Amir Khan's promotion company plans for the WBA light-welterweight champion to take on Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jnr over the next 18 months.
The 23-year-old, who faces Paulie Malignaggi in New York on May 15, joined with Golden Boy Promotions in January in order to fight the sport's biggest names - a move that looks set to reap dividends.
"They have laid out a plan that over the next 18 months I will be fighting the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Mayweather - big, big names," Khan told the Times. "If they are seeing me with those guys, they must see something in me. Time will tell if they are right."
During Friday's press conference to confirm the Malignaggi bout, Khan paid tribute to his opponent - but left those in attendance in no doubt about his lofty level of self-belief, promising an "electric" contest against the man Ricky Hatton defeated via 11th-round stoppage in 2008.
"I will start working with Freddie Roach [trainer of both Khan and Pacquiao] at our training camp on Tuesday. We have watched a lot of tapes of Paulie, and we really think it is a style we can beat - with my style and his style, it is going to be electric," Khan said.
"I respect Paulie, he has some great fights in the past and has a great record, beaten only by great fighters like Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto - but now there is another fighter coming out who is going to beat him.
"I am confident, so is my trainer, and I just want to put on a great fight for the American fans and for the British fans who will be travelling out to the US with me."
Oscar de la Hoya, founder of Golden Boy, shared Khan's optimism about his abilities. "This event can be the fight of the year," he said. "We strongly feel Amir Khan can be the next great fighter to come out of England. He has a tough challenge in front of him, but we want to prove to the world he can become what we think he can become - a great champion."
Malignaggi, who impressed when defeating Juan Diaz in his last fight, insisted that he has improved significantly as a boxer since his defeat to Hatton. "I am a much better fighter today then when I fought Ricky Hatton," he said.
"My career went at a certain path with the team I had around me. I have been inconsistent a lot, but there have been shining moments where I have looked tremendously good, and I feel I am getting back to that point now."
Joshua Clottey has vowed to beat Manny Pacquiao on Saturday to give his nation a boxing world champion once again. Clottey, one of the many former world boxing champions Ghana has produced over the years, says the current situation where the nation cannot boast of a single world champion is no good.
And righting that wrong is just what the 32 year old hard-hitting fighter says he will do in Dallas on Saturday night when he fights for the WBO Welterweight title against the seven-division champion Pacquiao. “Victory in this fight means so much to me, my family and the nation and I will not disappoint. I am going for the win and I know I am prepared for the fight,” Clottey told this writer from his training base in the USA..
Over 40,000 boxing fans including top Hollywood movie and music stars as well top businessmen and politicians have confirmed their attendance at Saturday’s big title showdown at the Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A huge underdog against the highly rated Pacman, Clottey known to his fans as the Hitter and Grandmaster says it should not be regarded as an upset should he defeat Pacquiao on March 13.
Clottey has also received massive support from Ghanaians with loads of well-wish mesasges flooding the camp of the boxer ahead of tomorrow’s tough battle against Pacquiao. "Joshua, you have the ability to do it again, the courage to withstand the rough and tough tide, the will to elevate yourself and make mother Ghana proud. Yes, you can, with our whole population behind you in prayer and with the Almighty God all around you,” said one of the messages from Kojo Bonsu, new Chairman of Ghana’s National Sports Council.
Despite the setback of not getting his preferred trainer Godwin Dzanie Kotey to travel with him to the USA for the fight, Clottey says everything is fine and that he has prepared well for the assault on the title he has twice in the past failed to annex when he challenged against first Antonio Magarito and then Miguel Cotto last year.
The Ghanaian boxer believes it will be third time lucky on Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium and is calling on his countrymen to remain supportive with their prayers because he is bringing the WBO welterweight title home. “This fight means a lot to me and I want to assure Ghanaians that I am ready for Manny Pacquiao and I will win for the Ghana,” Clottey pledged.
GRAPEVINE, Tex. - Lenny DeJesus has been around boxing for over 40 years. In that time he has had many roles - amateur boxer, bucket boy, stool man, adviser and cut man. But he is a locksmith by trade.
So DeJesus, who lives in the Bronx, knows a thing or two about keys and locks. And he has drawn an assignment that will test all his skills - inside and outside the ring.
DeJesus will be working Joshua Clottey's corner as his trainer when the former welterweight champion takes on Manny Pacquiao, the No. 1 "pound-for-pound" fighter, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Saturday night.
He must find the right combination for Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs) against Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), who has been unstoppable for the last two years. Compounding the difficulty, DeJesus was a late replacement when Clottey's longtime trainer Godwin Kotey had trouble getting a visa to travel from Ghana to the U.S.
DeJesus has only been working with Clottey for seven weeks. But the trainer said he has given Clottey a plan that will succeed.
"If he listens to me, we'll have a winner," DeJesus said yesterday.
If he doesn't, then Clottey will become just the latest victim of the Pacquiao Express, which has steamrolled Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in the last two years.
Has DeJesus gained Clottey's respect and confidence enough to propel his fighter to victory?
DeJesus is the key. He was the cut man for Pacquiao for four fights when Murad Muhammad promoted the boxer. When trainer Freddie Roach became more involved in the management of Pacquiao, DeJesus was fired. Roach said he doesn't think DeJesus is still carrying a grudge about that. But Roach added, "I don't think I would be too happy if I got fired."
That was the last thing on DeJesus' mind as he prepared the 32-year-old welterweight, who was schooled in boxing in the tough neighborhood of Bokum in Accra, Ghana. Fighting on the street was not only a rite of passage, it was a favorite pastime. In New York most kids would go to the courts and play a pickup game of basketball. In Bokum, the boys would pick up the gloves, lace them up and start swinging.
DeJesus must get Clottey to tap into that fighting spirit tomorrow night.
The book on Clottey is that he has a granite chin, but holsters his offense late in fights. He did it against Antonio Margarito and Cotto, whom he nearly knocked out before Cotto rallied in the last two rounds to pull out a split decision.
Clottey cried when he found out that Kotey could not get out of Ghana in time to help him prepare for this bout. Vinny Scolpino, Clottey's manager, asked DeJesus to train Clottey instead.
DeJesus, who works out of John's Gym in the Bronx, where Clottey also trains, jumped at the challenge. He got on a plane, leaving behind the snow in New York, and began working with Clottey in Hollywood, Fla.
DeJesus said his most valuable asset is his experience in the corner, where things can get chaotic during the heat of the fight. He wants his voice to be the only one that Clottey hears between rounds. He has told the others in the corner not to lead the cheers.
"I told them if they holler, they're out," DeJesus said.
He wants Clottey to be relaxed and calm no matter what is happening in the fight.
DeJesus saw what happened in Cotto's corner when he faced Pacquiao. Cotto had an inexperienced trainer, Joe Santiago.
"He was not prepared to motivate the kid during the fight," DeJesus said. "They panicked."
It won't take long to determine whether DeJesus and Clottey are clicking. Pacquiao will make sure of that. But DeJesus knows it will take only one mistake by Pacquiao and one well-placed punch by Clottey to unlock the door to an upset.
"You could be walking across the street," DeJesus said, "look one way and forget to look the other way and get run down."
ARLINGTON, TEX -- The end, for challenger, Joshua Clottey, may happen along the ropes or in the middle of the ring.
But either way, it will happen -- before a screaming crowd of about 4,500 at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on Saturday night.
Trainer Freddie Roach has envisioned it to be so.
The 32-year-old Clottey will be covering up, or, more-or-less, cowering, as he tries to employ his vaunted hands-held-high-around-his-ears, peek-a-boo defense.
But even that will no longer protect the wilting challenger from the gattling-gun blows that will be coming at him from all sides as seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, forces local referee, Rafael Ramos, of San Antonio, to come to the Clottey's rescue.
