Pacquiao-Clottey Fight

Manny Pacquiao dominated Joshua Clottey in a unanimous decision to retain his welterweight title last night at Cowboy Stadium.

The fight’s sequence of action was almost an exact reverse of Pacquiao’s fight last November against Miguel Cotto, when the Filipino stopped the bigger fighter in the twelfth round. That fight saw the boxers engage early on, only to have Cotto shift to defensive mode for the rest of the fight. Clottey started last night’s bout in defensive mode and only opened up in minor bursts in the last three rounds, fizzling by the last bell.

Pacquiao did to Clottey what he has done to his previous four opponents—made them gun shy (though, to be more accurate, Ricky Hatton had little time to get his finger on the trigger).

The Ghanaian boxer is known for his impenetrable peek-a-boo defense and fantastic counterpunching. The Filipino, however, found jabs up the middle and, more effectively, hooked around Clottey’s elbows into his ribs.

Clottey blocked about four out of five of Pacquiao's punches, but the champ's onslaught, some 1200 punches throughout the fight, was enough to make the challenger cover up for almost the entire twelve rounds. Clottey gave himself no opportunity to win the bout. Lenny Dejesus, who was promoted to trainer from cutman when Clottey's first choice was denied a visa to enter the United States from Ghana, urged his fighter to take a risk. Clottey's attempts were few, earnest, and in the end insufficient.

In the tenth round, Clottey attempted to break out of his defense, successfully placing his lead foot outside of Pacquiao’s right foot, important positioning for an orthodox fighter to beat a southpaw. But the strategy only gave Pacquiao an opportunity to showcase his ability to deliver punches even when he’s out of position.

If Clottey had some idea that Pacquiao would punch himself out late in the fight, that idea was proved wrong in the eleventh round. Clottey put together a few effective combinations, but Pacquiao, as he did against Cotto, responded each time with a more ferocious barrage, some combinations of six and seven punches in a row.

The first round, like the subsequent rounds, were won by Pacquiao commanding the ring with his movement and punch volume. Clottey did come out with a double right hook and showed a couple instances where he cut the Pac-Man off along the ropes. The true welterweight did not return to these tactics though. For the rest of the fight, Clottey's attacks were limited mostly to one and two-punch combinations spaced so far apart, it became clear very quickly that he was settling for survival mode.

In a post-fight interview, Pacquiao revealed the team’s plan to jab as a way of breaking down Clottey’s defense. Pacquiao was suppose to hook over Clottey’s jab. The champion tried everything from feints to standing still and he could not draw many of those jabs from the challenger. Two judges had Pacquiao taking eleven rounds to Clottey's one. The third judge had Pacquiao winning all twelve rounds.

With this victory, Pacquiao displayed not only the benefits of his now famous four-hour training sessions, but his mental toughness, psychological preparation, and style adaptability.

Fans wait to see the outcome of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s match-up against top veteran Shane Mosley on May 1. The winner of that fight is likely to face Pacquiao. In the meantime, the champion will be gearing up for his bid for a national congressional seat in the Philippines.