By Ben Jacobs
Determined not to let his defeat to Manny Pacquiao remain the defining moment of his career, Joshua Clottey is back on the world scene following his highly convincing points win over Anthony Mundine two weeks ago.
The former IBF welterweight world champion surprised the home favourite in New South Wales with his power and speed whilst recording five knockdowns in the fight. Despite that, Clottey played down his performance when speaking to BoxingScene.
“I’m not getting that carried away,” he confessed.
“I just want to let people know I wasn’t done when I fought Pacquiao. I was suffering from managerial problems and other issues.
“For the guys at 154lbs, I’m coming.”
Clottey did not look himself when he fought Pacquiao back in March 2010. At the time he was bothered by outside the ring complications, notwithstanding his capability to still make the 147lbs welterweight limit whilst maintaining his strength.
“Sometimes, people don’t understand us fighters. I was killing myself to make 147lbs. But this time I’m in a different weight at 154. I feel strong. I ate before I weighed in. I’m with the right trainer, right manager, right everything, so I feel happy when I get to the ring and every time I get to the ring I feel like fighting!”
Clottey won the WBA international title at junior middleweight with his victory in Australia which should see him get a decent ranking. Given that he is a former world champion at welterweight, another opportunity may not be far off.
“I’d love to fight Erislandy Lara, he’s now going to fight Canelo for the title. I know I can prove everybody wrong. My manager David Berlin has a new job with the New York Athletic Commission. Because of that, he’s not going to work me as my manager anymore. I’m really, really sad about that because he’s such a wonderful person.
“The best move of my career was signing with David Berlin but I wish him good luck in what he’s doing. I’m looking for a new manager, after I find one they can talk to the promoter. I have to be very careful about who I choose to be my next manager. I’m talking to a certain manager but I don’t want to mention his name.
“Right now I feel so strong at 154. One thing is for sure, if I ever get a rematch with Pacquiao, I’d sign a contract that says I receive nothing if I do not perform better. If I perform well, they can pay me. If I perform bad, they don’t have to.”
‘Grandmaster’ feels he sometimes has not been given enough credit for what he has achieved in his career and blames his performance against Manny Pacquiao.
“I’ve been in boxing a long time, I’ve fought the best. Now, I lost to Pacquiao hands down. The Cotto fight they robbed me, the Margarito fight I was winning and got injured, so I think I deserve credit. I only really lost once, to Manny Pacquiao. Everyone can see I beat Cotto. They should give me credit because I fought the best and I did well.
Former opponent Cotto fights Sergio Martínez in a blockbuster clash on June 7. While Clottey does not want to predict a winner at this stage, he warns the Puerto Rican about Martínez’s KO threat.
“I can’t say who’s going to win but I’ve always liked Cotto. He has to be very careful about how he attacks because Martinez has power in both hands. He should take his time in this fight.”