"That type of defense? That's just not going to work. Not with a good fighter," said Roach, a 50-year-old, four-time Trainer Of The Year. "A passive defense with no counter-punching is not going to win a fight."
With that, the 31-year-old Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) will make the first successful defense of his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title -- this, by stopping a man who never has been knocked out, and by toppling the largest opponent that he will have faced.
"Joshua Clottey is a very good defensive fighter, but we're going to adjust right away. We studied, like what I said, we a lot of different techniques for this fight," said Pacquiao, a three-time Fighter Of The Year and one-time Fighter Of The Decade.
"Whatever happens, we're going to adjust right away. Freddie Roach knows the style that we have to do to win that fight," said Pacquiao. "He's prepared for it. In every situation, he knows what moves we have to make. And now, it's just up to us doing it."
In victory, Pacquiao's unbeaten run will have increased to 12-0, with nine knockouts, including his fifth consecutive stoppage gainst Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs).
"I don't think we can knock him out or knock him down, but I think that we can overwhelm him and make him quit possibly, maybe take too much punishment," said Roach, under whom Pacquiao is 18-1-2, with 15 knockouts.
"Because I know that he's got a good chin. I know that he's been in there with some big punchers. He's pretty solid. When I say knockout, I think that we can stop him."
Although he respects the durable whiskers of Clottey, Roach doesn't rule out the fact that a well-placed, wicked, Pacquiao counter-punch can still seperate the Ghanian-born, Bronx resident from his senses -- just as one did during his second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton.
"Clottey's got a good chin, and all of that, but the punch that will get you is the one that you don't see coming. And Pacquiao's so quick, you know, things...sh** happens," said Roach. "That's what I'm plannig on. When you work from angles, that's more effective than being right in front of a guy and letting him see what's coming."
David Diaz can attest to that, having been among the first of Pacquiao's past four knockout victims.
"The guy is pretty amazing. I couldn't see it at the time. But now, you've seen everything that he's done. Beating Oscar De La Hoya [in eight rounds], knocking out Hatton, and really beating [Miguel] Cotto [via 12th-round knockout,]" said Diaz, whom Pacquiao dethroned as WBC lightweight (135 pounds) champ with a ninth-round knockout.
"Manny's not just just running away and eluding his punches. He's something to watch. I still think that the benefit for this fight is going to be his speed. It's just that speed is going to be a factor," said Diaz.
"People said, 'Oh, you should retire,' and this and that. But people didn't understand the person I fought," said Diaz. "I didn't lose to no bum. I lost to a great fighter that is Manny Pacquiao. That was my first, really big butt-whupping of my career."
Unlike champions who, "Get lazy," and lose late in their career, Roach said Pacquiao shows no signs of slowing down.
"They [champions who lose] get satisfied. Pacquiao, I haven't seen that yet," said Roach. "I'm waiting for the day that he comes through the doors to the gym and doesn't have that work intensity that he does."
Roach took careful note of Clottey's split-decision loss to Cotto in June, when he "thought Clottey gave the fight away in the last two rounds."
"Manny knows that Clottey is a dangerous guy. He thought Clottey won the Cotto fight," said Roach. "He thought that Clottey should have been our first opponent, actually. So, he respects Clottey and he knows he's a tough fight."
Pacquiao won't say that he's going to stop Clottey, but he did seem to enjoy the prospect of performing admirably before the massive crowd.
"I'm really excited and happy, because I'm imagining that there's a lot of people who are going to watch the fight. I'm inspired to give a good show and to do my best," said Pacquiao.
"I think I'm going to see people screaming," said Pacquiao. "But you have to understand that not all of them will be for me. They will also be there for my opponent."
Although usually in tune with Roach's instruction, Pacquaio does have an occasionaly tendancy to freelance.
That was the case early against Cotto, when he tested the ex-champion's punching power -- particularly his powerful left hook -- by going to the ropes and beckoning for Cotto to pursue him.
Pacquiao paid a price for deliberately absorbing punishment, namely, a ruptured ear drum and a wrist injury.
"We had discussions about him wanting to go to the ropes and to see how hard [he] Clottey really hits. I told him I'd rather keep that, and not find that out on the ropes," said Roach.
"But we had a discussion about that, and if he goes to the ropes with Clottey this time, it will be for a reason this time, and it will be a setup -- not just to see how hard he hits," said Roach.
"We have an agreement that he's not going to do that this fight, but when fighters see things and do things in ring, they feel it, they'll do it," said Roach. "I can't guarantee that it won't happen, but I think it's the wrong thing to do, because I think that one punch can change the outcome of a life."
In this case, however, Roach believes that a knockout loss for Clottey will be the result.
Hall of Fame boxing trainer Freddie Roach turned 50 the other day, and he's developed a philosophy that has served him well.
"I kinda have refused to grow up -- I still think I'm a kid," noted Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where he's been prepping the most dangerous fighter on the planet, Manny Pacquiao, for his fight Saturday against Joshua Clottey, on pay-per-view from Arlington, Texas. "I have the best job in the world, and I don't have to come here anymore, but I do because I love it. I never thought at 50 I'd be having the time of my life."
A dine-out champ
My biggest enjoyment away from the ring is going to restaurants, because I can't cook. I eat out just about every night of my life, and Magnolia on Sunset is one of my favorites. It's kind of laid-back and quiet, so it's good for business meetings. It's not fancy, I'm not into fancy -- I can go like this, in a sweater and shorts, and they'll let me in. The steak salad is really good.
The Hungry Cat across the way is great too. They have maybe the best hamburger in town. I sit at the counter and then no one complains why this one guy is taking up a whole table.
The Bowery up the street has a really good burger as well -- it's served with blue cheese on an English muffin, although with my new diet I can't have the muffin anymore. I've lost about 25 pounds.
And it's hard to keep it off, because I now live in Hancock Park and there's an Umami Burger nearby that's fantastic.
Filipino connection
The Palm Restaurant on Santa Monica is another favorite; I know all the guys who work there. One of them is Filipino like Manny, so I never have to wait for a table, which is good because I never make plans. I just show up. They have very good steaks there. Mastro's on Canon has good steaks too; I recently won a lawsuit and took a bunch of people there to celebrate. It was expensive but worth it. Good boxing crowd there too.
Sometimes, I take my fighters to run the dunes at Zuma Beach -- it's a nice way to work out on a Sunday -- and then we go eat at the hotel across the street, but I don't really hang out much at the beach. I have my own little circles.
For breakfast, I like Ammo on Highland. It's a little expensive, but it has good food, and I like the counter there. After that, I might walk up to the ArcLight and see a movie. It's a good way to get away from boxing for a little bit and kill some time.
The best movies I've seen recently are "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Incredibles" -- what can I say, I love animation. "Up" wasn't bad, although it was a little sad. But I didn't cry.
ARLINGTON, TEX. -- Challenger Joshua Clottey was nearing the end of Wednesday's press conference for Saturday night's clash with WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Manny Pacquiao, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium.
And after an hour or so of compliments thrown back and forth between the future combatants, it was about time for the kids gloves to come off -- at least, that's how the 32-year-old Clottey seemed to be feeling.
"He's [Pacquiao] fighting with a real welterweight -- no catch weight, no nothing. I've always felt like I've never, ever lost a fight, that's what I always say. And I have never gotten beat up," said Clottey, when pressed about how he would handle the often, overwhelming, windmill-like pressure of Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts).
"I've never felt none of my opponents punches before. I want to see if I'm gonna feel Manny Pacquiao's punches. Call me crazy, but I just want to see that," said Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs). "I'm a really true welterweight. Big for that matter. He's a smaller guy and can throw a lot of punches. But I connect punches. I'll make sure that if I throw a few, it's going to connect, and I'm going cause damage."
