Freddie Roach ruminates on MMA fighters' boxing abilities -- USA Today

USA Today

When it comes to teaching mixed martial artists how to use their hands, it's all about distance, in the view of boxing ubertrainer Freddie Roach. He tells HDNet's Ron Kruck:

"Definitely, the biggest thing is to get them to be more comfortable being closer to their opponent. In boxing, they can't use their legs for kicks and they don't need that room that they might when they are using the legs.
"I have to take into consideration that they may be kicked in their fights and so forth. That's why I ask a lot of questions and I learn as we go.

"It's like bobbing and weaving in MMA. It's really not the best move in the world to make for an MMA fighter. And I didn't realize that at first, because I forgot about the knees."



Roach also gives his take on four of the world's best MMA fighters:

• BJ Penn: "Great guy. I think he's one of the best strikers I've ever worked with. He can really punch."

• Anderson Silva: "I couldn't figure him out completely at first. In the gym, he probably goes 30 to 40%. He's just getting his timing, getting his thing going. ...

"Then I watch him on TV and I say, 'You know what? That's a whole different guy.' Now he's getting his A-game. He's giving 100% on the TV fight. I see him measure people, set things up.

"He's a very intelligent guy. He knows distance, he knows where his comfort zone is."

• Georges St. Pierre: "I'd like to work with him, though, because he's a talented guy. He's a very intelligent fighter. "

• Fedor Emelianenko: "I would like to work with him. His balance isn't that good. He's flat-footed a lot. He's kind of easy to box if you use in-and-out or side-to-side motion.

"He can be outboxed, but the thing is, he's such a good puncher -- you've got to be careful with that. ... He's one of the most complete fighters out there."

Roach believes that his current superstar, Manny Pacquiao, would have the best chance of any boxer to do well in MMA because of his speed. Conversely, Roach still believes the MMA fighter most associated with him, Andrei Arlovski, could be a successful heavyweight boxer.

But Roach sees a brighter future for MMA in the long run.

"I think the boxing promoters have really lost sight of entertaining the people," Roach tells Kruck. "You get a good main event, but then the undercard is crap because they don't want to spend the money."

(Posted by Sergio Non)

Source: content.usatoday.com

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German TV, promoter lead way for a new era in drug testing for boxing -- New York Daily News

BY Tim Smith, New York Daily News

GRAPEVINE, Texas - Floyd Mayweather Jr. was onto something when he asked that both he and Manny Pacquiao submit to Olympic style drug testing before the two met in the ring in a proposed welterweight mega fight.

Of course Pacquiao refused and the fight fell apart, which led to Pacquiao fighting Joshua Clottey in a 12-round welterweight match at Cowboys Stadium Saturday night.

In January German public television network ARD extended its contract with Sauerland Boxing through 2015 and added a stipulation that all of the boxers in the Berlin-based boxing stable, and their opponents, undergo Olympic Style drug testing as a condition of fighting on the network.

"We have a partner who has a lineup of world-class athletes, is a role model as far as drug testing is concerned and also is actively involved in charity as well as youth development programs," said Volker Herres, ARD director of programming. "We have a lot of young viewers and people who normally do not watch ARD - this is very important to us since we are there for everyone."

There was much kicking and screaming on the part of Pacquiao and his representatives about Mayweather trying to dictate a drug testing protocol to them. Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, believes that any call for more stringent drug testing should come from the various state commissions and not the participants in the sport. But it seems ARD, which holds some major purse strings for boxing in Germany, has filled the void in a way that state commissions can't or won't.

Chris Meyer, general manager of Sauerland Boxing, said the network was reacting to public backlash over the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports, particularly in cycling. Meyer said the drug tests are conducted by the German National Anti-Doping Association under the auspices of the Austrian Boxing Commission.

"I know we owe this to the public. We're with ARD, it is a public-owned company, which means there is no private financing," Meyer said. "This is public money and has a different moral approach to be spent in a different way than private money. The moral standard is higher. Working with such a TV company means we have to fulfill these standards."

