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Ghana Will Have Reason To Celebrate Tonight
What Clottey lacks in fluid footwork and athletic agility he more then makes up for with a tremendous defense. Clottey is a very physically imposing welter weight who is built like a tank. He stands upright with his chin tucked in a very classic high guard shell. The man has HUGE forearms and uses those to his advantage (much like Winky Wright) to defend against on coming punches. It may look like he is more vulnerable to body punches but not alot of guys have gotten to him because he simply guards against that attack by moving those tree branches up and down. How will he fair against a heavy handed body puncher like Cotto..we shall see tomorrow. But do not be surprised if he can't get to clottey.
Like many African born prize fighters, Josh has a very powerful and underrated jab. It seems as if you are from Ghana, it is almost a prerequisite to be armed with a sledgehammer like jab. When Clottey fires his out of that classic stance he really resembles a young Ike Quartey. Like Quartey's jab, Clottey steps into it and fires with enough force to not only throw your timing off, but move your whole body positioning so he can set you up with a straight right. Why many fans and boxing scribes fail to recognize his is beyond me, but trust me it is there and it may end up being the deciding factor as to how well Cotto fares against him from distance.
Besides having an excellent jab and a great defense, Josh for my money is THE toughest son of a ***** in the sport right now. Take into consideration his fight with Margarito 2 years ago. Clottey easily swept the first 4 rounds and was looking like the spoiler when he broke his right hand going into the 5th round. It is unknown at this time if Margarito was fighting with loaded gloves or not..but what is known is he fought with one had for 7 rounds , took Margarito's best shots, remained undaunted AND made it to the final bell in what would be a very very close decision lost . The same could not be said for Cotto who was overwhelmed and eventually beat to a pulp down the stretch by the same fighter. In my eyes there is nothing wrong with losing a classic fight the way he did, but please keep in mind Clottey may have been the victim of foul play as well and did not bend, break, or wilt under the pressure of the Tijuana Tornado.
There are alot of things that worry me about tomorrow nights fight. Though coming back to beat Michael Jennings ( an opponent who served no threat and who was tailor made to boost Miguel's confidence) , Cotto had a very ugly and public fight and split with his life long trainer Evangelista.
The split with a long time trainer close to a big fight is bad enough, but in recent fights Cotto has shown that he tends to gas out in the championship rounds (something clottey does not do) . He did it in the Mosely fight and allowed shane to close the gap down the stretch and it almost cost him the fight. He set a fantastic pace in the Margarito fight but couldn't hold it for 12 rounds and in about the 8th or 9th Antonio took advantage of that, walked him down and gave him a horrific beating.
There are alot of questions surrounding Miguel at this point because of the damage he took in the Margarito fight. That kind of fight can change a fighter and i really think Bob Arum and team cotto took a miscalculated risk by matching him with Clottey.
I like Clottey by Majority dec..Do not be surprised though if the Ghana native hurts, drops or even stops Cotto
Cotto fans
Like many African born prize fighters, Josh has a very powerful and underrated jab. It seems as if you are from Ghana, it is almost a prerequisite to be armed with a sledgehammer like jab. When Clottey fires his out of that classic stance he really resembles a young Ike Quartey. Like Quartey's jab, Clottey steps into it and fires with enough force to not only throw your timing off, but move your whole body positioning so he can set you up with a straight right. Why many fans and boxing scribes fail to recognize his is beyond me, but trust me it is there and it may end up being the deciding factor as to how well Cotto fares against him from distance.
Besides having an excellent jab and a great defense, Josh for my money is THE toughest son of a ***** in the sport right now. Take into consideration his fight with Margarito 2 years ago. Clottey easily swept the first 4 rounds and was looking like the spoiler when he broke his right hand going into the 5th round. It is unknown at this time if Margarito was fighting with loaded gloves or not..but what is known is he fought with one had for 7 rounds , took Margarito's best shots, remained undaunted AND made it to the final bell in what would be a very very close decision lost . The same could not be said for Cotto who was overwhelmed and eventually beat to a pulp down the stretch by the same fighter. In my eyes there is nothing wrong with losing a classic fight the way he did, but please keep in mind Clottey may have been the victim of foul play as well and did not bend, break, or wilt under the pressure of the Tijuana Tornado.
There are alot of things that worry me about tomorrow nights fight. Though coming back to beat Michael Jennings ( an opponent who served no threat and who was tailor made to boost Miguel's confidence) , Cotto had a very ugly and public fight and split with his life long trainer Evangelista.
The split with a long time trainer close to a big fight is bad enough, but in recent fights Cotto has shown that he tends to gas out in the championship rounds (something clottey does not do) . He did it in the Mosely fight and allowed shane to close the gap down the stretch and it almost cost him the fight. He set a fantastic pace in the Margarito fight but couldn't hold it for 12 rounds and in about the 8th or 9th Antonio took advantage of that, walked him down and gave him a horrific beating.
There are alot of questions surrounding Miguel at this point because of the damage he took in the Margarito fight. That kind of fight can change a fighter and i really think Bob Arum and team cotto took a miscalculated risk by matching him with Clottey.
I like Clottey by Majority dec..Do not be surprised though if the Ghana native hurts, drops or even stops Cotto
Cotto fans
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