MANILA, MARCH 13, 2010 (STAR) THE GAME OF MY LIFE By Bill Velasco - Manny Pacquiao is a ridiculously prohibitive favorite to retain his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey tomorrow. The odds are so heavily stacked in the Filipino champ's favor that it isn't practical to bet big money on him. It's akin to betting just to win interest on your investment.
It will be Clottey's second attempt to annex the WBO welterweight title. On December 2, 2006, Clottey lost his first-ever world title bout via unanimous decision to Antonio Margarito, having trouble with his taller opponent's reach and power. Margarito also gave the same fits to Miguel Cotto, changing the scenario planned by Oscar dela Hoya at the time. Against Pacquiao, he will be facing a smaller but quicker and vastly more skilled opponent, who has stopped a veritable Hall of Fame list over the last five years.
More and more, it is starting to come out that Clottey is not a dirty fighter, just an awkward one. He doesn't consciously have a black bag of tricks, but probably doesn't know any better, having come from a desperate, dirt-poor family headed by a father who works on street construction in a lower-class community in Ghana.
Against a fighter of Pacquiao's stature, Clottey will be befuddled by the variety and speed of the WBO champ's punches. He will not really take the initiative, except perhaps out of desperation.
"Clottey has many problems coming into this fight," Tolentino elaborates. "He's showing up with a new trainer, because his real trainer couldn't get a US visa. His new trainer, Lenny de Jesus, was just a cutman of Pacquiao. That's like Tiger Woods showing up at the Masters with a set of kiddie golf clubs. And Clottey will not chase fighters. He will put his hands up, and wait for you to get close.
Much prognostication has been done about which round Pacquiao will fell the challenger, as it seems to be a given that Pacquiao will win by knockout. Principe, who is in constant contact will the trainers of both boxers, has a contrary opinion.
"I think he will go in eight rounds," Tolentino predicts. "Against a Manny Pacquiao, you cannot be a defensive fighter; you have to throw a lot of punches. I think Pacquiao will start slow, and his combinations will gradually wear down Clottey. Manny just has too many combinations and so much speed that Clottey will not be able to match him." Since everything seems to be going for Pacquiao, what does he have to look out for?
But there seems to be very little Joshua Clottey can do to keep Manny Pacquiao from using him as a human stepping stone to a possible megabuck fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., assuming Mayweather gets past Shane Mosley.