Thus far only one Sauerland boxer has run afoul of the newly instituted testing rule. Pablo Navascues of Spain lost his shot at Sebastian Sylvester's IBF Middleweight Title after testing positive for banned substances during a random training test. He was replaced by Billy Lyell, who suffered a tenth-round TKO on Jan. 30.

Sauerland represents two boxers, Arthur Abraham and Mikkel Kessler, who are involved in the Super Six Boxing tournament, a three-year, 168-pound round-robin that is currently being conducted in the U.S. and Europe and is being broadcast in America by Showtime. Abraham and Kessler have agreed to the German NADA protocols, which calls for athletes to inform testers of their whereabouts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The U.S. boxers involved in the tournament have not been asked to undergo the Olympic style drug testing . . . yet.

"We obviously have no problem if it was something that was stipulated," said Dan Goossen, who promotes Andre Ward, a gold medalist for the U.S. team in the 2004 Olympic Games. Ward's first fight in the tournament was held in Oakland.

Sauerland Promotions, which bears the cost of the testing, is the only boxing company which has agreed to such a far-reaching drug testing program, which could become the wave of the future.

Meyer said thus far none of the boxers has balked at the testing, though they aren't happy about being on 24-hour alert to the German NADA testers.

"The first thing was, "Oh God, additional obligations and demands," Meyer said. "They have to follow a certain protocol. It is not minute-by-minute, but they should be traceable and available by phone. It's an inconvenience that they're not happy with. We pay them but our money comes from TV. If we don't get a TV deal then they may have a problem earning money."

Mayweather and Shane Mosley will fight in Las Vegas on May 1. The Nevada Commission has not asked for additional testing, but Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to undergo Olympic style testing before the match. It is a first for professional boxing in the U.S., and they're to be applauded for their stand.

ARD and Sauerland are already a step ahead.

"This is a milestone for boxing," Meyer said. "We have agreed to thorough testing. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards doping."

Source: nydailynews.com

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Is it possible to gauge a fighter’s mindset from a weigh-in? We’ll find out tonight -- Las Vegas Sun

By John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Sun

Today, the day of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey welterweight title bout, I’m remembering what happened yesterday.

A couple thousand people turned out to see Pacquiao, in his undergarments, step on a scale. Yes, other fighters were also weighed in for tonight’s fight card at Cowboys Stadium. But the crowd that turned out was almost universally drawn to the event by the chance to catch six minutes of Manny Pacquiao. There were about 2,000 fans standing in the shadow of the Death Star, their backs to the setting Texas sun.

I make that estimation of 2,000 not because I’m particularly skilled at gauging human masses. But after spending 6 ½ days observing how fans respond to Pacquiao’s mere physical presence, I know that a certain number of people will change their lives for a day just to watch him do anything – be it play dominoes, do the Twist or raise his fists while wearing underwear. That number seems to be 2,000.

During this session, such luminaries as Academy Award-winning actor and fight fan Robert Duvall and former Cowboys free safety Darren Woodson (and fight commentator) were introduced to those assembled. Woodson, the hardest-hitting non-fighter on the stage, asked if there were any Clottey fans in the crowd.

About six people cheered -- two of whom seemed to be sympathetic Pacquiao fans.

Woodson then asked if there were any Pacquiao fans on hand, and a roar cascaded over the stage. Soon, after Clottey toed the scale at 147 pounds, Pacquiao showed up to strip down. As if cued, the crowd started in with the familiar, rhythmic chant, “Man-NEE! Man-NEE!” The cry is to boxing today what “Reg-GIE, Reg-GIE” was in October 1978.

