Gearing Up For Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey

This week begins the countdown toward the March 13, WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title defense by seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines against Ghanian-born, Bronx resident, Joshua Clottey, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

The 31-year-old Pacquiao, who has been named Fighter Of The Decade, is 50-3-2, with 38 knockouts, including a record of 18-1-2, with 15 knockouts under four-time Trainer Of The Year, Freddie Roach.

A three-Time Fighter Of The Year, Pacaquiao has an 11-match winning streak that includes eight knockouts coming in against the 32-year-old Clottey, who is 35-3, with 20 knockouts.

There is a lot going on with this fight in terms of publicity and videos available, given that is being promoted by Top Rank, and is being televised on HBO pay per view.

In addition, FanHouse will be having a live chat with Pacquiao at 1 p.m. on Monday conducted by Michael David Smith. On March 3, Pacquiao made his his second appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, a clip of which is viewable below.





In the clip, above, Pacquiao discusses the failed negotiations for a fight with Floyd Mayweather due to the unbeaten fighter's camp's demands that both combatants be tested under the Olympic-style random blood-testing procedures, and Pacquiao's refusal to comply.

"No, I told them that we were going to do a blood test, but not close to the fight. Because that is his advantage, because he's bigger than me. If we changed the situation, with me being bigger than him, and we did the blood test close to the fight, it would be an advantage to me because I would be bigger than him," Pacquiao told Kimmel.

"We do a blood test 24 days before the fight, and right after the fight, you do a drug test also. It's a urine test. I think it's not really for the fight," said Pacquiao. "The job of the fighter is to train hard and fight in the ring. You don't need to change the rules and the conditions because there is a Nevada State Athletic Commission to impliment the rules and the conditons."

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pacquiao also discussed Clottey's relative obscurity compared to Mayweather, and, briefly his relevance as an opponent.

"You know, the fans, they're very confident that I'll win the fight. But for me, nobody knows his history," said Pacquiao. "He's bigger, and he's a former world champion so, I don't underestimate my opponent. I respect my opponent."

Pacquiao, who also said that he had practiced to sing, which is his passion, to which Kimmel said, "I've got a great idea for you. You go on American Idol, right? And if they don't like you, beat the crap out of all of them. That would be the greatest thing ever."

Pacquiao did close the show by singing, George Benson's "Nothing's Going To Change My Love For You."






Kimmel also showed a trailer of the super hero movie, WaPakMan, which Pacquiao starred in.

Pacquiao will be profiled on 60 minutes, has a scheduled appearance on Good Morning America, and will be featured for the second time in Time Magazine, said Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank.

HBO already has begun airing "The Road To Dallas," which premiered on HBO's various channels on Saturday, March 6, and which is a 30-minute special analyzing the upcoming bout.

"The Road To Dallas" is available to HBO On Demand 24 hours daily, starting Wednesday, March 10, through Monday, April 12.

Also, On March 5 and 6, HBO began running replays of high profile showdowns Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, which ended in Cotto being stopped in the 12th round, and Clottey vs. Zab Judah, which ended with Clottey winning a ninth-round, technical decision victory.

The fights have been available on HBO On Demand 24 hours daily starting Monday, March 1 and ending on Wednesday, March 24.


HBO airing dates of The Road To Dallas


Monday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m. and 12:05 a.m.

Tuesday, March 9 at 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Friday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

Saturday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m.


HBO2 airing dates of The Road To Dallas


Sunday, March 7 at 11:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 10 at 10:00 p.m.


All times are ET/PT.

For more Pacquiao vs Clottey updates, visit http://pacquiao-vs-clottey.cebuspace.com/.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Arum wants to bring fight to Arlington

By Calvin Watkins - Boxing promoter Bob Arum said he and Top Rank president Todd duBoef will visit Cowboys Stadium for the Cowboys-Eagles game on Saturday night with the hopes of bringing a Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight to Arlington on March 13.

Cowboys spokesperson Brett Daniels said the organization would have no comment regarding a possible fight between Pacquiao-Clottey in Arlington.

Arum said he will talk with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday to work out the specifics of the bout.

Arum is moving on with a Clottey fight because he was unable to finalize a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout, which was also scheduled for March 13 in Las Vegas.

"Not now," Arum said of a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. "It's a possibility later in the year but we're not going through that blood stuff again."

A proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao bout was called off on Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.

Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.

"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass," Mayweather said in a statement on Thursday. "Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected. I am still proposing the 14-day window but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests."

Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.

When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.

But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.

Now, Arum has moved on with a fight with Clottey at Cowboys Stadium. Arum believes they can get 40,000 fans to attend the bout.

"It's a helluva fight," Arum said.

Clottey's manager, Vinny Scolpino, told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Arum, on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.

"Josh is ecstatic about it," Scolpino said. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."

Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.

"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."

Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Pacquiao camp shifts focus to Clottey

With his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. all but off, Manny Pacquiao has instead agreed to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13, Pacquiao's camp said Friday.

Clottey's manager told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.

"Josh is ecstatic about it," Vinny Scolpino told ESPN.com. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."

Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao, told Rafael on Friday night the bout would take place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

DuBoef said he and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum would fly to Dallas on Saturday to meet with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for a tour of the facility and to finalize the deal before being Jones' guests at the Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles playoff game on Saturday night.

Jones was interested in bringing Pacquiao-Mayweather to the stadium and offered a $25 million site fee, the largest in boxing history. However, while Arum wanted to meet with Jones and discuss the offer, Mayweather representative Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions canceled the trip at the last minute, angering Arum, a move that in retrospect was the beginning of the end of the fight.

DuBoef also said former welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito would fight on the pay-per-view card in the co-feature if he is relicensed at a hearing later this month or in February. Margarito had his license revoked in California for attempting to load his gloves with an illegal substance before facing Shane Mosley last January. Margarito is eligible to ask for his license back after a year, although there is no guarantee he will get it.

The Pacquiao-Mayweather bout, which had also been tentatively set for March 13, was called off Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.

Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split-decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.

"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."

Trainer Freddie Roach first told ESPN's Brian Kenny of Pacquiao's plan Friday afternoon, before Arum confirmed the news to The Associated Press.

Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.

Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.

"That would have been a tremendous fight. I wanted to see it," Scolpino said. "But this is boxing. It's crazy."

Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.

When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.

But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.

Source: sports.espn.go.com