Wednesday, March 10, 2010


PACQUIAO, CLOTTEY FINAL PRESSER

News PACQUIAO, CLOTTEY FINAL PRESSERPhilBoxing.comThu, 11 Mar
20103/10/10, Arlington,Texas -- Surrounded by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders,
seven-time world champion and "Fighter of the Decade" Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao
(L) and challenger Joshua Clottey(R) pose during the final press conference
Wednesday for their upcoming World Welterweight championship on Saturday, March
13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on HBO Pay-Per-View. -- Photo Credit:
Chris Farina - Top Rank.

Monday, March 8, 2010


Boxing in 2010: A PromiWe are already nearly three months into 2010 and the boxing future looks bright.
We have some tentative agreements between good fighters to meet inside the ring
in the near future, some signed super fights, some overhyped novelty fights, and
some overlooked gems all scheduled for this year.
RSR examines.
the year 2010 to come and we see if the showdowns are worth your time. sing
Year with Manny Pacquiao Vs Joshua Clottey Coming Up First.

Pacquiao remains cool, composed as fight nears
Manny Pacquiao was in his favorite gangster get-up on a drizzling day that he
spent whiling away time with his friends, looking and behaving very much like
the sinister crime chief that has been immortalized in print and in
film.
Pacquiao, who stakes his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight
crown against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas this Saturday night,
was on hand to personally award the participants of a four-week weight reduction
program and for a few moments, his mind was not on the task at hand but on
giving his friends something to remember for a long time.
It was only during
a brief instance inside his room at the Palazzo where Pacquiao was forced to
talk about his upcoming fight, sounding very calm and composed even though it
happens in less than a week before a crowd that is expected to number
45,000.
“We‘re ready,” said Pacquiao in between composing text messages in
his Blackberry. “There’s nothing more that we can do except maintain my current
condition.”



Is Joshua Clottey a Worthy Opponent for Manny Pacquiao?
We've come to expect a lot from Manny Pacquiao as he has surged to the top
of the sport over the past several years. There have been marquee fights one
after the other, from his highly anticipated rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez,
to his retirement party for Oscar De La Hoya, near decapitation of Ricky Hatton
and his thorough dismantling of Miguel Cotto.That means that even in the
aftermath of a failed Pacquiao vs. Mayweather extravaganza, Joshua Clottey is
more than a suitable opponent. He's not a big name, and nobody should have any
illusions that this is a big event. But he's a solid fighter and there simply
were not many other suitable replacements. It's a much better fight than
Pacquiao moving up to 154 lbs to challenge titleholder Yuri Foreman.

Everyone knows Manny Pacquiao. Not everyone knows Joshua Clottey, the man
Pacquiao is fighting Saturday.
Clottey (above left against Miguel Cotto,
photo by Howard Schatz) has a very good reputation, for the most part. Some
boxing writers consider him one of the 20 best boxers of today, and he's one of
the top men in the welterweight division, clearly. He caught some flack for his
showing at the end of the fight against Cotto, but there are a lot of people who
thought he got robbed in that bout. And it wasn't that long ago that there was a
highly viable theory that Clottey was underrated, the best fighter in the
division not to be recognized as one of the best.
Yet the more I look at
Clottey, the less convinced I am. I'd had that thought prior to Pacquiao trainer
Freddie Roach saying the same thing in the "Road to Dallas" documentary that
aired Saturday (I swear! Ask the people I hung out with Saturday night, away
from the television, when the documentary was airing). But that Roach said it
made me feel confident about it, too. I think Clottey has become
overrated.
This requires a bit of a preface, a disclaimer. I think Clottey's
a really good boxer. I think he's a dangerous fighter for Pacquiao to take on,
by virtue of his size and style. But when I look at his record and his
review the video, I see a fighter who's a full notch below the best of the
best.
Manny Pacquiao and trainer FreddieRoach prepare for Joshua Clottey fight, and eye bout with Floyd Mayweather
If you're an aging professional athlete, there are plenty of sports where you
can hang around without endangering yourself. It's just that this isn't one of
them. You hang on too long here, you leave damaged. The man with the tremors in
his left hand knows it. When especially tired or under stress, his entire body
quivers like a tuning fork. He has Parkinson's disease. A few people pleaded
with him to stop fighting, but he didn't listen. "Fighters don't want to quit,"
he says.
Nowadays a trainer, 50-year-old Freddie Roach keeps a careful eye
on Manny Pacquiao, the best of his fighters, perhaps the best fighter on the
planet, a dazzling pugilist he cares about like a son. He loves him, love being
the word he never uses -- too soft for the maniacal world of a boxing gym. But
it is the right word; it accounts for his ferocity when it comes to all things
Pacquiao. At 5-6 1/2 , with his toothy grin, close-set eyes and dark-framed
glasses, Roach looks like a pint-sized Buddy Holly.

Sunday, March 7, 2010


HOLLYWOOD – Manny Pacquiao turned on the heat inside the gym Saturday as
the temperature dropped outside.He sparred for six rounds against Abdulla Amidu
and Dave Rodela. He worked so hard. He moved so well. He looked sharp.

DALLAS–Tiger Woods occasionally shanks a golf shot. He’s hit a few deep into the
woods or buried a “fried egg” into an impossible bunker.The smooth Frank
Sinatra’s vocal inflections were usually superlatively consistent but, once
in a
while, even Mr. S, hit a clunker, a false musical note




pacquiao vs clottey


At Age 50, Freddie Roach Reflects on His Life, Past, Future

Four-time Trainer Of The Year, Freddie Roach, turned 50 on Friday, and
celebrated his birthday, in part, as a guest at The Santa Anita Race Track on
Sunday.There, Roach took part in the Winner’s Circle ceremony of The Joe
Hernandez Stakes, presenting the trophy for the afternoon’s featured race.


'Tracing the roots of Pacquiao's success': Intangibles - Pac's uncanny ability to focus and deliver

Among the many traits Manny Pacquiao is credited for on his road to
becoming the best fighter in the world -- his speed, power, work ethic, faith,
pride etc. -- the one that people tend to forget is his extraordinary ability to
block off any form of distraction (and he has a lot) and perform at the highest
level come fight night.
Pacquiao seems oblivious to the term 'butterflies in
your stomach' and appears to have ice water running through his veins as he
smiles at the hint of pressure no matter how big the stage is.
Remember
back 2001 in his first big break stepping in as a substitute fighter against
Lehlo Ledwaba in Las Vegas, the young boy basked in the bright Vegas lights
instead of being intimidated by it. Several fighters adjust through the years
but every time you see Pacquiao in the ring, it's almost as if he was about to
open a present on Christmas morning.
I have never seen a boxer who
exudes the kind of joyfulness Pacquiao has on his face every time he fights. In
the words of HBO boxing commentator Emmanuel Steward, "Pacquiao was born to be a
prizefighter".