Off to the side, having slipped back into his almost-Cowboy-blue sweats, Clottey smirked. Then he bowing his head and rocked to the beat of the crowd. He even mouthed, “Man-NEE! Man-NEE!” to himself, seeming bemused at the whole ritual. Neither fighter could resist laughing at the farcical “stare-down” tradition that is often an integral part to the weigh-in showcase. The absence of acrimony in the week leading up to this bout has been remarkable; about the only trash talk we’ve heard is Top Rank chief Bob Arum pounding away at MGM Mirage for holding this date for Golden Boy Productions, and turning back this fight at the Grand Garden Arena. More on that issue later.

In the here-and-now, few dedicated boxing journalists covering this week’s WBO welterweight title bout seem to be giving Clottey an honest chance to win this fight. Understandable. Even the highest praise, for him, seems to ensure doom in the ring: He has a great heart, a great chin, and is willing to swap blows with a man who rendered a similarly brave warrior, Ricky Hatton, to the fetal position inside of four minutes. Clottey is comfortable at 147 pounds (Pacquiao weighed in a bit lighter, at 145 ¾), and even more comfortable at a little heavier than 147. There is talk that by the time he ducks into the ring tonight, Clottey will be closer to a middleweight, edging toward 160, apparently invoking something of an anti-Jared diet plan for 24 hours.

So Clottey will be bigger, a larger man and an easy target. But whether he knows something no one else does, if he’s figured out the formula to outwit the Pacman, has to be sorted out before 50,000 fans in a domed football stadium. Whether the brave and bemused challenger will be chanting his own name, not hearing again of, “Man-NEE! Man-NEE!” would be one of the sport’s great upsets. That possibility, however far-flung, is why they lace up the gloves.

Feeling punchy
More notes from Dallas:

• Duvall was swarmed by fans behind the stage, after the weigh-in, and uncorked one of the week’s best quotes: “That's enough Filipinos for one day!” Then he hustled into the safe confines of Cowboys Stadium.

• Ring announcer Michael Buffer is an aficionado of classic American-made cars. He once owned a 1932 Ford “deuce coupe” and Ford models from 1951 and ’52. This car conversation started because he got a laugh out of the “rumble seat” headline on the blog I wrote about him earlier this week. Evidently no one has placed Buffer, in a literary sense, in a rumble seat.

• Comment to note, from the stage, from Jerry Jones: “Bob Arum is one of the most credible men I’ve worked with.” Watching Arum and Jones interact, it’s clear they are kindred spirits. They behave like they’ve known each other since they were kids.

• One person who believes Pacquiao will have a far more difficult than expected fight is veteran AP sports writer Tim Dahlberg. “I may be the only person to believe this,” he sent in a tweet earlier today.

• How do you make money at a fight card? Astonishingly high markups at the concession stands. At Friday night’s Fox Sports bout card at the Gaylord Texan, which drew about 2,000 fans (though not exactly the same 2,000 who follow Pacquiao around), a Snickers bar was priced at $3. To quote John Travolta as Vincent Vega in “Pulp Fiction,” confronting Uma Thurman’s $6 milkshake, “What’s it got, bourbon in it?”

• Freddie Roach is a book waiting to happen, and that book will actually happen: “The Wild Card: Hard-fought Lessons from a Life in the Ring” by Roach and Peter Owen Nelson, is set for a July release by Skyhorse Publishing. The forward is by Pacquiao.

• That “Death Star” reference for Cowboys Stadium, I thought I originated that prior to last football season. But I’ve heard the local media also uses that term for the stadium, to which I say, “dang.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.

Source: lasvegassun.com

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Pacquiao makes debut on ABC's Good Morning America -- Eastside Boxing

Eastside Boxing

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (March 13, 2010) – Fighter of the Decade, Congressional candidate and boxing’s No. 1 pound for pound has graced the cover of TIME magazine, appeared twice on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and today, was featured on Good Morning America Weekend, marking the U.S. network TV morning show debut of boxing’s only seven-division world champion.

