Fight Lover Forum 03.18.10: Thoughts on Pacquiao/Clottey and Klitschko/Chambers

Posted by A. Shakoor on 03.18.2010

I feel the need to offer some final thoughts about last week's big main event in Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Also, how many of your remembered that our best American heavyweight is fighting for the title this Saturday?


Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Back on March 4th a column of mine was published where I argued the point that Pacquiao v. Clottey made little since from a business or legacy standpoint. I have consistently argued the matchup as a "high risk, low reward" fight. Manny Pacquiao's performance was an excellent rebuttal to my position. I'll get into all that in a minute. First, I have a few thoughts about Joshua Clottey.

Clottey is so frustrating, because the talent is there. This is the same guy who almost beat Margarito and Cotto. I personally think the middle rounds of his Cotto fight were very exciting, before he refused to press the action down the stretch. Then he simply gave the fight away. Clottey just won't come out of the shell enough. He simply doesn't want "it" enough. It wouldn't have mattered much Saturday night though, because Manny is too fast; way too fast. At best, Clottey could have won 2-3 more rounds by letting loose more. But going in, I thought Joshua had a chance to make the fight more entertaining.

I had no idea going in that Clottey wouldn't at least TRY to throw more punches, or simply try to win the fight. I expected him to look like he did in the early to middle rounds against Cotto with his aggression and fighting spirit. I simply didn't think Manny would hurt the "tough", strong-chinned Clottey enough to scare him. I thought Clottey could win around 4 rounds, but simply get outgunned overall.

I expected Manny to win for sure, but I didn't think an upset would have been a Tyson-Douglas level, stop the world, shocker. I expected Clottey to return fire, kind of like his trainer expected him to. I expected exchanges--exchanges Manny would have gotten the better of--but some exchanges nonetheless. Wrong. The funny thing is, he was effective with the rare uppercuts and straight rights. Manny's face showed the wear; even though Manny was by far the superior and willing fighter. How would Manny's face have looked if Clottey unloaded more? I guess it doesn't matter. Whatever "legacy" Clottey has going takes a huge hit now. What did Eminem ask?:

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

Damn Joshua Clottey. He had a shot at beating the welterweight and pound-for-pound champion. The dude just wouldn't try. That's just about the worst thing you can say about an athlete.



I really didn't think the fight was smart in a business or legacy sense for the Pacman, but Pacquiao may have indeed achieved a "reward" for his risk. His performance, and the awesome stage, was a great rebuttal for my 3/4/10 column. Manny just dominated a legit, in-prime, top-5 welterweight, without a catchweight. Did you notice how Clottey must have cut weight, and had a very distinct size advantage? That's something De La Hoya and Cotto failed to do. Manny haters can't make any more excuses about 147 pounds and up now. By throwing an insane average of over 100 punches a round, and showcasing a solid chin, with a diverse head and body attack, with patience, against an unwilling but much larger foe, this may have been the best performance of Manny's career.

I can't say enough great things about the guy, so I'll just say he's simply the best fighter in the world. Nobody can beat him between 140 and 147. The fact that Manny put on this performance in front of 51,000 people, in one of the most miraculous stadiums in the country, I wonder if he's enhanced his status in the argument for greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all-time.

I don't know who Manny will be fighting next. If Mosley beats Mayweather on May 1rst, I don't anticipate any problems seeing Pacman v. Mosley for a major title unification bout in the fall. Mosley just wants to fight, and I'm sure he'll take the short money and avoid any blood-test drama. They should do it in LA.

If Mayweather wins, I'm not even going to fall for the "dick tease", because Manny and Floyd will never fight each other. Floyd has continued with the accusations and smears, and I don't think Manny will acquiesce any more on the blood-test garbage. Personally, I'm over being mad about it. Let's all move on. Manny has plenty of options available. Assuming Manny wants to fight for another year or two, there are numerous opportunities available for him in boxing's deepest division-junior welterweight. I think he elected to keep that Ring Magazine 140lb title for a reason.

I think there's a heavyweight championship fight going on this weekend.



Yep, the IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko, will be defending his belts against American, "Fast" Eddie Chambers this Saturday night in Germany. Look, I like Eddie Chambers. He's a nice guy, and he's made efforts to get himself in better shape and improve. I also think he's the best American heavyweight fighter out there. That being said, he doesn't have chance in hell of beating Klitschko.

Chambers is a slightly less skilled version of a prime Chris Byrd. Remember what Wladimir did to Byrd on both occasions? Uh, yeah, it wasn't pretty. Even the young, prime, Byrd got beat-up badly in losing a unanimous decision. Wladimir is beatable, but it would take a guy with power to beat him. Wlad is a monster offensively, but his chin is weak. Considering Chambers' lack of power, I don't think he'll be coming home with the belts this weekend. However, if Chambers decides to use his considerable hand-speed, and utilizes his feet to stick and move--more than is his custom--he'll still take a beating, but could go the distance. But, if he decides to take advantage of his "one shot, one opportunity, and not let it slip", and decides to get brave, I'm sad to admit he's going to get knocked out.

That's the sad truth. But hopefully, unlike Joshua Clottey, he'll have the will to try. You never know unless you try. As Larry Merchant says, "boxing is the theater of the unexpected".