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HOLLYWOOD -- Did Joshua Clottey know in advance the traps laid out by Manny Pacquiao during "The Event" on Saturday?
Chief trainer Freddie Roach suspects the Ghanaian did, owing to his startling refusal to engage the Filipino ring icon in a slugfest while behind on all scorecards for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title duel.
Wire reports of the bout awarded to Pacquiao by unanimous decision later revealed that Clottey also ignored the incessant pleadings of his corner to emerge from his shell and impose his physical advantages over the pound-for-pound king.
From a proud and proven warrior, Clottey suddenly became a humbled victim whose instinct is merely to survive and not to win.
This transformation, though unpleasant to the eye of the 50,944 who trooped to the Cowboys Stadium, may have saved Clottey from being Pacquiao’s fifth straight knockout victim.
The game plan, hatched by Roach and Pacquiao after studying Clottey’s fights, was to catch the Ghanaian when he’s unleashing the punch.
“I knew our best chance of knocking Clottey out would be to catch him when he’s throwing a punch,” Roach told George Kimball of The sweetscience.com Sunday.
“But Clottey doesn’t like to punch while you’re throwing one. The plan was that Manny would throw a one-two and then step backward as if he were trying to get out.
"We knew that would bring Clottey in, and the instant Manny saw him start to throw his jab he was supposed to catch him with a hook on top of it.
”Thing was Clottey never bothered to follow Pacquiao as he normally does in previous fights.
"The key is that Manny can’t be too effective with the first combination, because you didn’t want to discourage Clottey from doing what he was bound to do next,” Roach said.
“It’s just to bait the hook. The problem was we had Manny try it about ten times during the fight, and not once did Clottey try to move in and throw the jab.”
Roach became more intrigued by Clottey’s pronouncements that he didn’t watch tape and yet he was clearly familiar with the plan.
The four-time Trainer of the Year then gave a hint saying that Pacquiao had a Ghanaian sparring partner (Abdullai Amidu) in his training for Clottey, who, however, preserved his legacy of never been knocked out.
“Maybe that’s the answer,” said Roach, who went to New York Monday to attend a press conference for Amir Khan’s coming fight against Paulie Malignaggi.
Roach is a genius.
Chief trainer Freddie Roach suspects the Ghanaian did, owing to his startling refusal to engage the Filipino ring icon in a slugfest while behind on all scorecards for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title duel.
Wire reports of the bout awarded to Pacquiao by unanimous decision later revealed that Clottey also ignored the incessant pleadings of his corner to emerge from his shell and impose his physical advantages over the pound-for-pound king.
From a proud and proven warrior, Clottey suddenly became a humbled victim whose instinct is merely to survive and not to win.
This transformation, though unpleasant to the eye of the 50,944 who trooped to the Cowboys Stadium, may have saved Clottey from being Pacquiao’s fifth straight knockout victim.
The game plan, hatched by Roach and Pacquiao after studying Clottey’s fights, was to catch the Ghanaian when he’s unleashing the punch.
“I knew our best chance of knocking Clottey out would be to catch him when he’s throwing a punch,” Roach told George Kimball of The sweetscience.com Sunday.
“But Clottey doesn’t like to punch while you’re throwing one. The plan was that Manny would throw a one-two and then step backward as if he were trying to get out.
"We knew that would bring Clottey in, and the instant Manny saw him start to throw his jab he was supposed to catch him with a hook on top of it.
”Thing was Clottey never bothered to follow Pacquiao as he normally does in previous fights.
"The key is that Manny can’t be too effective with the first combination, because you didn’t want to discourage Clottey from doing what he was bound to do next,” Roach said.
“It’s just to bait the hook. The problem was we had Manny try it about ten times during the fight, and not once did Clottey try to move in and throw the jab.”
Roach became more intrigued by Clottey’s pronouncements that he didn’t watch tape and yet he was clearly familiar with the plan.
The four-time Trainer of the Year then gave a hint saying that Pacquiao had a Ghanaian sparring partner (Abdullai Amidu) in his training for Clottey, who, however, preserved his legacy of never been knocked out.
“Maybe that’s the answer,” said Roach, who went to New York Monday to attend a press conference for Amir Khan’s coming fight against Paulie Malignaggi.
Roach is a genius.
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