The following link will take you to the GMA feature on Manny:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/lord-boxing-ring-manny-pacquiao-10091875

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Promoted by Top Rank, in association with the Tecate and MP Promotions, THE EVENT: PACQUIAO vs. CLOTTEY will take place Tonight! Saturday, March 13, in Cowboys Stadium, The $1.2 billion stadium is the largest, most technologically advanced entertainment venue in the world. Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), boxing’s only seven-division world champion, of General Santos City, Philippines, will be defending the World Boxing Organization welterweight title against Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs), of Accra, Ghana. THE EVENT will be produced and distributed Live on HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Remaining Tickets to Pacquiao vs. Clottey, priced at $700, $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50, can be purchased in-person at the Cowboys Stadium box office in Arlington, or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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Pacquiao fights Clottey in Jerry’s palace tonight -- NBC Sports

By TIM DAHLBERG, Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas - The phenomenon that is Manny Pacquiao grew with a series of wins against some of the biggest names around. Now he has a fight to win against a guy who has nothing to lose.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but things rarely turn out as planned in boxing. Instead of fighting in one of the biggest bouts ever against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao will have to settle for fighting in one of the biggest stadiums ever.

The opponent is Joshua Clottey, and he’s what the wise guys in Las Vegas would call a live dog. A talented boxer who has never been stopped and briefly held a piece of the welterweight title, he brings some credentials of his own into Saturday night’s 147-pound fight at Cowboy Stadium.

But while he may be fighting on the star, there’s only one star in this show. Little guys aren’t supposed to fill big stadiums, yet some 45,000 fans are expected to be on hand to watch Pacquiao up close and personal — and on the huge overhead video screens that will show every drop of sweat and blood.

“The best fighter I’ve ever seen,” said promoter Bob Arum, who includes Muhammad Ali in that group. “No one has ever punched with equal power from both hands like Manny.”

Arum has a financial interest in saying that, of course, but there are few in boxing who would argue that Pacquiao is a talent unlike any the sport has seen in recent years. He’s coming off a stoppage of Miguel Cotto that cemented his credentials at 147 pounds, and he has created a buzz about boxing the sport desperately needed.

Twelve years ago he won his first title at 112 pounds. Now he’s a champion in seven weight classes who will make at least $12 million in a gleaming new stadium far from the bright lights of Las Vegas.

Just as importantly, Pacquiao’s doing it without Mayweather, now a bitter rival after talks for their megafight collapsed over Mayweather’s insistence on blood testing — and what Pacquiao believes was the inference he bulked up on performance-enhancing drugs.

“Some fighters like me, we can be the greatest fighters without fast words and trash talk,” Pacquiao said. “His (Mayweather’s) style is talking a lot of trash and it is not a good example for everybody.”

Pacquiao is a 5-1 favorite in the scheduled 12-round fight (HBO pay-per-view beginning at 9 p.m. EST) which is expected to sell out a stadium scaled down for boxing.

Pacquiao weighed in at 145¾ pounds for the fight while Clottey weighed in at 147 pounds on Friday.

The odds are probably more lopsided than the talent differential between the two fighters, but it takes long odds to get anyone to bet against Pacquiao these days.

He was already a well-respected fighter when he began his current streak by stopping Oscar De La Hoya and forcing him into retirement. He followed that with a knockout of Ricky Hatton before stopping Cotto in November.

Now he plans to add Clottey to his list of victims, and then take some time out to run for congress in his native Philippines. Mayweather could await in September, assuming Pacquiao wins and Mayweather beats Shane Mosley on May 1, but Pacquiao has also hinted it may be time to hang the gloves up after fighting as a pro for 15 years.

“This is my last fight before the election,” he said. “I am not saying I’m going to retire. It is hard to say right now when I’m going to retire, but this is my last fight before the election and I’m very excited about that.”

Clottey, a native of Ghana who lives in New York City, was picked as an opponent largely on the basis of his fight last June against Cotto. Most believe he was winning that bout before inexplicably backing off in the last few rounds. He throws a lot of punches and has a strong chin, but his style of standing in front of an opponent seems perfectly suited to Pacquiao’s frenetic pace of punching.

