By Cliff Rold
It remains to be seen just how big an event “The Event” will be outside Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night. With over 40,000 tickets already sold, it will look the part. Pay-per-view sales, particularly in contrast to May’s pending Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight, will be careful observed. A single certainty exists.
There will definitely be a fight.
By the time the main event is over, viewers may be saying they saw one hell of a fight. The cut and trim combatants weighed in on Friday, and the clash of styles promises violence. There will be those still frustrated that this fight isn’t THE fight (Pacquiao-Mayweather…duh) they were hoping for.
It’s a fair frustration.
Wipe it away and look at this for what it is, rather than isn’t, and what emerges is something any fight fan would have been happy with. The pound for pound leader is in with perhaps the biggest, certainly the most durable, fighter he’s ever seen. They both are among the top five Welterweights in the world, a class perceived among the best in the game.
And neither ever makes a boring night.
Let’s go to the report card.
The Ledgers
Manny Pacquiao
Age: 31
Current Titles: WBO Welterweight, 2009-Present, 0 Defenses; Lineal/Ring World Jr. Welterweight 2009-Present, 0 Defenses (not on the line)
Previous Titles: Lineal/WBC World Flyweight 1998-99, 1 Defense; IBF Jr. Featherweight 2001-03, 4 Defenses; Lineal/Ring World Featherweight 2003-05, 2 Defenses; Lineal/Ring/WBC World Jr. Lightweight 2008; WBC Lightweight 2008-09
Height: 5’6 ½
Weight: 145.75 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 137.5 lbs.
Hails from: General Santos City, Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Record: 50-3-2, 38 KO
Record in Title Fights: 12-1-2, 11 KO, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 11 (Chatchai Sasakul, Lehlo Ledwaba, Jorge Eliecer Julio, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar Larios, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat or Draw: 4 (Medgoen Singsurat, Agapito Sanchez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales)
Vs.
Joshua Clottey
Age: 32
Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF Welterweight (2008-09, 0 Defenses)
Height: 5’8
Weight: 147 lbs.
Average Weight - Five Most Recent Fights: 148.4 lbs.
Hails from: Accra, Ghana
Record: 35-3, 20 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-2
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 2 (Diego Corrales, Zab Judah)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 3 (Carlos Baldomir, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto)
Let’s go to the report card.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Pacquiao A+; Clottey B
Pre-Fight: Power – Pacquiao A-; Clottey B-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Pacquiao B+; Clottey B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Pacquiao A; Clottey B
Pacquiao’s biggest advantage in this contest will be the same it is in every contest: speed. He might be the fastest fighter in boxing right now and from the southpaw side it makes him especially dangerous. His speed used to be more of hand than foot but, as has been well documented, improved balance and the addition of a potent lead right hook have played a part in improved feet as well. His skill in creating punching angles, and forcing his opponents to generate openings, has been a key to his recent success. He sometimes looks faster at Welterweight than he did in lower divisions. He’s not, in fact may be just a tick slower, but in a traditionally fast weight class he’s still faster than what most Welterweights are used to.
It’s where his power comes into play. Pacquiao’s 2008 knockout of Ricky Hatton and second knockdown of Miguel Cotto were so devastating as to make it appear he’s hitting harder. It could be, but there is also the element of surprise. He’s catching guys before they can react or know to; Hatton never saw it coming. In besting Oscar De La Hoya, and in Cotto’s ability to endure late into the fight, it was accumulation of punches that brought the end but blind punches that drew his foes towards submission.
Clottey will test all of these traits. Not the fastest fighter, Clottey possesses good timing and a dispruptive jab. He knows when to throw punches, effective in bringing his right hand up and over defenses, targeting in spots. He sacrifices already only so-so power to do it, but Clottey elicits respect from opponents. His hands are heavy if not concussive. Clottey’s problem is that he takes offensive breaks, meaning he often has impressive runs of punches and then it’s back to earmuffing.
The earmuffs should serve him well Saturday. Clottey’s defense isn’t nuanced but it can be tough to get through consistently. He holds his hands high and tight, long arms taking away the full brunt of head shots and elbows protecting the body. His jab pops out of the shell but he trades off. He’s either on offense or defense; there is a discernible shift from postures. Pacquiao has improved defensively and is much more integrated, able to slip and dodge into a countering position. Against Cotto he took some big hooks in exchanges. Can Clottey, will Clottey, open up and throw when Pacquiao is? If he does, this thing gets real close real fast.
In terms of intangibles, both men have tested and to date proven chins. Clottey suffered a flash knockdown off a jab early against Cotto, but it was clearly a matter of well timed punching and balance. Clottey wasn’t the least bit hurt. Trapped against the ropes midway through the bout, Cotto let loose with both hands for an extended rush. Clottey took it, inhaled, and came forward. Clottey is the sort of stout challenger who might just take Pacquiao’s Sunday punch and smile.
How will Pacquiao react to that?
The Filipino icon should be fine but he has always been able to have the psychological edge of at least staggering even his biggest foes, regardless of whether they hit the floor. In terms of chin, Pacquiao’s has kept him off the floor for years and he took some blasts from Cotto. Clottey doesn’t hit as hard so Pacquiao should be able to handle individual shots. If Clottey draws him into a war, and can body Pacquiao up, could the defending WBO titlist find more fatigue than he’s accustomed to? Having risen so high on the scale, there’s still that waiting for a bigger man who can act it against Pacquiao. Clottey has a tall task in attempting to seize the role.
The Pick
The outcome of this fight is treated as a foregone conclusion by most and this pick follows the tide…with caveats. Clottey is a tough out, one of those Ghanaian rocks whose steadiness is both blessing and curse. He’s developed a knock as a fighter who can’t close and perhaps that’s true, but in the Cotto fight he had a hell of a case for victory despite Cotto’s late rally. A point here or there and is Clottey’s lack of closing still a focus? It might be a talking point with less substance than supposed.
The other issues of substance Saturday aren’t overstated.
Pacquiao is the faster, more versatile fighter and, outside of the Welterweights fighting in May, presumptively the most skilled Welterweight in the world. Too often skill is talked about in defensive terms but what Pacquiao does, what consistently great offensive fighters do, is a skill set as well. It would be shocking to see Clottey take a ten count, surprising to see him submit in a corner or be stopped at all. It would not be shocking to see Pacquiao win a clear but competitive decision on Saturday night.
Report Card Picks 2010: 4-1
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
