
This was a shutout victory for Pacquiao in front of the third highest number of fans ever to attend a fight in the United States. It was Pacquiao’s fight from first to last.
Clottey, tough man than he is, simply did not throw enough punches. But he was a constant danger, his uppercuts and left-right combinations catching the champion perilously at times.
The punch statistics give a realistic pointer to the nature of the contest. Pacquiao threw 1231 punches to Clottey’s 399, connecting with 246 (20 per cent), to Clottey’s 108 (23 per cent). The statistic which most surprises, however, was that Pacquiao enjoyed only a meagre three per cent success rate with the 549 jabs he threw.
You cannot win a fight, if you do not fight. If that seems over-critical of Clottey, it is merely that when he did attack, on far too few occasions, he found success.
There was the sense that a superstar had filled this stadium, and that the challenger was just a side act. But Clottey insisted he had “tried his best, but had great respect for Pacquiao.”
Pacquiao won 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109 on the judges’ cards. Judges Levi Martinez and Nelson Vasquez both awarded the third round to the Ghanaian.
That was the only round I gave Clottey, by dint of seven heavy shots to Pacquiao’s punches which fell largely on Clottey’s arms. Duane Ford, the third judge, gave all 12 rounds to the Filipino fighter.
The pattern for the fight was established early in the first round. Clottey, behind a tight peek-a-boo defence, attempted to walk Pacquiao down, but he danced around the African challenger and threw combinations, alternating between the head and the body. Many of the head shots bounced off Clottey’s arms.
In the third, Clottey, most likely around 10-15 lbs heavier than Pacquiao when he stepped into the ring, enjoyed some success with several, repeated straight right hands and also caught the champion flush with a solid left uppercut.
Pacquiao dominated the next eight rounds, not with punishing shots, but with a far greater volume of work.
As the fight neared the final quarter, it appeared that Clottey was hellbent on maintaining his record of never having been stopped, although that pattern was smudged in the penultimate round, Clottey finding success with the uppercut.
Pacquiao said: “It was not an easy fight, but I can’t believe it. I intended to start with a lot of jabs. I know he was waiting to counter punch me.”
Clottey said: “He has speed, but at the same time, I lost the fight. He is fast, he tried to open me, but I was taking my time, But I lost this fight…”
The Mayweather clan will have been watching Pacquaio’s latest testament to prize-fighting’s wealthy and complex tapestry. Roll on Mayweather-Mosley. Pacquiao must fight the winner.
“I want that fight, the people want to see it,” said Pacquiao. “But it is up to him. I am ready to fight him any time. He should win against Mosley. If he doesn’t beat Mosley I will fight him. I really enjoyed fighting in this stadium and I would like to thank Jerry Jones. I would like to fight here again.”
Roach added: “Come on Floyd. The world wants to see this fight. Come on Floyd, come and fight us…his style is not difficult, easy to study. But he needs to attend to business in his next fight (against Mosley on May 1 in Las Vegas).”
Roach also admitted he was concerned that his charge took too many punches, the Hollywood trainer insisting that he would like to see Pacquiao have two more fights, no more, one against Mayweather, before he retires.
“He doesn’t need to go on. He has so many other things he can do outside the ring - he has an acting career, a singing career, he wants to go into politics…if he really wanted to he is in great shape to go on for three more years, but I don’t want to see him fight that long. There really is no need.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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