“He is what he is. Let’s face it. He fights the same way in every tape I watch,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. “Whether he fights southpaws or right-handers, he is predictable. He’s good at what he does, but he does the same thing over and over again and he is very predictable. He’s going to try to change for this fight, but once he gets in he will revert back to it.”

Clottey (35-3) faces the additional challenge of fighting without his usual trainer, whose visa issues kept him out of the country. But he’s quietly confident he can rise to the occasion, hoping to use his excellent defense to thwart Pacquiao.

“It’s the key to the fight because he throws a thousand punches,” Clottey said. “Everybody that he’s fought, when he throws a thousand punches, they’ve all landed. When I’m blocking mine, I’m going to see how he’s going to think.”

If Pacquiao wasn’t enough to sell this promotion, Arum and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have combined to promote the $1.2 billion stadium as an attraction of its own. Boxing has been done in stadiums over the years, of course, but this may be the first time even those in the cheap ($50) seats will have a good view of the action.

Jones wanted to host a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, and was bitterly disappointed when it couldn’t be made. But his investment in this fight could have a big payoff for future fights.

“It didn’t take me long to make my mind up that somehow, some way, we wanted to have Manny fighting here,” Jones said. “I made my mind up in building this stadium I was not going to be associated with anything but the best.”

Source: nbcsports.msnbc.com

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For Some, Pacquiao Is In A No Win Spot Tonight -- The Sweet Science

By Frank Lotierzo, The Sweet Science

Imagine being the marquee attraction in your profession, and the better you perform, the more some of your competitors and peers will tarnish your body of work and accomplishments. On the other hand if you only look good, and not spectacular, it'll be said in some corners and factions that it was because you didn't cheat or circumvent the rules this time. In other words if Joshua Clottey upsets Manny Pacquiao tonight, it'll be inferred by some that Pacquiao was clean of PEDs instead of heaping the due praise on Clottey for finally stepping up and fighting to his true potential.

That's the conundrum Manny Pacquiao 50-3-2 (38) is in tonight heading into his WBO welterweight title defense with Joshua Clottey 35-3 (20). What will really work against him in the eyes of some is if he has a terrific showing and perhaps even stops Clottey. It'll be thought of as being too much of an overwhelming performance and almost incomprehensible. And that's because almost every fight observer who knows what they're watching is in agreement that Clottey has a cast-iron chin and is also very durable and physically strong.

What surprised most fans and writers as they observed the early rounds of the Pacquiao-Cotto bout was how Cotto was hurt with the first couple left crosses that Pacquiao got through with cleanly. From that moment on Miguel immediately sensed that it was safer to punch before and after Pacquiao -- and at all cost not to get caught in exchanges or punching with him. That literally had many of those watching the fight astonished after it was said repeatedly how Cotto was the supposed stronger fighter physically. Especially since the question before the fight was more of how Manny would hold up under Cotto's assault than the opposite.

Joshua Clottey is known for being extremely durable and in fights against Antonio Margarito, Zab Judah and Miguel Cotto he seldom changed his facial expression after sampling the best they had to offer over 33 rounds. What if Pacquiao comes out and after catching Clottey with a couple of the Sunday left-crosses that he did Cotto, Clottey is holding on and fighting to survive instead of fighting to win after the third or fourth round? No doubt most watching will be shocked and dismayed by seeing Clottey bothered by his opponents assault for the first time in his career.

Obviously there will be a faction watching who will say he's gotta be doing some kind of PED's and they'll immediately dismiss his explosive and shocking power as simply being manufactured. And by the way, if it ever comes out down the road that PEDs were the source of Pacquiao's strength and power - not only was he a cheater, he also had the best dealer and supplier in the history of sports. Because there's certainly no other Robo-fighter in amateur or professional boxing.

So there is a down side if Pacquiao scores a spectacular win over Clottey.