And when he's not firing at Pacquiao, Clottey said that he'll be blocking his rival's offensive efforts -- so much so that Pacquiao's ineffectiveness will cause the champion to question himself as doubt begins to creep in.
"If he's going to throw a thousand punches, then I'll block a thousand punches. And that will get him thinking. I'm not going to back up," said Pacquiao. "And the fear and the pressure will make him think more. I'm not going to go backward. I'm going to stay in there. Wherever he goes, I'll cut off the ring. I'll make him fight. I want him to fight for the first time."
Despite being together for only the first time as fighter and head trainer, Clottey and Lenny DeJesus believe they have the recipe to unseat the man who is considered boxing's best performer, pound-for-pound.
"Styles make fights. Manny Pacquiao has fought many a guy, but not a guy the caliber of Joshua Clottey. He's fought guys that have been in wars and made him look good. Not taking nothing from Oscar De La Hoya, because De La Hoya was not the De La Hoya that we're used to or accustomed to," said DeJesus.
"The only guy that made him big was Ricky Hatton, and he stopped Hatton in two rounds. But Hatton has nothing great. He was just a brawler," DeJesus continued.
"The only fight that I think that brought the best out of Pacquiao was the two fights that he fought Juan Manuel Marquez, and that was a little guy," said DeJesus. "So now, he's facing a real challenge, to be honest with you. This is a real challenge, and you're going to see who Pacquaiua is, and who Joshua is."
And unlike his June loss to Miguel Cotto, whom he bloodied and had nearly out on his feet at times before losing a disputed split-decision, DeJesus said that Clottey won't let Pacquiao off the hook if he has him hurt.
"Everybody is going to see a different Clottey. A motivated type of individual. More focused. He's going to be different in a sense where he's going to throw more punches. We're going to try to corner him. We're going to cut the ring off on him. That's one of my strategies to try to calm down Pacquiao, because is a little energizer battery and he jumps from here to there," said DeJesus.
"We're going to try to cut off the ring. And if Pacquiao is going to run, then he's going to get booed by the public. You know, he's going to have to step and fight," said DeJesus. "That's his game thing from many years back, and if he runs or hide or tries to block punches, people will boo that fight. So I think that this fight is perfect for both of them, because both of them are going to come to fight."
A seven-division titlist and a three-time Fighter Of The Year, Pacquiao is 18-1-2, with 15 knockouts under Four-Time Trainer Of The Year, Freddie Roach, including 11-0, with eight knockouts since March of 2005.
"Manny Pacquiao is a full package. By that I mean he's a guy that comes to fight. He fights every fight as if his life depended on it. But I'm bringing a solid 147-pounder, and a good 147-pounder," said DeJesus of Pacquiao, who has been named Fighter Of The Decade.
"The only thing I'm worried about with my guy is if he doesn't listen. Then we got a problem," said DeJesus. "But if he listens, I think I can pull this fight through and they can crown me the Upset Trainer Of The Year. Freddie Roach has four, I'll probably get one, at least."
Some of DeJesus' confidence comes from a past relationship with Pacquiao and Roach, as does what appears to be a bit of underlying bitterness toward the latter.
For a period of a little more than two years, DeJesus worked as a cut man assisting Roach in Pacquiao's corner.
Among the six fights DeJesus worked were a November, 2003, 11th-round knockout of Marco Antonio Barrera, a May, 2004 draw with Juan Manuel Marquez, an April of 2004 fourth-round knockout of Fahsan 3K Battery, and Pacquiao's March, 2005 loss to Erik Morales.
"Morales was the fifth or sixth one. And that was the last one. He got cut bad, it was a very bad gash. What happened happened, it was a head butt. Not intentional," said DeJesus, who feels that he was unfairly blamed for the loss to Morales.
"I did my best to keep him in the fight, which I did. So instead of getting credit, I got grief from Freddie Roach. He said that I was not a good cut man," said DeJesus. "Things happen for a reason. Here I am again. Against Freddie Roach.
Freddie Roach is a little nervous or leery on that. But I'm going to bring somebody strong, and a solid 147-pounder that's going to try to uncrown the king."
Roach seems equally confident of victory over Clottey, whom he believes does not have enough offense to defeat Pacquiao.
But DeJesus said that not only will Clottey be "Very, very accurate," with his blows, but "Very quick," and, "Very fast," and, "we're going to throw punches with bad intentions."
"That's the only way I'm going to prove our point is to try to stop him by either a good cut or a good knockout. Because the kid has been dropped a couple of times, and, now, he's going to fight a real welterweight," said DeJesus.
"Joshua's a guy who can whack. We're going to be on top of Manny. That's one of the things in my gameplan also. That's what's going to make the fight an interesting fight," said DeJesus. "If they go 12 good rounds, maybe my stock will go up, and my fighter's stock will go up. I think it's going to be a great fight, because a lot of people got me 4-to-1. But that's a good bet, because they've got to be worried, not me."
Albie Espinola is a fashion artist from London who also happens to be lifelong boxing fan.
Today, RingTV.com presents Espinola's painting of Manny Pacquiao -- who fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium -- and a time-lapse video (below) of him painting it.
Espinola was born in London to Filipino parents. His father often spoke of the great Flash Elorde and other top fights from the Phillipines and he became of fan of such British fighters as Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, whose war in 1990 got him hooked on the sport.
The Londoner boxed briefly as an amateur but decided to focus on his art. He began to paint portraits of top models, becoming a prominent presence on the fashion scenes in Paris, London and New York. USA Today dubbed him the “fashion artist.”
However, he never lost his love of boxing. He taught the sweet science at a London gym while he worked in fashion public relations and produced fashion shows. And he has followed the sport religiously.
His favorite fighters today are Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., both of whom have been subjects of his paintings. The Pacquiao painting is presented here. Mayweather will come later.
DALLAS – Manny Pacquiao doesn’t have much to say. Joshua Clottey probably says less than Pacquiao. The thing that spoke the loudest at the final news conference for their fight on Saturday was the venue, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
As you approach it by car, watching it get bigger and bigger and bigger than you ever imagined as you get closer, your mouth falls open. And the striking ultra-modern design adds a futuristic element that screams out “cutting edge.” To me, an Angeleno, it was Staples Center on an overdose of steroids.
Then you walk inside and see the cavernous space, brightly lit through the glass roof, and the legendary high-definition JumboTron and you can’t help but think, “Wow!” The screen is 53 yards wide, or more than half the football field on which the Cowboys play, reportedly the biggest in the world.
They say everything is big in Texas … but this is ridiculous. The fighters on the screen will be more than 10 times bigger than the genuine articles.
“When these fighters are punching each other, when these guys are sweating and strategizing in the middle of the ring, they’ll be 72-feet tall … just like our Cowboys players,” said Cowboys and stadium owner Jerry Jones, who obviously is tickled to have a fight card at his $1.2 billion playground.
This isn’t the first non-NFL event at the stadium. The NBA staged its all-star game on Feb. 14 before a mind-boggling 108,713 spectators.
Jones said it was an amazing night, even better than he imagined. A relatively sparse 45,000 are expected to attend the fight card on Saturday but Jones, as positive as any person you’ll meet, believes it will be just as exciting as the basketball event.
“This has a very similar feel to the all-star game,” said Jones, referring to the lead-up to the fight. “First of all, it’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s fun to have you curious about it, the media. That’s important for the stadium. The goal is for the stadium to be recognized all over the country and internationally as a place that’s important. You put someone like Manny Pacquiao in a venue and you accomplish that.
“I think I have a sense of what it’ll be like (on Saturday). I thought I did for the all-star game and the atmosphere, the energy was even better than I thought. I think the energy will be even better for this.”
