Inside the Ropes 03.15.10: Clottey As Bad As He Wants to Be

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 03.15.2010

In truly embarrassing fashion, Joshua Clottey came to Arlington with upset on his mind, but was content to let Pacquiao do all the punching while he covered up like a scared turtle. My thoughts on Clottey’s pathetic showing as well as a little “BANG!” in this week’s edition of Inside the Ropes.


Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

As I sat down to write this column, I knew my topic would have to be Joshua Clottey. While most writers will no doubt deservedly praise Manny Pacquiao this week for another dominant performance (I'll do that later), there was just no way I couldn't address Clottey's lack of just about everything on Saturday night in front of nearly 51,000 fans.

Coming into the fight, while Pacquiao was favored by just about everyone I talked to, most conceded that Joshua Clottey was at least a stern test if not a dangerous opponent. "High risk, low reward" as was justifiably noted by our own Ali Shakoor a few months ago. A fighter who has impeccable defensive skills and is heavy handed enough to shake you, Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) hoped to at least give Pacquiao something to think about during their welterweight fight. Needless to say, after twelve uneventful and painful-to-watch rounds, the only thing the Ghanaian fighter proved was just how afraid he was of boxing's pound for pound king.

Look, I've seen fighters get plastered all over the ring by Manny such as David Diaz who at least fought his heart out in their fight before ending up face first on the canvas; and hell he was on that card too, doing his best to actually win his fight; but what Clottey did in that ring was both an embarrassment and a slap in the face to boxing fans everywhere who were on hand or shelled out $50-$60 to watch the fight.

Clottey didn't come to fight let's be honest here. No, Clottey showed up to be a punching bag and collect a check. In fact, his post-fight smiling and hugging made me ill. How can a guy who did absolutely nothing but cover up smile? You could just hear the fans collectively wondering: "What the hell is this guy so happy about?" I'll tell you what he's happy about – that he stayed on his feet and took part in a 12-round sparring session.For a guy who yearns for the big opportunities and was so ecstatic to get the fight, he sure as hell didn't fight like it. Cry me a river if this is the last title opportunity Joshua Clottey gets; after Saturday night, he doesn't deserve one.

As for Manny Pacquiao, I'll just say that I give him full credit for doing everything he could in his power to try and get Clottey to exchange. That he didn't panic but rather stayed composed and patient while he tried to break apart the guard of his challenger (if we can even call him that) speaks volumes. It's yet another dominant performance by the sport's best and we can only hope that the winner of Mayweather vs. Mosley is next.

As for the rest of the card – utter crap.

Neither undercard fight was watchable and for a card dubbed "The Event", this was more like "The Joke". Jose Luis Castillo was another fighter who had no business in the ring and made no real effort to do anything. He's a broken down shell of his former self and I'm glad that he announced his retirement after the fight.

John Duddy…well let's just say that Duddy has proven once again that he doesn't belong with any top-10 fighter at junior middleweight or middleweight in the immediate future – if ever.

Soto vs. Diaz was somewhat decent but even that was a stretch. Soto went from being a threat to anyone at junior lightweight and lightweight to a probably stepping stone. He looked terrible! Props to David Diaz for at least doing what he does best – do what it takes to try and win. It simply wasn't enough on Saturday.

Jim Lampley Tirade

In my years covering and watching the sport, never have I witnessed a broadcast commentator do something that both made me laugh and shake my head in disgust. During the 8th round of Pacquiao's sparring match with Joshua Clottey, Jim Lampley, probably from boredom and frustration began to shout "BANG!" over and over again as he narrated Pacquiao's punching. You see, Clottey wasn't doing a damn thing and so Lampley must have felt the need to entertain himself and the audience by getting all comic book on us. Every time Pacquiao threw a punch (and hell, even when he didn't) shouts of "BANG, BANG!" came from the HBO broadcast booth. You can actually follow this link to see video of the tirade.

It's really tough to react to it one way or another but while I found it quite comical, I can assure you there will be plenty who won't, perhaps even including HBO themselves. To say it was out of line, and unprofessional is pretty accurate in my opinion and while I understand Lampley's eagerness to see some action, there's just no need to behave like that especially coming from one of the most respected broadcast journalists in the sport.

Hear what I'm saying Jim? BANG! BANG! Get it together next time, BANG, BANG - B A N G ! ! !


Random Thoughts

- If there's one positive to come out of Saturday night's action, aside from it becoming crystal clear that Pacquiao's next opponent MUST be Mosley or Mayweather, it's the atmosphere that having a show at such an incredible stadium created. The presentation was spectacular and real boxing fans got the chance to attend.

- Fighters I don't care to see on TV anymore include: John Ruiz, John Duddy, Rocky Juarez, Joshua Clottey, Billy Dib, Sultan Ibrogimov and Roy Jones. Our own Patrick Cassidy has a column on the way that touches on this particular topic so be on the look out for it.

- The dark (non-televised) undercard of "The Event" was better than the televised portion.

- Let's hope the New Cowboys Stadium gets more major fights in the future. In fact, let's get more boxing in stadiums and decrease the amount of Las Vegas fights.

- I wonder what a telecast commentated by Max Kellerman and Larry Merchant would sound like. Just saying.

- Top Rank may have put together a stinker on Saturday but if there's one thing they're doing right so far this year, it's their Top Rank Live cards. They've been great and I hope the streak of excellent bouts continues.

- Another big thank you to all you readers who tuned in for my live coverage of The Event. Hope to see you guys in the future!


Until next time, see you at the fights!

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