Defense the key for Clottey

Watch Pacquiao vs Clottey Online Joshua Clottey believes he has the tools to end the winning streak of Manny Pacquiao in Dallas on March 13.

The tough Ghanaian lost a controversial decision to Miguel Angel Cotto in his last fight in June, with Pacquiao handing out a 12-round beating to the same opponent later in the year.
Clottey is something of an afterthought for Pacquiao after the much-hyped match with Floyd Mayweather fell through, but the 32-year-old says he is ready to cause a shock.

"I wasn't really thinking about this fight at all," he told boxingtalk.com. "But I know I can fight anybody and I know I can beat any boxer.

"It looked like somebody didn't want to fight. All the guys were talking about Pacquiao v Mayweather and it looks like he didn't want to do it, and it's good for me.
"I feel like it was a blessing from God."

Defense

While Clottey, whose record stands at 35-3 with 20 kos, will have a natural size advantage over Pacquiao, he insists it is not his superior strength that will be the key, but his defence.

"When he beats guys, like in the Cotto fight, he beats guys that don't have a good defence. I have a defence," he said. "I will never say anything bad about the guy because he is the best now.
"When I walk in the ring with Manny Pacquiao and I lost, I will tell everybody I lost the fight. But I keep telling people I didn't lose the Cotto fight because I don't feel that I did. When I walk into the ring, I do what I want to do to win the fight, to do my best."

He also said that while naturally lighter boxers like Pacquiao can throw a higher volume of punches, his more accurate blows will eventually tell.

"You know, I'm not a flyweight. I am not a bantamweight. I am a welterweight and welterweights only throw punches that connect.

"I can throw shots which connect and land and cause damage. Not throw a lot of punches that he is deflecting and blocking. If you look at the last fight, I won the last round.

Damage

"He threw punches and I blocked them and I threw punches and they connected. I will throw punches that cause damage."

While Clottey respects Pacquiao's star quality he knows that beating him would be a life-changing experience.

"He is the man now and he's giving me a chance to fight him and if I beat him, I'm going to be on top of the world," he added. "It will be very important to the people in my country and that is very important in life.

"When I walk into the ring I will know what I need to do to win the fight."
source: skysports.com

Pacman all set and rarin' to KO Clottey

MANILA, Philippines - Barely six weeks into training and Freddie Roach believes that Manny Pacquiao is ready to fight.

And ready to knock Joshua Clottey out.

“Manny Pacquiao is in great shape. We boxed 11 rounds yesterday with four different sparring partners. With all four of them, he’s looking really good. He’s got the gameplan in place,” Roach told fighthype.com.

Roach said Pacquiao will spar 12 rounds today (Saturday in Los Angeles) and will start tapering off with two weeks left for the fight at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

For this fight, Roach has reduced the number of sparring rounds from close to 150 as in the previous fights to just a little over a hundred. He said they’re not underestimating Clottey but Pacquiao is just as sharp as when he defeated Miguel Cotto last November.

It took Pacquiao just a couple of weeks of training for Roach to feel that both the power and speed were there. And it was just a matter of days for Pacquiao to work on his timing and his strength and conditioning.

“He did such a good job yesterday I almost wanted to give him a day off. But Manny won’t take a day off. We’ll box 12 rounds on Saturday. That will be our peak day then we’ll start tapering off from that point,” said Roach.

The four-time Trainer of the Year recognizes the ability of Clottey but is getting even more confident that Pacquiao will be the first one to knock out the 33-year-old former champion from Ghana.

“I do believe he will be the first person to stop him (Clottey) before the 12th round,” said Roach.

Pacquiao, who fielded questions Friday during a media conference, will head to Dallas on March 8 after a morning session at the Wild Card Gym.

Yet, Clottey remained unfazed. To him, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be up against the greatest fighter of this era, and he’s not going to waste it.

“I have more confidence this time around because I’m taking this fight like if I win, I have bigger things ahead. I have so much respect for Manny, so that gives me more confidence because I respect the guy,” he said.

“I respect the guy because, if he has the chance, he can stop me. So I respect him because of that, and because of that, I’m more confident,” he said.source: phistar.com