Jones didn’t want to discuss the future of boxing at the stadium in detail but made it clear that this won’t be the last card in Arlington.
“I think you’ll see that these new stadiums can’t survive on only their main attraction,” said Carl Moretti, vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank. “Especially football stadiums, where they have eight games a year, a couple of exhibitions and hope to get into the playoffs. They need other events to fill them.
“… And there were a thousand reasons to have the fight here – Jerry Jones, the TV screen, the history in this market, just the stadium itself. It clearly is the greatest stadium in the world right now.”
No one at the news conference would question that.
Weighty issues: Roach said Pacquiao weighed 144 pounds on Tuesday, three pounds under the 147-pound welterweight limit. However, the fighter will eat two meals before the weigh-in and will come in at 147 on the scale on Friday, Roach said. He’ll then weigh about 150 on fight night.
Cotto presumably also will make the 147-pound limit, his weight for most of his fights over the last 14 years. On fight night, he could be as heavy as 165, or 15 more than Pacquiao. There’s an even bigger gap in fighters’ natural walking-around weight, about 145 for Pacquiao and almost 170 for Clottey.
That might seem like a huge edge in Clottey’s favor but Roach thinks otherwise.
“If he comes in at 165, it’s too much,” he said. “It’ll slow him down. It has to.”
Clottey probably wouldn’t be fighting as a welterweight if he weren’t fighting Pacquiao. He can make 147 – or he wouldn’t have taken the fight – but he must work extremely hard and sacrifice to do it.
As a result, he said, his power has suffered. He no longer knocks out his opponents at the same rate he once did. He has 20 knockouts but only one in his last 10 fights, a fifth-round TKO over Jose Luis Cruz at the 154-pound limit in 2008.
“I feel I’m unstoppable (at 154),” Clottey said. “Against Jose Luis Cruiz, I was unstoppable. He couldn’t take my power.”
That doesn’t mean much for Saturday.
Dillusional? Clottey said he expects Pacquiao to throw about 1,000 punches over 12 rounds, if the fight lasts the long. And he believes that will be part of the Filipino’s undoing.
Clottey said all human beings have their limits, including his seemingly unbeatable opponent.
“Throwing a thousand punches and moving around like he does … he can’t do that for 12 rounds,” Clottey said. “He’s not a machine. He’ll definitely stay there at times. And when he stays there, that’s when I’ll land my punches.”
The obvious question is this: What makes Clottey believe Pacquiao isn’t a machine?
ARLINGTON, Texas – Manny Pacquiao has been saying all the right things as he prepares to defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium against Joshua Clottey. He respects Clottey’s ability. He is just as intense for Clottey as he was for his stunningly one-sided victories over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.
His trainer, Freddie Roach, insists Pacquiao hasn’t scrimped on his training.
“He doesn’t take anyone lightly,” Roach said Thursday. “If he were going to fight you, he wouldn’t take you lightly, or me.”
Pacquiao is widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, but that’s always a tenuous perch. And in Clottey, he’s facing a guy who may be as much as 15 pounds heavier when the fight begins and who is a superb defensive fighter with a great chin.
Clottey is a significant underdog in the eyes of the casual fan, but he’s not nearly as big of an underdog to those in the boxing business.
“Anybody who thinks Manny is just going to walk in and blow Joshua away is kidding themselves,” said Lenny DeJesus, formerly Pacquiao’s cut man and now Clottey’s trainer. “Joshua is one of the elite fighters in the world, too. These are two elite guys in there. Manny’s just the one getting all of the attention.”
Pacquiao’s getting attention for his string of jaw-dropping victories over larger men and because he’s a rare combination of speed and power. He was so fast that De La Hoya said he thought he saw more than one of him in the ring.
Pacquiao won every minute of every round against De La Hoya until the bout was stopped after eight rounds.
“He’s so fast,” De La Hoya said. “You’re looking for him here and he’s over there. And when he throws his punches, they’re coming so quickly, it’s hard to see them all.”
Clottey isn’t nearly as fast as Pacquiao, but he’s hardly worried about taking the three-, four- and even five-punch combinations that Pacquiao laid on De La Hoya. He’s the closest thing defensively to Winky Wright in boxing today.
Clottey has an uncanny ability to block punches, holding his arms and hands high in front of his face.
“Believe me when I tell you this,” Clottey said. “If I want to block punches, I can block. I won’t get hit by those.”
One can’t, despite the legend of Willie Pep having once won a round despite not throwing a punch, win a fight on defense alone. And Pacquiao has the kind ofspeed to take advantage of any opening Clottey leaves.
Former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, who faces Alfonso S. Gomez in a welterweight bout on Saturday’s undercard, served as a sparring partner for Pacquiao. He doesn’t believe Pacquiao will stop Clottey, but that doesn’t mean he believes the fight will be close.
Castillo, who hopes to fight his way back into title contention as a super lightweight, marveled at Pacquiao’s ability and thinks he’ll hammer Clottey on Saturday.
“He’s a great fighter, out of our league,” Castillo said. “He’s great. He’s so fast. He’s also strong and he hasn’t lost any of his speed even though he’s gone up in weight.
“I visualize the fight like Clottey is going to be a punching bag and Pacquiao’s going to be hitting him, moving, hitting him and moving.”
The fight may well pan out that way. Clottey, though, has never been knocked down and has never been stopped. He’s lost three times, once by disqualification and twice by decision. He was very competitive in a loss to Antonio Margarito until suffering stress fractures in each hand and he believes he was robbed in a split-decision loss to Cotto.
Hitting him will be one thing; knocking him out will be another.
Pacquiao says he won’t even concern himself with a knockout.
“I just want to make my people happy,” Pacquiao said. “I don’t worry about a knockout. It’s nothing personal. I’m just going to do my job.”
If Pacquiao doesn’t got for the kill, though, he could open himself up for problems. Big underdogs have won before – a 42-1 underdog (Buster Douglas) and a 24-1 underdog (Evander Holyfield) both defeated Mike Tyson – and if Pacquiao doesn’t get rid of Clottey if he has a chance, he may come to regret it.
Roach, however, believes fully in his fighter’s desire to perform at the highest level. Other fighters who were major upset victims became content with their success.
Pacquiao, though, is not. He’s begun to watch video to spot opponents’ tendencies, something he didn’t do for much of his career. He’s become much more detail-oriented.
“They got lazy,” Roach said of the common thread that existed among many of boxing’s most famous upset victims. “They get satisfied. With Pacquiao, I haven’t seen that yet. I’m waiting for the day he comes through the doors of the gym and doesn’t have the work intensity he’s had for so long. He works harder today than he did eight years ago. He just likes to work.
“He’s never satisfied. We’ll come up with moves to make counters. I’ll show him how I want it done and he’ll show me how he likes it. If we find no holes with it, we go with it, but if we see a mistake, we erase it and try to figure out a way to do it better.”
Very few fighters in boxing history, though, have been immune to a major upset, particularly those who have reached the heights that Pacquiao has.
Boxing historian Bert Sugar said it’s difficult to judge when an experienced fighter has reached his peak and when the downslide has begun. Roberto Duran once lost to an unknown named Kirkland Laing, but came back to later win world titles at super welterweight and middleweight.
Pacquiao’s vulnerability to the upset is lessened by his dedication, but he’s nearing the end of a long career and it’s hard to know what the many fights have taken from him.
“We sometimes put too much faith in a fighter, whosoever it is, thinking he’s going to keep winning,” Sugar said. “Then, we’re surprised when he gets upset, but if we don’t know when his peak was, we can’t really assess it properly. It wouldn’t be a shock if he lost, but it would be a surprise.
