ARLINGTON, TEXAS—Hall of Fame boxing historian Bert Sugar and several boxing writers believe that the Pound-4-Pound King Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday, March 13 is not as easy as many people believe.
On the surface, it seems like the fast hands and quick feet of Pacquiao will easily vanquish the bigger, slower and defensive minded Clottey. But experts say the Ghanaian will put up a fight.
"Clottey is a tough nut to crack," said Sugar. "He’s like (defensive boxer) Winky Wright. He puts his gloves up and he’ll block anything. Trying to get through to him is like trying to open an oyster with a butter knife," he added.
Sugar said he still expects Pacquiao to win but he will have his work cut out for him.
"Manny is a salad spinner to his opponent who’s the lettuce leaf," added Sugar. "He’ll keep coming and coming in and he’ll be far more active because Clottey is waiting for a counter punch (opportunity) so this is a tougher fight than what many people think it is."
Sugar said he expects Clottey to go for a knock out win against Pacquiao because he believes "he is not going to win a decision."
"Manny will outwork (Clottey) but I don’t think he’s going to knock him out," he said. "He’s facing a man who was born a welterweight. (Clottey) is that big and he’s going to have a 10 to 15 pound weight advantage by the time he walks out of that door," he added.
Kieran Mulvaney of Reuters also believes this will be a difficult match for Pacquiao.
"I won’t be surprised that early on in the fight, it’s going to take Manny a little while to figure him out because Clottey is a big strong guy and he can cause problems," said Mulvaney. "But I believe ultimately what will happen is Manny’s angles, speed and footwork will prove to be too much (for Clottey)."
Yahoo! boxing writer Kevin Iole agrees. He thinks Pacquiao will prevail but Clottey will make it difficult for him.
"While I think Manny will win the fight, I don’t think he’ll dominate," said Iole. "Manny is so good that you’ll know he’ll put on a good show but this guy is a big, tough guy with probably the best chin Manny has ever faced and if Manny knocks this dude out, that’s a big statement," he said.
For more Pacquiao vs Clottey updates, visit http://pacquiao-vs-clottey.cebuspace.com/.
Source: asianjournal.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment