Clottey laments lack of government support
By NICK GIONGCO
Manila Bulettin
|
| |
Joshua Clottey believes his native Ghana is not fully behind him in his bold bid to kick Manny Pacquiao out of
the pound-for-pound throne.
Speaking to Ghanaweb over the weekend, Clottey, who battles Pacquiao on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium
in Dallas, said Ghanaian boxing officials and the government itself have not been very helpful in his request
that Godwin Dzanie Kotey be given a hand in applying for a renewal of his US visa.
Clottey has been in training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the last two weeks under the guidance of a
substitute trainer who the African fighter is not accustomed to.
"I am with a trainer but not the one I want and you know it so don't ask me because you know I came to
Ghana to bring Alloway (Kotey's nickname) with me to come with him so I will do my best," said the
32-year-old Clottey, who now lives in the Bronx in New York.
"I am fine," said Clottey sarcastically.
"Tell Ghana that they've disappointed me by not giving my trainer visa to come here with me."
Clottey had to break training camp last month when Kotey was denied a visa and while he was in the capital
of Accra, Ghana officials said they will help Kotey apply and succeed in getting a renewal, forcing the boxer to
head back to the US again to renew his preparation.
Coupled with Pacquiao's status as the world's No. 1 puncher, Clottey's dillema is only making it easy for
oddsmakers to justify the overwhelming betting line in favor of the Filipino. On-line betting has Pacquiao a
huge 5-1 favorite over Clottey.
Over at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, Pacquiao's workouts have been fast and furious,
according to his handlers.
In the next two weeks, Pacquiao's sparring sessions will reach its zenith with as many as 12 rounds of
banging bodies with his sparmates in just one day on tap under the watchful eyes of Freddie Roach.
Team Pacquiao leaves for Dallas on a private plane courtesy of Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum on March 8.
|
| |
Pacquiao eyes unification fight vs. Mosley
|
| |
Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao is eyeing a title unification fight with “Sugar” Shane Mosley as early as July this
year, should both hurdle their coming fights. Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO)
welterweight title against Joshua Clottey on March 13, while Mosley has signed a contract staking his World
Boxing Association (WBA) welter belt against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 1.
Pacquiao, who is currently training for his coming fight in Los Angeles, thinks Mosley will beat Mayweather
convincingly in their May showdown booked at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
If that happens, and assuming he gets past Clottey in the first defense of his WBO title, then a unification
mega bout between him and Mosley is the logical thing to do.
“Shane like [me] will force pressure on Floyd for every minute of every round,” Pacquiao told Violito
Tanamor of TheBoxingHistorian.com.
“Shane has fought the best in the welterweight division for over a decade and has faced the best the division
has to offer. I think he will be too much for Mayweather and will stop Floyd.”
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is confident his prized Filipino student will beat Clottey and will then face
the winner of Mosley-Mayweather in July.
Pacquiao made it clear that he is not looking past Clottey and is training very hard for the bigger and stronger
slugger from Ghana.
He also said he is quite excited to be fighting before a huge live audience at the modern Dallas Cowboys
Stadium in Texas.
“I feel honored and privileged to be fighting in such a venue,” he said.
Pacquiao-Mosley would be more exciting than Pacquiao-Mayweather because of the boxers’ style of fighting.
Roach, a four-time Trainer of the Year, said in a previous interview that a match-up between PacMan and
Mayweather could be boring because the latter loves to run and is a defense-oriented fighter.
In contrast, Mosley is a come-forward boxer-puncher just like Pacquiao, and both have high knockout ratios
at the highest levels of fighting.
Pacquiao has scored four consecutive KO wins against elite opponents in his last four fights, namely: David
Diaz, ninth round KO; Oscar De La Hoya, eighth round TKO; Ricky Hatton, second round KO; and Miguel
Cotto, 12th round TKO.
Pacquiao collected world titles at lightweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight and cemented his
stature as the world’s best pound-for-pound in those four super fights.
Mosley, on the other hand, won his WBA title by stopping the favored Antonio Margarito in the ninth round of
their January 24 title fight.
Before that, he knocked out the brash former welterweight titlist Ricardo Mayorga with barely a few seconds
left in the final round in July 2008.
|
|