“This is a harder fight than anyone thinks it is. Think of Winky Wright and you have the modern version of him in Clottey. And Clottey is big. I think [he] was born at 147 pounds. He’ll enter the ring at least 10, if not 15, pounds heavier. He’ll be around 160, maybe more, when he rehydrates. And you know, he might have the style to pull it off. He’s not just going to run in like [Ricky] Hatton did.”
Promoter Bob Arum has to walk a fine line. He knows Pacquiao is his cash cow and a Pacquiao win would benefit him more than a Clottey win, but he also needs the public to buy Clottey as having a chance in order to maximize pay-per-view sales.
“I don’t think he’s going to win, but he definitely can win,” Arum said of Clottey. “It’s a dangerous fight for Manny because this is a guy that is big and strong and has a very good defense. I think Manny will win, but it’s no slam dunk.”
Rented, uh, "dates" for some of the ringside spectators.
There is nothing in sports like fight night.
Fight night is sharing an elevator with the multi-necklaced Mr. T. It's sitting a few seats away from Liza Minnelli and Sylvester Stallone.
It used to be Howard Cosell. Now it's HBO.
Fight night is a still-vibrant Muhammad Ali, at age 36, packing the Louisiana Superdome to regain the heavyweight title against Leon Spinks.
It's Sugar Ray Leonard. And Thomas Hearns. And Marvin Hagler.
It's Mike Tyson biting off a souvenir piece of Evander Holyfield's ear.
Fight night is Saturday night. What was once Caesar's is now Jerry's.
Arlington, trust me, has never seen a night like this -- fight night.
Emmanuel Dapidran "Manny" Pacquiao has held seven world boxing titles in seven different weight classes. He holds Ring Magazine's title of "pound-for-pound best boxer in the world."
He is a singer, he says, and a sometime actor. He carried the flag of his native Philippines, even though he wasn't competing, in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. His picture is on a Filipino postage stamp.
Pacquiao has said he plans to make another run for political office when his boxing career ends. In the meantime, his face has graced the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine. Forbes listed him as the world's sixth-highest paid athlete (right behind soccer star David Beckham).
At age 31 and with a 50-3-2 record, Pacquiao is boxing's brightest star, its most bountiful meal ticket. For all those who question boxing, he is the answer.
Manny Pacquiao isn't a clergyman -- that I know of -- but on Saturday night he will baptize a goodly share of 45,000 Texans in the art of fight night. Maybe he will wear down the rangier, beefier Joshua Clottey by dancing him around Jerry Jones' new boxing ring. Or he could have something new up his golden sleeves, as he often does, and finish Clottey in eight.
I wouldn't bet against him.
For those who think boxing needs a marquee heavyweight to survive, Pacquiao is the counterpunch. And besides, which of the post-Tyson heavyweights -- Buster Douglas, Michael Moorer, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Holyfield -- couldn't Pacquiao outshine?
Is big-time boxing dead? Snoring maybe, but miles from dead. The stadium gate and HBO numbers on Saturday should prove that.
"Boxing represents both the best and worst of free enterprise," said longtime local promoter Lester Bedford, who's helping with the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.
"Imagine if every pro football team was free to negotiate its own TV deal and schedule its own opponents. It's the structure of boxing that chokes it."
Only in boxing would a Floyd Mayweather Jr. turn up his nose on a $25-million offer to fight Pacquiao. In boxing, not all the bobbing and weaving takes place in the ring.
But that's where Cowboys owner Jerry Jones comes in. There is a grassroots charm to staging a big-time title fight in a Texas football stadium. Jones wants to prove that what happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily have to happen in Vegas.
"HBO recognizes that it has to help boxing get back to its roots," Bedford said.
"If boxing doesn't get back to places like Dallas-Fort Worth, New York and LA, it's going to lose its fan base."
Not everybody, Bedford is suggesting, can afford to go to Las Vegas to see Pacquiao or Mayweather fight.
But with Cowboys Stadium and Jones' mega-TV screen, an expected 45,000 patrons will be able to share in the noise and high-def sweat of a big-time boxing match. Jones would like to schedule more.
"If they're in the stadium Saturday night," Bedford predicted, "they're going to walk out as a boxing fan."
Texans have shown before that they appreciate and will support big-time boxing. Julio Cesar Chavez once fought at the Astrodome in front of 65,000. Oscar De La Hoya boxed outdoors at the Sun Bowl in El Paso in front of 47,000.
The latter was the same fight where the crowd began to form at 4 a.m. for a pre-fight press conference.
Today's weigh-in is expected to be quieter and more understated. Pacquiao just might, as he did on Jimmy Kimmel Live, break out in song.
Fight night awaits -- this time in a glimmering, new venue.
Rent a limo. Rent a Liza.
Pound for pound, it could end up being the most entertaining ticket you ever bought.
In the lobby of the Gaylord Texan Hotel, mingling with fans near a bar area, boxer Antonio Margarito officially emerged from his virtual hiding Thursday night, more than a year after the California State Athletic Commission revoked his boxing license for nearly taking plaster-loaded gloves into the ring.
"I've never stopped training, and now I can start working little by little to get my title back soon," Margarito told The Times. "I'm going to show in my next fight and from every fight from now on that I didn't do those things with my [hand] wraps that people said I did."
Margarito, scheduled to fight Carson Jones in a super-welterweight bout May 8 in Mexico, has united with Oxnard trainer Robert Garcia, and said he's followed strict instructions by his managers to stop all dialogue with former trainer Javier Capetillo, who in February 2009 told the California commission that he accidentally inserted the plaster-hardened pieces atop the knuckle areas of both of Margarito's hands.
It was opposing trainer Naazim Richardson who successfully urged state inspectors to look at the wraps closer, and they confiscated the inserts minutes before Margarito was to step into the Staples Center ring to defend his world welterweight title against Pomona's Shane Mosley. Mosley dominated Margarito, scoring a ninth-round technical knockout.
Margarito has been banned from boxing since, and his promoters and managers dropped their attempts to have him reinstated in Texas so he could fight on the undercard of Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey world welterweight title bout at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
"That was the plan, to fight here, but it didn't come true," Margarito said. "I don't know why."
Texas authorities told The Times on Thursday that Margarito's application for reinstatement came to them incomplete. The national Assn. of Boxing Commissions and the California commission had said publicly it was too soon for Margarito to return, given the gravity of his violation.
Attempts to reach Margarito for comment until Thursday have been denied by Margarito's attorneys and management.
Yet, Margarito responded to speculation that perhaps he had fought with loaded gloves in the summer of 2008, when he battered then-unbeaten welterweight champ Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas. Photos that emerged appeared to serve as proof to the Cotto camp that Margarito had used the same type of inserts confiscated before he went into the ring against Mosley.
"No, no," Margarito said, denying that his gloves were loaded. "There was always someone from the [Nevada] commission watching the wraps."
Margarito said, to this day, he's uncertain that there were plaster inserts in his wraps before the Mosley bout. He said he "doesn't believe" Capetillo intended to cheat.
"I didn't see any difference when they took the wraps away, but then everyone, including the Mosley camp, had their hands on them, and one came back dirty and one was clean," Margarito said. "I don't know what would've happened if they hadn't [unwrapped] my hands. I can tell you that was never my intention to do that, and I've never seen it happen before.
"Honestly, I don't even know why I'd have something like that in my hands. I think I could've broke my hand so easily with that."
At the commission hearing, Margarito explained he merely raised his hands up for Capetillo to wrap and didn't closely observe the process.
"Obviously, I feel bad about anything that could have happened, but one thing I want to make clear is that I never saw the wrap again after it came off my hands, and I don't know what happened to it" before a state lab found the inserts were caked with plaster, Margarito said.
And then, Margarito talked of his future.