Conversely, if Pacquiao has life and death and labors to a narrow decision win, we'll hear how he finally faced an upper-tier welterweight who wasn't old and washed up nor was he compromised by having to suck down to 145 in order to make the fight.

Pacquiao's overwhelming victories in his last two bouts against Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto has set the bar of expectation very tonight against Clottey. If Pacquiao goes through Clottey, it'll be too much for some to handle and it'll be easier for them to live in their little cocoon rationalizing to themselves that he's getting over and cheating in one form or another. That, or they'll say Clottey wasn't any good, which is downright ignorant, and that's what they expected to happen, as opposed to accepting that Pacquiao can really fight.

On the other hand if Pacquiao struggles, some will assume he was clean for this fight and finally fought a real welterweight in his prime. Regardless of how Pacquiao performs against Clottey tonight, he'll be damned either way for looking too good or just getting by. He's in a no win spot with some and that won't change after tonight's fight is history.

And that's what will continue to cause a sense of urgency and excitement whenever Pacquiao fights. This is what happens to most athletes who become an iconic figure. Those who love them will overlook any faults, those who hate them will find a way to minimize any accomplishments, no matter how spectacular.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

Source: thesweetscience.com

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Tale of the tape but will Manny Pacquiao fight Antonio Margarito next? -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

There has been gathering anticipation all day here in Dallas for the latest installment in boxing’s greatest figure. Manny Pacquiao. Fans have crowded into the fight hotel attempting to get photographs with their idol, as Joshua Clottey’s team look on bemused.

What the sell-out crowd will be looking for is a fight fitting with the world’s most advanced sports stadium, and a contest which thrills and delights. If it is a first round washout, there will be focus again on the next installment, while Pacquiao returns to The Philippines to run for Congress . Pacquiao’s every move is being detailed by the Filipino media.

Tale of the Tape and fight notes
Pacquiao-Clottey
Tale of The Tape: Details
Pacman                         Grand Master
Freddie                         Roach Lenny DeJesus (trainer)
Southpaw                      Orthodox (stance)
145 ¾ lbs                      147 lbs (weight)
5ft 6ins                          5ft 8ins (height)
66 ½                             68 (reach)
38                                 38 (chest)
13                                 14 (biceps)
28                                 32 (waist)
16                                 16 (neck)
10                                 10 (fist)

Fight notes:
Clottey has had 90 rounds of sparring against left-handers
Clottey could be around 15lbs heavier than Pacquiao in the ring; it may slow him if the fight goes into the later rounds
Bob Arum reckons Pacquiao is the very first truly ambidextrous fighter
The event is a sell-out 45,000 but could swell by another 10,000 with ‘Party Time’ standing tickets at $35.
All assert a happy Pacquiao camp, which has not always been the case. Mike Koncz, often the butt of criticism, has lost 30lbs in weight training in the camp.
Freddie Roach has looked a little stressed in the last 48 hours, but he admits he does feel the tension in the week of a fight
Pacquiao has had an entourage of 140; Clottey just 5.
Pacquiao has admitted he is looking forward to seeing himself on the largest stadium video screens in the world on the way into the ring. Just to let you know, if he fills the screen he will be 72ft tall. That’s how big these video boards are.
Stadium boxing is coming back: “This is very important for boxing’s growth,” Pacquiao said. “It’s going to be worldwide. It’s a good example to other places that we can promote boxing, boxing like this.”
Bob Arum on Filipino politics and why Pacquiao could be a congressman and still box: “If the Filipino congressmen are anything like the U.S. congressmen, they sit around and do nothing most of the year, so why wouldn’t he be able to fight?”
Oscar de la Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrerra and Antonio Margarito all assert that Pacquiao will win by unanimous decision.

Margarito also asserts that he will be next for Pacquiao; not Floyd Mayweather.

