Manny Pacquiao is a singular fighter, so it shouldn't be surprising that he's taking his act to the big stage.
Pacquiao will return to the ring for the first time since his destruction of Miguel Cotto on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas against Joshua Clottey in front of an expected crowd of 40-45,000 people.
The welterweight bout is a more than acceptable outcome after negotiations for a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather megafight got bogged down because of haggling over blood testing.
The bout is one of two in the coming months at larger venues, with Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman set to tangle at Yankee Stadium in New York.
But Cotto has a significant following among New York's Puerto Rican community; Pacquiao's star power is heavily propelling the Dallas bout, as well as the desire of Jerry Jones to attract big events to his fancy new stadium.
Promoter Top Rank has wisely stocked the undercard with Mexican brawlers for both the local gate and the pay-per-view take, which usually requires strong Hispanic support.
Fights at indoor and outdoor stadiums have taken place in recent years, with the Klitschko brothers in Germany, Joe Calzaghe in Wales and Mikkel Kessler in Denmark.
But they've been pretty rare in North America as fandom is more localized and promoters too often lazily retreated to their Las Vegas casino confines and concomitant high rollers.
Oscar De La Hoya fought at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center a couple years back against Steve Forbes but there were plenty of empty seats and comps for that one, by all accounts.
Fans of a certain age of course remember Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez at the Alamodome in San Antonio 17 years ago. (And because it needs to be shouted from the rooftops every time that "draw" is mentioned - Whitaker handily beat Chavez at every facet of the game, including when they stood in front of each other flatfooted).
As far as the fight, Clottey, 32, will earn his biggest payday. A very capable fighter, he was treated like a complete no-hoper on the order of Peter McNeeley in an ESPN Magazine profile recently. (The writer, Canadian Chris Jones, did much better work with his poignant Roger Ebert profile in Esquire)
It's pretty amazing that not three years ago Clottey was deemed by most prognosticators as too strong for the six-foot and powerful Diego Corrales when that late warrior was moving up to the 147-pound class. Those predictions were played out in definitive fashion.
At the time of Clottey-Corrales, Pacman was fighting at just 130 pounds but now there's little doubt among the cognoscenti that he'll be too much for Clottey after blitzkrieging a succession of naturally bigger men like De La Hoya, Cotto and Ricky Hatton.
I can't say I ultimately disagree, although Clottey's tight defence could provide some frustration early on for the Filipino icon.
But Clottey in his two biggest bouts has proven unable to seize the moment, instead content to hear the judges' rendering against Antonio Margarito and Cotto. He had a legitimate hand injury excuse for his fade against Margarito, but regardless of what you think of the Cotto decision (I thought Cotto edged it out), it's unquestionable Clottey didn't do enough in the final two rounds to put an exclamation point on the proceedings after a strong middle portion of the fight.
The man who'll next defeat Pacquiao will have to be a fluid counterpuncher with good head movement and at least decent hand and foot speed, someone who'll time him coming in.
I won't consider it a massive upset if Clottey wins, but I don't think he really fits that bill. He spends long portions posing, and while he denies his opponents many easy shots, he also too often waits for them to finish punching before launching a counterattack. Finally, he has heavy hands but hasn't exhibited a lot of one punch power against grade A opposition.
On the positive side, he has the type of personality where Pacquiao's punches could merely compel him to smile and forge ahead, which could make for some interesting moments. And Ghanaian fighters rarely fold under pressure.
But overall, it seems to add up to another big Pacquiao victory, putting the ball in the court of Mayweather, who is taking on a much bigger challenge on May 1 against Shane Mosley.
Programming note:
CBC News Network will be presenting the Thriller in Manila documentary originally shown on HBO in the U.S. last year.
The documentary details the greatest rivalry in the history of sports, as well as the complex relationship between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Source: cbc.ca
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