He said he wants to watch Pacquiao fight closely Saturday because "I'm definitely here to help make that fight, I want that fight to happen. Everyone in Mexico wants to see me fight Pacquiao."
Pacquiao has earned the nickname "Mexicutioner" with his victories over Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya. Margarito could be a legitimate alternate fight if promoters fail again to arrange a mega-fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Interestingly, Cotto also arrived at the same Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine, Texas, on Thursday. Margarito said he welcomes a rematch and the opportunity to clear his reputation.
ARLINGTON – Here is as good a starting point as any in trying to explain the size of the shadow Manny Pacquiao casts over his native Philippines: Back in March 2008, his country's army and rebel insurgents near his home province agreed to a seven-hour truce so both sides could watch him win the WBC super featherweight title of the world.
And that was only a little more than halfway through Pacquiao's ongoing championship march.
Two years later, Pacquiao is preparing to enter the Cowboys Stadium ring Saturday night to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey, having won titles in seven weight divisions.
Pacquiao won his first title a dozen years ago as a skeletal 112-pounder. He subsequently has won championships at 122 pounds, 126 pounds, 130 pounds, 135 pounds and 140 pounds, and in November he added the 147-pound welterweight title. The victories in seemingly incremental weight classes are not nearly as impressive as the fighters he has beaten as he has grown in size and stature. His victims include Miguel Angel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, a veritable murderers row of champions.
His ascent has made him the undisputed best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, which makes him champion of champions.
"I have been around Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, and I can say that Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter I have seen," said Bob Arum, who has promoted many of the biggest names in boxing over the last four decades and, coincidentally, has a financial stake in Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, a heavy betting favorite in Las Vegas, will step into the ring against Clottey at about 10 p.m. Saturday. That's noon Sunday in the Philippine capital of Manila, whose metropolitan area is home to 20 million people.
"At that time, you could pitch a tent on what is usually the busiest street in Manila and not have the least worry of being hit by a vehicle," said Chino Trinidad, a reporter for the ABS-CBN broadcast network, the largest in the Philippines, as he watched Pacquiao train this week. "It sounds corny, but he means everything to us. There has never been a sports figure like him. He's more than the greatest boxer we have had. He is the greatest athlete. You know, we have never won a gold medal at the Olympics."
Stamp of authority
Pacquiao, 31, is the first athlete his country has honored with a postal stamp. He can't leave his home without a band of bodyguards and is often shielded by police escorts.
Despite his iconic stature, he was unsuccessful when he ran for the Philippine Congress in 2007. Undaunted, he is running again this year.
"I want to help poor people," is the stock answer he repeated this week when asked about his appetite for politics.
Poor, rich, middle class, soldiers, guerillas – everyone back home roots for Pacquiao. There will be few morning masses Sunday in the heavily Catholic country. Parishioners who do go to church run the risk of not having a priest to lead the service.
So then how is it that Pacquiao lost his first political race and is no shoo-in for the upcoming election?
"Some people don't want him to get involved in the dirty world of politics," said Nick Andrew C. Giongco, a reporter with the Manila Bulletin newspaper, one of the largest in the Philippines.
"And they are afraid if he gets elected, he won't fight anymore."
All this helps explain why Time magazine in 2009 ranked Pacquiao among the 100 people who most affect the world. Among his peers were Sister Mary Scullion, an advocate for the homeless in Philadelphia, and Suraya Pakzad, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan.
Trinidad and Giongco are part of a gaggle of Filipino media members who have surrounded Pacquiao every time he has stepped outside his suite this week at the Gaylord Texan.
Most arrived with the boxer on the packed 130-seat jet he chartered to carry him and his entourage here from his Los Angeles training camp on Monday night. The remainder of the jet was packed with Pacquiao's posse, which veteran boxing observers agree is the largest in the history of the sport.
After all, you never know when Pacquiao, who grew up poor, often selling doughnuts for pennies and boxing for dollar bills, may have a sudden urge.
He needs a dance instructor when the mood for a lesson hits. There is a singing coach to help with that art. There are cooks, drivers, car washers, old friends, new friends, advisers, conditioning coaches, trainers, and folks who some members of the entourage complain just tag along.
Master's touch
But there is only one indispensable member of the Pacquiao pack. That would be Freddie Roach, his boxing trainer. Pacquiao refers to Roach simply as "my master."
As a boxer, the master was a lightweight whose only strategy seemed to be stand, punch and pray that his opponent fell before he did. His fighting days finished with five losses in his last six fights, Roach latched on as an assistant to Eddie Futch, the boxing equivalent of the neighborhood house painter apprenticing with Michelangelo.
Pacquiao was already a pretty good fighter when he walked into Roach's Los Angeles gym in 2001 and asked Roach to be his new trainer. Pacquiao had won 31 of 35 bouts outside the United States and already owned the first of his major titles, the WBC flyweight (112-pound) championship. But the fighter, who relied almost exclusively on his dominant left hand, sensed he needed more if he wanted to conquer the sport in the United States. Roach agreed.
If it wasn't love at first jab, it was at least mutual respect. Roach tutored technique and preached the importance of ring strategy. He taught the importance of angles as well as the art of hitting and running. In the end, it has been a match made in boxing heaven. In their first fight together, Pacquiao won the IBF super bantamweight (122-pound) championship in Las Vegas.
Seated alongside Roach on the edge of the stage after Wednesday's final pre-fight news conference, Pacquiao spoke humbly about his trainer.
"I am lucky to have Freddie in my corner," Pacquiao said. "Together we are an organized team. We work well together."
Countered Roach, who celebrated his 50th birthday last week and is battling the ravages of Parkinson's disease: "I'm lucky to have a fighter with his talents and his ability to learn."
If left up to Roach, the Clottey fight would be the penultimate of Pacquiao's career. The trainer has only to look at the shaking in the mirror to understand the danger that taking too many punches can bring a fighter. Roach hopes Pacquiao, who appears undamaged, can beat Clottey and then take on undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather in a mega-fight that could be the richest in boxing history.
"Manny has worked hard in his career, very hard," Roach said. "He's been too good to leave not healthy. He started with nothing and now can live like a king the rest of his life. He could be in politics or be a singer or anything else he wants. That could truly be the happy ending for a man who reached the top from nowhere."
Pacquiao shrugged.
"My trainer has always offered good advice," he said. "I have everything to live for. I have been blessed."
MANNY PACQUIAO
Pronounced: PAK-ee-ow
Home: General Santos City, Philippines
Age: 31
Record: 50-3-2, 38 KOs
Must note: Lefthanded
Should note: Has held a piece of a world championship in a record seven weight classes.
In the ring: Has won his last 11 bouts, eight by knockout. ... Streak has included knockouts of champions Miguel Angel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez. Also, he ended the career of Oscar De La Hoya. ... Voted Fighter of the Year in 2006 and 2008 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. ... Is 9-1-2 in world championship fights. Only championship loss was last defeat, to Erik Morales for the vacant WBC super featherweight title in 2005.
Saturday, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington. Doors open at 4 p.m. First fight is at 5 p.m.
Tickets: $50-$700 at Cowboys Stadium Box Office or Ticketmaster
TV: HBO Pay-Per-View,
beginning at 8 p.m.
The Fans
Today: Pacquiao/Clottey weigh-in is open to the public at 5 p.m. outside the east plaza at Cowboys Stadium. Also, there will be a boxing rally with radio personality Piolin from 6-9 p.m. at the Fiesta Food Mart, 421 W. Bolt Street, Fort Worth.
Saturday: Manny Pacquiao makes his debut on Good Morning America Weekend. Also, the Tecate Boxing Fan Zone is open from 4-7 p.m. in parking lot No. 4 at Cowboys Stadium.