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

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Pacquiao wants a knockout in Clottey title defense -- CNN

CNN.com

(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao weighed in two pounds lighter than challenger Joshua Clottey then sent a message to his adoring fans that he would be targeting a quick knockout in their WBO welterweight title fight in Dallas.

The 'Pacman' has won 11 straight bouts since losing to Erik Morales in March 2005 and is an odds-on favorite to dispatch Ghana's Clottey when the action gets underway at 04.15 GMT on Sunday morning.

"I am not going to promise you a knockout, but I will do my best," Pacquiao told the crowd who had gathered to watch the weigh-in Friday night in the Cowboys Stadium.

"We have a strategy that we created in our training so people are going to be surprised."

Pacquiao tipped the scales at 145 pounds, while Clottey, who has three losses on his record, weighed in at 147 pounds.

Clottey is clearly the bigger man and will have an even bigger weight advantage over the Filipino boxer by the time they enter the ring.

Pacquiao, who began his career as a 112 pound flyweight, has won world titles at six different weights and boasts a 50-3-2 record with 28 knockouts.

He has flourished under trainer Freddie Roach and rated by many the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

The fight has attracted worldwide attention, particularly back in the Philippines where Pacquiao is a national hero.

Pacquiao was originally slated to be taking on American Floyd Mayweather Jr, in what was billed as the richest fight in boxing history, but a row over dope testing led to negotiations be called off.

The Clottey fight was arranged in its place, but many expect Pacquiao to take on the unbeaten Mayweather later in the year.

The undercard in Texas also features David Diaz taking on Humberto Soto for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight title.

Source: edition.cnn.com

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Fight day arrives for Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey -- Los Angeles Times

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times

It's a can't-miss mismatch, the disparity in bonding that exists between world welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and his longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, and that of challenger Joshua Clottey and his replacement trainer, Lenny DeJesus.

DeJesus says one of the reasons Miguel Cotto lost to Pacquiao in November was because Cotto’s corner was “unprofessional, not prepared to motivate the kid; they panicked.”

Yet, DeJesus warns of the tenuous hold he has over Clottey. He’s serving as trainer for this fight only because Clottey’s trainer in Ghana had visa problems and couldn’t make it to the U.S.

“A corner that hollers and yells too much is no good,” DeJesus said.

Someone asked whether chaos was possible. “Yes. [Clottey] has his group; they like to yell. I told them, ‘You holler, you’re out.’ ”

Then, DeJesus added a stunning caveat to his relationship with Clottey.

“If he listens, I’ve got a winner,” DeJesus said.

If?

Meanwhile, Pacquiao is preparing for his 22nd fight with his nine-year trainer Roach.

“Six weeks isn’t enough to get to know somebody,” Roach said of the Clottey-DeJesus team. “How can they know each other in such a short period of time? I’ve known Manny for nine years. Lenny doesn’t have that comfort zone. Clottey could be very disappointed with who’s in his corner.”

Something to prove: Pacquiao didn’t accept the theory that Clottey has an edge in motivation because he’s in the fight of his life, and that Pacquiao is conversely dealing with a consolation of sorts given the failure to make his super-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Clottey is "not going to be able to take the fight,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao was asked what fight in his past felt like the fight of his life, when he had the most to prove.

“My last three fights,” he said. “[Oscar] De La Hoya, they said I couldn’t beat him. [Ricky] Hatton was too tough. [Miguel] Cotto was too big.”

Cowboy up: Cowboys Stadium owner Jerry Jones guaranteed $25 million to stage a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout that never happened. He said he bid “$7 million with conditions,” i.e., $8 million, according to fight sources, for Pacquiao-Clottey.

The guest list will be impressive, as Jones said the bout is expected to bring in the largest Cowboys alumni gathering in history, including Roger Staubach. Several current Cowboys will also attend, along with New York Giants owner Steve Tisch, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Coach Rex Ryan, and perhaps former President George W. Bush.

Quotable: “If you’ve got enough credit, you can go crazy. And that’s what I did with this [$1.2-billion] stadium.” -- Jones.

