DALLAS , Texas – Joshua Clottey pales in comparison to Manny Pacquiao in terms of strengths and weaknesses from the point of view of the dean of world boxing commentators, Bert Randolf Sugar, who reiterated his analysis with colleagues and experts during the final press conference of "The Event" at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine March 11.
Sugar said, "Pacquiao possesses faster hand speed—the frequency of his punches registering pinball machine-like numbers on the Compu-Box punch meter long with greater foot speed and lateral movement."
Clottey, he said, is "a naturally heavier, physically stronger fighter than Pacquiao and could enter the ring at least 10-12 pounds heavier than the smaller Pacquiao."
Clottey also has an "excellent defense, one he himself says is ‘not easy to crack.’ With his elbows in close and his hands held high, almost as if he were hiding behind a wall, he reminds boxing experts of Winky Wright."
Pacquiao’s ability to throw punches in bunches, almost asfastasyoucanread this, will challenge Clottey’s defensive skills, Sugar observed.
"With one-punch knockout power as illustrated by his devastating two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton and attested to by his ‘slugging’ average of .717, with 38 knockout punchers of the past, like Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Rocky Graziano—Pacquiao hits harder than Clottey and will present a test for Clottey’s supposedly ‘iron’ chin."
Clottey, on the other hand, possesses an excellent job, said Sugar. And with a 3-inch reach advantage, should be able to reach Pacquiao.
A determined fighter, Clottey, who, in the words of one reporter, has "indefatigable will power." Like his countrymen, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, and Ben Tackie, Clottey will be there, in front of Pacquiao, pressuring him for most of the fight, Sugar pointed out.
Sugar said the native of Accra , Ghana who now resides in Bronx , New York , "possesses good chin whiskers, having never been stopped and put down only once—that by Cotto on a jab he walked into in the first round of their fight."
Pacquiao gets stronger as the rounds progress, registering later round stoppages of Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Angel Cotto, having worn both down in earlier rounds.
WEAKNESSES
Pacquiao’s amazing ability to leap divisions in a single bounce will be put to a test against the bigger and stronger Clottey, who looks as if he were born at 147 pounds, warned Sugar.
"Although Pacquiao has rarely had to move backwards in his previous fights, he will now have to adapt to Clottey’s constant forward movement and pressure, needing to give ground before coming forward, a change in style for him. "Pacquiao’s style is one built of offense, offense, and more offenses, not one built on defense. He tends to come charging in, with his hands held low and his chin raised after he punches, giving Clottey an inviting target.
"When Pacquiao misses, he is sometimes off-balance, his body moving faster than his feet can carry him, leaving him susceptible to Clottey’s counters.
"In previous fights there has been a question of Pacquiao’s focus. Now, with Manny having declared for political office in the Philippines and the election just eight weeks away, the question of his focus on his fight surfaces once again."
Clottey, on the other hand, is a one-dimensional fighter, fighting in a straight line with little or no side-to-side or head movement, said Sugar.
"Like all forward-moving pressure fighters Clottey takes his share of incoming punches, something he is more than willing to accept, almost as if feeding off of them.
"Clottey has a passive defense, taking his time blocking shots on his gloves and elbows before countering which, if done too often, will put him at a decided disadvantage against the far more active Pacquiao.
"While stamina doesn’t seem to be a question for Clottey, his ‘killer instinct’ may be questionable as witnessed by his performance against Miguel Cotto where he grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory by merely pawing at the half-blinded Cotto in the closing rounds in a game of cat and mouse as Cotto ran away with a split decision win."
(Did these observations surface on the March 14 Pacquiao-Clottey fight?) /MP
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