Thursday, 11 March 2010

Manny Pacquiao's speed fails to faze Joshua Clottey -- BBC Sport

BBC Sport

Joshua Clottey is confident he will be able to deal with Manny Pacquiao's furious punch output when they meet at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on Saturday.

Ghana's Clottey, 35, is challenging for the Philippine superstar's WBO welterweight crown.

Clottey said: "It doesn't matter if he throws 1,000 punches if I'm blocking them. I don't waste punches."

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said: "Blocking punches doesn't win fights. We can stop him in the later rounds."

The 31-year-old Pacquiao only ended up fighting Clottey after his proposed super-fight with Floyd Mayweather fell through, but the five-weight world champion said he was "inspired to give a good show" for an estimated 45,000 crowd.

"There's no stage big enough for Manny Pacquiao," added Roach. "He loves it, and I love it. He'll entertain all 45,000, he'll entertain everybody.

"The accumulation of punches Clottey will be taking in this fight he's never seen before. I don't think he'll be able to handle it."

Clottey, a former IBF welterweight champion, has 35 wins and three losses from 39 fights and has never been knocked out. He was beaten on a split decision by Miguel Angel Cotto last time out, the man Pacquiao dismantled so ruthlessly in his last outing.

The bout is the first at the new $1.2 billion (£800m) stadium and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declared himself more than happy to be showcasing Pacquiao v Clottey rather than Pacquiao v Mayweather.

"This is the first fight ever in this stadium and to have an individual like Manny Pacquiao fighting here is everything I had hoped would be a part of this stadium," Jones said.

Meanwhile, promoter Bob Arum has laughed off suggestions Pacquiao is planning to walk away from the sport to concentrate on his political ambitions - Pacquiao will begin campaigning for election to Congress in his homeland on 26 March.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

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