“We’ll stay out of the way so Texas can shine.” -- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation official Brian Francis, whose commission did not subject Pacquiao or Clottey to any pre-fight drug tests.

“I asked Manny, yes, and he said no. I said, ‘Do you know what steroids are?’ He knows less than I do.” -- Roach.

“I want the fight to be quick and easy for Manny Pacquiao.” -- DeJesus.

“Compared to who? Compared to [Oscar] De La Hoya, he sings like Caruso.” -- Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum when asked whether he thought the boxer was a good singer.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

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Clottey, Mosley just setting table for Mayweather-Pacquiao fistic feast -- The Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS—The biggest disaster of Manny Pacquiao's career?

Oh, that's easy, it would be if he somehow loses to bigger, stronger Joshua Clottey Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium.

It wouldn't totally wreck any hopes of a mega, mega, megafight against Floyd Mayweather by year's end but it would drop the total revenue by a humungous amount.

I said previously and I say now, in the hours after Friday's weigh in which a totally ripped Clottey (the Ghanaian did not have a six pack of abs, it was more like a 14 pack) weighed the welterweight limit of 147 pounds with Pacman at 145 ¾ pounds, that this train wreck is not going to happen.

Clottey, for all his druability and fighting spirit, is a Grade B fighter matching his skills against the world's best boxer pound for pound, a Pinoy phenomenon who has been blistering all foes, knocking them out and into retirement.

Some around Pacman turned into worrywarts after the two combatants posed for photos outside Jerry Jones' gleaming football playpen. How come, they ask, Megamanny wasn't as ripped looking as he usually is?

Look, he's 31 years old but does he train any less diligently than he did before destroying Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya, among others?

The answer is no so let's not pay much attention to how the Pacman belly was not as impressive as usual. It's called getting older, folks.

Yes, Clottey will look huge, maybe even eight pounds heavier than his weigh in weight, by the time they square off.

Your White Gorilla is unconcerned as being bigger, more buff and all that just means Clottey will be slower and less able to handle Pacquiao's amazing, two-handed attack that comes from weird but effective angles.

In many ways, Clottey is a pedestrian fighter. Do you think promoter Bob Arum and his matchmaker Bruce Trampler selected him because they believe he will derail Pacman?

No, Pacquiao will deliver the goods although maybe not as devastatingly and brilliantly did in annihilating Oskie and Ricky.

I am still calling it Pacman by TKO in 10 rounds.

Pacquiao must be vigilant about headbutts and he can't wrestle inside with the African but he knows all that.

When the bout ends, Pacquiao will have notched his 51st pro victory and, if Floyd disposes of hane Molsey like I am convinced he will come May 1, the Lollapalooza will be back in play.
I'm seeing, with Pacquiao winning here and Mayweather victorious in Vegas, their confrontation as historically inevitable.

They talk about big banks in America which are “too big to fail.” Mayweather-Pacquiao is too big not to happen, blood testing be praised or damned.

When it does, unless role players Clottey and/or Mosley rain on the Manny and Floyd parades, it will be bigger than it could have been before.

Pacquiao can win that fight. You know it, I know it and everyone named Mayweather knows it.

HBO might have play the big bully role to get it done but it will get done.

Clottey is a footnote. Mosley is also a “B side” actor in the larger drama.

Pacquiao wins here, Mayweather's May Day is a good day and their collision course will be reset.

And, as the days, weeks and months roll by, I'm beginning to wonder about this...does Mayweather really think he can beat Manny?

Clottey and Mosley will just set the table for the fistic feast to come at the end of 2010 or the start of 2011.

Bet on it.

Clottey is coming to get respect and he will but he will also go home with his fourth loss.

Bet on it, bet dollars to doughnuts. Bet beer to balut.

Bet the next few mortgage payments.

Neither Joshua nor Sugar Shane are going to jeopardize the Big Dance.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

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