By Mark Vester
After winning the biggest fight of his career, a lopsided twelve round decision against Diego Corrales in April, welterweight contender Joshua Clottey (32-2, 20 KOs) thought he would be on the fast road to a title shot. Instead, Clottey is standing on outside while bigger names in his division are challenging each other in high-stakes pay-per-view showdowns.
On Thursday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Clottey won a ten-round unanimous decision over Felix Flores (22-6, 18 KOs) to move forward in his quest for a title shot. Clottey's defense and combination were too much for Flores to handle. The scores were 97-93, 99-91 and 100-90
Clottey's name is already in boxing history books, but not for the reason he was looking for. A month after scoring the biggest win of his career, he learned that Corrales was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Las Vegas. The death of Corrales gave Clottey the historical distinction of being the last man to ever fight him.
Clottey spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the death of Corrales and his motivation to become the best.
"I liked Corrales very much," Clottey said. "When I heard the news he had died, I was very sad, for him and for boxing. He was a great champion."
"People are beginning to notice me and like me, and the chance of getting a title fight motivates me to do well every time I go in the ring. Hopefully, I'll win and get more big fights."
Clottey's promoter, Top Rank president Bob Arum, told the paper that his fighter is very close to landing a title shot and capable of hanging with best welterweights in the world.
"He's a tough kid," Arum said. "He's a real warrior. He keeps coming at you, and he has no fear. He destroyed Corrales. There's no question he can compete with (WBO champ) Paul Williams, (IBF champ Kermit) Cintron or (WBA champ Miguel) Cotto. Mayweather is probably too fast for him, but we're talking about Mayweather here. He's in his prime, and the only thing he's lacking is opportunity. This fight can help get him closer to that opportunity."
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