The Undercard
WBC Lightweight Championship: Humberto Soto (50-7-2, 32 KOs) Los Mochis, Mexico vs. David Diaz (35-2-1, 17 KOs) Chicago; 12 rounds
Welterweights: Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) Sonora, Mexico vs. Alfonso Gomez (21-4-2) Guadalajara, Mexico; 10 rounds
Middleweights: John Duddy (28-1, 18 KOs) Derry, Northern Ireland vs. Michael Medina (22-1-2, 17 KOs) Monterrey, Mexico; 10 rounds
Featherweights: Salvador Sanchez (18-3-2, 8 KOs), Mexico vs. Jaime Villa (8-7-2, 3 KOs) Midland; 8 rounds
Featherweights: Michael Farenas (26-2-3, 23 KOs) Gubat, Philippines vs. Joe Morales (20-13, 14 KOs) San Antonio; 8 rounds
Super Bantamweights: Roberto Marroquin (12-0, 9 KOs) Dallas vs. Samuel Sanchez (4-1-1, 0 KOs Dallas; 6 rounds
Featherweights: Arthur Trevino (5-3-2, 2 KOs) Fort Worth vs. Isaac Hidalgo (6-5-1, 1 KO) Tucson, Ariz.; 6 rounds
University of Texas alum/HBO Sports director Marc Payton said the overhead video board at Cowboys Stadium will provide unprecedented viewing for in-house fans because of the close-ups -- particularly in the corners between rounds -- of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight Saturday night.
Payton will be on hand to direct the pay-per-view ($49.99) fight for HBO.
"I grew up a Cowboys fan, so this is nirvana for me to direct the first fight ever held in Cowboys Stadium," said Payton, who was raised in the Texas Panhandle and has lived in The Woodlands, just north of Houston, since 1982.
Put a 20x20 foot ring inside a 3-million square foot venue and what do you get? A chance for creativity, said the veteran HBO Boxing director of 29 years.
"In terms of how we actually cover the fight itself, not a lot changes from bell to bell," Payton said. "But the stuff between rounds, between fights prior to the main event, now that's where we can really use the stadium to magnify the coverage."
Extra cameras have been added. HBO's Max Kellerman will work with a hand-held cameraman and report from around the stadium.
"For me, it'll be the corner action between rounds, close-ups of the fighters' faces, cuts being treated ... these [are] shots of a fight that you often don't get even seated close to ringside."
Because of the 60x170-foot video board, fans in attendance will get state-of-the-art close-ups from the PPV feed, no matter if they bought a $33 ticket or a $2,730 center ringside seat.
Payton, 62, has directed some of HBO's biggest fights, including all the Thomas Hearns-Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard classics as well as Buster Douglas-Mike Tyson from Tokyo in 1990.
He directed Sunday Night Football on ESPN through the 2000 season and Sunday Night Baseball through 2001. For 22 years, he worked at HBO and ESPN until, as Payton put it, the travel became too much.
Now he has a fight practically in his own back yard. It's only a 230-mile drive from The Woodlands to Arlington.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — It was June 2008, and David Diaz did what any self-respecting person would have done after being pummeled in public by boxing star Manny Pacquiao. Diaz, the pride of Chicago boxing, went home to the North Side and sat on the couch.
As a matter of fact, he sat so much, in the months following his ninth-round technical knockout by Pacquiao at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center, that Diaz eventually ballooned up from his 135-pound fight weight to 190.
For awhile, his story could have been headlined: From Canvas to Couch.
"I was OK when I got back home," Diaz said Thursday. "Sure, my ego got hurt a little, but it wasn't like I lost to some bum. I was in the gym a week later, but my people were telling me to relax, take some time off. No need to get right back to the training."
So he did, and it was while he was relaxing on the couch one day, laptop open, that it happened.
"I just brought my left knee up to my lap and something popped," he said. "The pain was excruciating."
He can laugh about it now, and does. He has a chance to return to title prominence Saturday night, facing off against Mexico's Humberto Soto in the massive Cowboys Stadium. His fight, for the WBC lightweight title he lost to Pacquiao, will be the main undercard match on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey card. A crowd of 45,000, one of boxing's biggest ever, is expected.
Coincidentally, on the undercard the night Diaz lost to Pacquiao was a controversial match between Soto and Francisco Lorenzo. Soto knocked Lorenzo down in the fourth round, and apparently out. But referee Joe Cortez ruled that Soto had hit Lorenzo on the way down and gave the fight to Lorenzo. Later, the WBC would reverse that decision and Soto would fight Lorenzo again and win.
Since that June 28, 2008, night, Soto has fought six times and Diaz once.
Blame that inactivity, at least partially, on the dreaded couch.
"I'm kind of a macho guy, so no, I didn't go to the doctor right away," Diaz said. "But when we had a block party a few months later and I had to put on a brace to play volleyball, I knew that wasn't good."
Diaz said he eventually went to a doctor, had arthroscopic surgery on it, and felt fine.
"I was walking around on it the next day," he said. "Nothing to it. All fixed."
He was told to do therapy on it, but he didn't. He got busy. Pacquiao called in December and invited him to his birthday party in the Philippines. He went, stayed a week and came back home to a snowstorm.
"I was outside, shoveling," he said, "and one on my little kids came running out of the house, buck naked, and so I took off chasing and I felt my knee go pop. I thought, ‘uh-oh.' "
Diaz went to the doctor, who asked whether he had been doing his rehab therapy. When Diaz fessed up, the doctor said he had only torn a bit of scar tissue and sent him out to get his knee, and the rest of him, in shape. The result is Saturday night's prime undercard spot, and a chance for another main event down the road.
Diaz is 33. He says he has about two years left in boxing.
He also knows it has been a good ride. He had a 78-16 record as an amateur fighter, won the Chicago Golden Gloves four times and the National Golden Gloves three. He boxed for his country in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The sport hasn't made him super rich, but he has done well, especially the $800,000 payday for the Pacquiao fight.
"I've got three kids, and I want them all to go to college," he said. "Uncle Sam had his hand out fast after the Pacquiao fight. It went fast. I have some work left to do to set things up better for my family."
Diaz was his usual outgoing, personable self at Thursday's news conference for the fight undercard. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum introduced him as the main reason the Pacquiao-Clottey fight was even taking place. Diaz had risked his title back in June 2008, while giving Pacquiao a chance to show he could fight bigger boxers. Since he beat Diaz, Pacquiao has also defeated Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, all considered, before the Diaz fight, too big and too untouchable for Pacquiao.
Diaz took the podium from Arum and agreed, with tongue in cheek, that his fight with Pacquiao had been significant.
"I guess Manny has done OK for himself since then," Diaz said.
He also said that he and Soto, while friends, won't hold back.
"We get to see how hard we can hit each other," Diaz said. "We might just steal the show."
Until then, Diaz's handlers are doing their best to keep him ready and out of harm's way.
GRAPEVINE, Texas -- They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks big.
So it seemed only natural that Arum, along with his new best buddy, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, would get together to put on a fight at Jones' spectacular $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
That is where welterweight titleholder and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will face former titleholder Joshua Clottey on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $49.95) in a fight that Arum considers one of the crowning achievements of his storied 44-year career as a boxing promoter.
The reason is simple: location, location, location.
Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest.
"Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium," said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and boxing lifer.
Said HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, who runs HBO PPV, "I've been involved in nearly 160 pay-per-view events since 1991 with HBO PPV. This is the first pay-per-view fight we are doing in a stadium, so it's a totally unique experience for us. From a business perspective, as you know, Pacquiao-Clottey is called 'The Event,' so there was very specific recognition about the importance of Cowboys Stadium and what we believed that this stadium was bringing to the table."
That's exactly what Arum hoped for when he talked to Jones about getting away from the same old, same old casino fights.
