A Clottey upset over Cotto gives boxing therapeutic enema

Going back a few decades there was a decent Mexican heavyweight fighter. No names will be mentioned here to protect the partially innocent (?). Anyway, the big fellow got an offer to fight in the Midwest against a guy who was a complete fake, a guy whose record was more padded than Britney Spears. It didn’t take long for the heavyweight to indicate his acceptance of a fixed fight in which he would make a big splash. “Me fall down, make good money, good,” the heavyweight said. Sure enough, this method actor handled his role perfectly. He laid down so easily you would have thought he had been a mattress tester. I say that to say this. Sometimes, boxing can use a good upset for therapeutic effect. Sometimes, a stimulating upset victory acts as a flushing agent to give boxing a productive enema. Now no one even hints there is anything not on the level about Miguel Cotto’s WBO welterweight title defense Saturday night at Madison Square Garden against plucky Ghanaian Joshua Clottey. But the possibility of such a cleansing upset is quite real. Personally, I cannot root against Cotto. On the other hand, unless you’ve been one of his tortured promoters or managers, it would be hard to root against Clottey. if you have been one of his managers or promoters, then you know what an obstinate little M.F. Clottey can be. M.F., of course as Redd Foxx would say, stands for Maryland Farmer. Clottey has come up the hard way, no pampered treatment for him. This is his big shot, his chance to show he’s A Level and not the B Level fighter most in boxing consider him to be. A loss here in a competitive fight won’t ruin Cotto but it would be a serious setback. A loss here for Clottey and it could be Palookaville rather than Pacquiaoville as his next destination. I’ve got it. I’m just rooting for a real, down in the trenches brawl. If that happens, then boxing wins.