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Pacquiao Pounds Cautious Clottey to Retain Title
Tim Dahlberg | March 14, 2010

(R-L) Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines throws a right to the head of Joshua Clottey of Ghana. (AFP Photo) (R-L) Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines throws a right to the head of Joshua Clottey of Ghana. (AFP Photo)
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Arlington, Texas. Manny Pacquiao dominated a strangely passive Joshua Clottey from the opening bell on Saturday to retain his WBO welterweight title.

With 50,994 fans — the biggest fight crowd in the United States in 17 years — cheering him on at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Pacquiao made sure the result was never in doubt.

One ringside judge gave Pacquiao every round, while the other two gave him all but one.

It was not as flashy as his knockout of Ricky Hatton or as savage as the beating he gave Oscar De La Hoya, but there was no doubt Pacquiao was in command the entire way against Clottey, who kept his gloves up high in front of his face, rarely risking a flurry. The Ghanaian’s strategy got him to the final bell, but he was never competitive in the biggest fight of his career.

“He’s a very tough opponent,” Pacquiao said. “He was looking for a big shot.”

Pacquiao was supposed to have been fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. instead of Clottey, but the mega-fight between two claimants on the title of world’s best pound-for-pound fighter fell apart over a dispute over blood testing.

“I want that fight, the world wants that fight, but it’s up to him,” Pacquiao said.

Mayweather is instead fighting Shane Mosley on May 1, and the earliest the two could get together would be in the autumn, and only if Mayweather backs off his demands for blood testing.

The fight on Saturday night was more of an event than a real competition, bringing in the biggest crowd in the United States for a fight since Julio Cesar Cha­vez fought Pernell Whitaker at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, in 1993. It paid off handsomely for Pacquiao, though, who earned at least $12 million.

“It’s one of the most incredible stories, not just in boxing but anywhere,” promoter Bob Arum said. “Fourteen years ago he was sleeping in a cardboard shack in the Philippines, and tonight he puts 51,000 people in this palace in Dallas.”

The tone of the bout was set early, with Pacquiao advancing against his taller opponent and throwing punches with both hands from all angles.

Clottey’s corner urged him late in the fight to take some risks, but even in the final round when he needed a knockout to win, the Ghanaian only sparingly dropped his guard. Trainer Lenny DeJesus implored him after the sixth round: “You’re in a fight and you gotta start taking chances.”

Pacquiao threw three times as many punches as Clottey, an average of 100 a round. Final stats showed Pacquiao landing 246 of 1,231 to 108 of 399 for Clottey.

  Boxing

Associated Press