"I am really, really excited," Arum said. "You get stale doing the same thing over and over again, going back to the casinos to put on these big events. With this event going to a fabulous, fabulous stadium like Cowboys Stadium, we're bringing the fights to the people. I think boxing can once again establish its place among the major sports in this country as it is in so many places in the world."
Promoting fights in major arenas is not new for Arum, but it's been awhile. And now he is happy to return and do it at Cowboys Stadium, where a crowd of 45,000 is expected.
"He's been promoting for 40-something years and this really gets his juices flowing," Caplan said. "It recharges Bob's battery. It's huge in a business way and in a psychological way for Bob. The interest and the enthusiasm never ends if you do new things."
Arum promoted the first fight at the Houston Astrodome, then considered an architectural marvel, when Muhammad Ali defended the heavyweight championship against Cleveland Williams in 1966.
"That building just blew me away. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, the suites, the amenities, there was nothing like it in the world," Arum said. "Now it's 44 years later and I'm back in another part of Texas. Cowboys Stadium is the most phenomenal building I have ever been in. Words really can't describe it, from that big screen [the stunning 72-foot high, 160-foot wide, $40 million HD video board] to the restaurants to the electronics. It is something really, really special. So it is a really great honor for me to be the first one to do a fight at the Astrodome and the first person to do a fight in Cowboys Stadium. I love that. … It's just thrilling."
Besides opening the Astrodome to boxing, he also promoted what turned out to be the final fight at old Yankee Stadium when Ali defended the title against Ken Norton in 1976.
Two years later, Arum promoted the first fight at the Superdome in New Orleans, where Ali regained the title from Leon Spinks in a 15-round decision in front of more than 63,000 fans.
Arum's last major stadium fight came in 1998, when he brought Oscar De La Hoya's mandatory welterweight title defense against Patrick Charpentier to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. That fight, a massive mismatch, still drew more than 40,000, in large part because of the exotic location.
And on June 5, Arum will promote the first fight at the new Yankee Stadium, where junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman will defend his belt for the first time, against Miguel Cotto.
Arum considers the Cowboy Stadium fight a significant part of his legacy, on par with those other major events.
"There are certain milestones that you have in your career that you look back on that were very significant," Arum said. "Doing the first fight in the Astrodome, the last fight at the old Yankee Stadium, doing the first one at the Superdome. Those are significant. This to me is equally as significant, opening up this magnificent facility to boxing."
Perhaps it is more significant because of how long it's taken him to return to a major stadium. For the past few years, he has talked almost incessantly about putting on a fight in a stadium. He talked about it so often without it coming off that he began to sound like the boy who cried wolf.
Arum had talked with officials of the San Francisco Giants about hosting a fight, and it went nowhere. Same with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He also continually floated the idea of a final fight at old Yankee Stadium before it closed without pulling it off. Then when the new stadium opened, he was at it again, finally closing a much-discussed deal with the Yankees last week for Cotto-Foreman.
"I tried both places [San Francisco and Los Angeles] and the people I was dealing with wanted to do it on my dime and wanted me to pay the cost of doing one of these fights, which made it economically not feasible," Arum said. "But Jerry is paying me to come here and he will get his costs back. And the Yankees are giving me a guarantee and then they get their costs back, so it is economically feasible to do it in both places."
Promoting Pacquiao-Clottey at Cowboys Stadium became a reality when Arum got together with Jones, who has landed several major events for his lavish facility, including last month's NBA All-Star Game (which drew more than 100,0000) as well as a future Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four.
Arum and Jones, a boxing fan, originally hoped to bring the Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight to the stadium Saturday. However, the Mayweather/Golden Boy Promotions side rejected it, despite a record $25 million guarantee from Jones (who put up about $6 million for Pacquiao-Clottey).
Mayweather and Golden Boy insisted the fight take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has long been where most of boxing's biggest fights take place.
When Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded, Arum matched Pacquiao with Clottey and needed a site.
"When it fell apart I felt bad because the MGM was expecting that fight," Arum said. "So I called [MGM executive] Richard Sturm and I said, 'That fight's off, I'm sorry. But Pacquiao is fighting Clottey and we'd like to do it at the MGM.' And they told me, 'Sorry, the date's taken.'"
The MGM had set it aside for Mayweather to fight an alternate opponent, although it never came off because he instead wound up signing to fight Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM.
Arum was infuriated that the MGM picked Mayweather over Pacquiao. He said it forced him to rethink things.
"Once I heard that I said you have been a fool for them all these years because you can't rely on them, you can't rely on anybody, and even though you live in this town [Las Vegas] you have to increase your horizons," Arum said. "And I called up Jerry Jones. We made the deal and after I did that I said, 'Hey, this is the way to go.' Then as soon as I knew the Yankees were interested, we went there for Foreman-Cotto."
Although Arum was angry with the perceived snub by the MGM, he said it was the kick in the butt he needed.
"Like everybody else in boxing, we let ourselves get into a rut," Arum said of his company. "And instead of being innovative and trying new things we did the convenient thing, which is to do these fights in casinos, where you certainly don't have to put the same effort into them. They're easier, whether it's Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Kelly Pavlik fights, boom, Atlantic City. All the other fights, Las Vegas. It was a pattern we got into. Cotto fights, Madison Square Garden. So a lot of that was repetitious. A lot of the reason it was so repetitious is it was easy.
"We're all human, we're all busy and we tend to do what is easy, not what is innovative and not what means more to the sport."
Jones is glad Arum sought him out. He envisions his stadium being a possible site for any major fight and wants to compete with Las Vegas.
"I wanted that fight here between those two fighters [Pacquiao and Mayweather] worse than my next breath and so I was willing to wait as long as I needed to wait to have them join me," Jones said. "Bob was real sensitive and made it clear that the circumstances were not a negative about the stadium or my interest in it. It was more about just getting a fight done. I am glad I went through it because it made me ready for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. It was like, 'Put me in, Coach, I'm hot.' Somehow and someway we wanted to have Manny fighting here and here it is."
There have been several major fights outside of casinos in recent years. New York's Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Toyota Center in Houston and FedExForum in Memphis all have hosted major fights. But they were the exception to Las Vegas.
"This is much more exciting than [a casino fight]," Arum said. "I love Las Vegas. I live in Las Vegas. Tickets are limited by the size of the arena and they generally go to the high-rolling casino customers. Here, the sales pitch is for the public. There is no casino buying tickets for people to bring them in to gamble.
"I have not in many, many years, since the Astrodome opened, had a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event. I certainly believe that going to these large venues and moving big boxing matches around the country will certainly help in branding the sport of boxing and making it what it always should have been, a major sport in this country. I love Las Vegas, but you cannot be a major sport if all of your biggest events are in one city where people have to come from all over to attend the event. The Super Bowl wouldn't be as important or as big if it was held in the same city every year."
Arum said he has a handshake agreement with owners of the New York Giants to put a fight in the new Meadowlands stadium in the spring. He also said he and Jones are talking about doing two or three events at Cowboys Stadium each year, including a Hispanic-themed card later this year.
"There was a comfort zone in [Las Vegas]," Arum said. "I could stay home and my office was two blocks away. But then this situation happened [with the MGM] and I realized that what I was doing was because I was lazy. What MGM did forced us to rethink the situation."
Taffet has worked alongside Arum on numerous fights since they did the first HBO PPV in 1991, the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman heavyweight title fight. He said Arum's focus on returning to a stadium is no surprise.
"Bob always challenges us to come up with new and better ways to do things on every aspect of the promotion," Taffet said. "Bob himself continually looks for new ways to do things. So we accepted this assignment in that light and I give him credit. He's been in the sport for decades and he still has energy and the determination to continue to do things in a new way and in a better way."
