13.3.10

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey: Round By Round

We're about 15 minutes away from the main event at Cowboys Stadium featuring Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey. Over 50,000 people are on hand in a truly spectacular setting.

There are three national anthems to get through. Soraya Simons sings the anthem for Ghana and Arnel Pineda does the same for the Filipino anthem. Three of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." They look like they may be lip-synching.

The tale of the tape shows that Pac Man is one year younger, but Clottey has small and reach advantages. Clottey weighed in at just over a pound more yesterday but did not allow HBO to weigh him today.

Clottey heads for the ring first. He is 35-3 with 20 KOs, though his last fight was a narrow loss to Miguel Cotto. It's a long walk to the ring through the mammoth stadium.

The noise picks up from the fans as Manny makes his way out, smiling as usual. He has "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC playing, a tribute to the late Arturo Gatti, which then turns into "Eye of the Tiger." Pac Man is 50-3-2, with his last loss coming narly five years ago.

Rafael Ramos is the referee in charge of the action. Michael Buffer handles the introductions, and we're set for a scheduled 12 rounds for the WBO welterweight title.

Round 1

Both men miss their first punches. Clottey has his guard tight as expected. Manny tries a weak punch to the body. Pac Man lets go, but Clottey blocks most of the shots. Manny bounces back, then comes forward with both hands. Jab by Clottey is answered by a flurry. Clottey finally lands and eats an immediate counter. Pacquiao tries the body again. Nothing huge lands in the final 30 seconds.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 2

Pac Man bangs away off Clottey's forearms. Both men score with jabs. Clottey comes forward with two shots upstairs. Manny picks away from the outside. The crowd tries to get Pacquiao into it. Good right hand by Clottey. He tries to come forward with a body shot or two. Manny unleashes a combo to the body, then a left to the head. More body work by Manny. Clottey finds the mark with two punches upstairs. Clottey blocks more shots right before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 3

The ref cautions Pacquiao for leading with his head. Manny goes to the body with multiple shots. Uppercut by Clottey. Pac Man backs up his foe with another flurry. Clottey digs in and tries his own body work. Manny goes right back to work with 60 seconds to go. Clottey lands a hard right hand that makes the fans gasp a bit. Clottey is forced to cover up in the corner as Manny hits the gas. Clottey is landing some clean shots, but not enough of them right now.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 4

Clottey comes forward but not behind any punches. A right hand is answered by several punches from Pacquiao. The Grand Master leaves a brief opening and has to right back on defense. The ref pulls the men apart for an unknown reason. Clottey tries a body shot and an uppercut. Joshua slows down for a moment and the fans react. Clottey weathers a storm and lands two to the body.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 5

Manny circles as Clottey applies pressure. Clottey lands about four shots in his best sustained offense to this point. He reaches over Pacquiao's jab but also gets hit with a counter. Jab by Clottey. He tries to close in and is quickly tied up. Manny has his guard up right now as well. Clottey is warned for low shots as he tries the body. Manny finally turns it around and tries a flurry. Best round for Clottey, but probably still not enough to take the round.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 6

Lots of circling to start this round. Clottey opens up with a nice combination. He goes back to the guard as Pacquiao fights off the ropes. Clottey tries more combo punching and Pac Man simply moves away. Both men score in a quick exchange. Manny flurries along the ropes, and even though Clottey blocks much of it, it probably looks good for the judges.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 7

Clottey's corner asked him to take some more chances. We'll see if he does. He has a little spark at the beginning of this frame. A minute in, Manny flurries again. Josh reaches with a nice right hand. Pacquiao is actually blocking some punches too. Multiple Manny lefts open up a right to the body. The pace slows as Clottey keeps his arms up. Manny picks with the jab. Clottey rushes in and is tied up at the waist.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 8

Pacquiao looks for an opening between Clottey's gloves. Body shots fly from both of Manny's hands. Clottey bounces and tries to respond in kind. The ref calls a halt to the action for a low blow from Clottey. Manny is sneaking a shot through the guard every so often. Pac Man unleashes a six-punch combination and keeps pouring it on right after that. Clottey is warned for holding and hitting right at the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 9

Clottey's trainer told him he has lost every round. Manny keeps Clottey at bay with jabs. It will probably take a knockout for Clottey to win at this point. He is scoring with the occasional right, but Manny is simply too busy. Pacquiao gets in, fires and backs away. Nice right hook by Manny after he blocked a few shots. A vicious combination along the ropes seems to make Clottey wince a bit.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 10

The HBO crew thinks Clottey looks discouraged. Manny circles around and throws right hands. Left to the body by Pac Man; left upstairs from Clottey. Right hooks flowing from Pacquiao. There is a little swelling underneath Manny's right eye. More shots to the head and body by Pac Man. Clottey gets in some offense of his own, but Pacquiao responds in kind. Manny hooks around the guard ans fires to the body.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 11

De Jesus is being very honest with Clottey, almost begging him to take a chance and try for the KO. He lets his hands go a bit as the round begins, but it quickly returns to its old pattern. Manny can see punches coming and is covering up when necessary. Clottey lands a right, but Pac Man pummels him to the body. Manny turns up the volume again, throwing about 12 punches in succession. The fans love it. Clottey scores with uppercuts in tight. Pacquiao goes right back to work. He is simply a machine.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 12

The fighters hug before the final round. Both men try some hooks. Clottey gets a left hook in flush. The action starts for a clash of heads. Two two-punch combinations crash home for Pacquiao. Clottey scores with his own combo. Manny fires left hands and rights to the body. More body work by Manny before they clinch. Thirty seconds left. Some nice action down the stretch, but this should be a shutout or pretty darn close.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Franchise: 120-108 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 120-108 Pacquiao

The judges score it 120-108 and 119-111 twice, all for the winner... and still WBO welterweight titleholder... Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao.

CompuBox had Pacquiao throwing over 1200 punches to just under 400 for Clottey. That's most of the story right there.

Max Kellerman asks Manny for his thoughts, and Pacquiao says it was a tough fight. Pac Man talks about the importance of using his jab and gives Clottey props for his toughness and power.

The boxers hug before Kellerman talks to Clottey. At the risk of understatement of the year, Joshua says Manny has a lot of speed. Clottey says this is the first time he really felt like he lost a fight.

Turning back to Manny, Kellerman asks the inevitable Floyd Mayweather question. Manny says he wants Floyd because it's the fight the people want to see. He also blames Mayweather for the fight not happening yet.

Pacquiao says if Mosley wins, maybe he'll fight Sugar Shane instead.

Freddie Roach makes a plea directly to Floyd to make the fight. Roach feels like his man can crush the vaunted Mayweather defense.

Pacquiao doesn't think Floyd's style is as difficult to solve as Clottey's was. He ends by thanking the fans and dedicating the win to his fellow Filipinos.

Posted by The Franchise

9 comments:

uatu said...

by the sound of round 1, clottey is already doing better than the opponent in the last 8 or so Manny fights

uatu said...

A completely unshocking outcome.

Anonymous said...

thanks for this guys, good coverage. Will come back

uatu said...

Hindsight 20/20, but "The Event" was the perfect name for this card.

It was more of an event due to the stadium and attendance than it was a great set of fights.

Mosley-Mayweather is the better true fight, and will have to be closer than this fight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. said...

How boring!

uatu said...

Well Floyd, you will get your chance to entertain us to a higher level than this.

I hope you deliver.

I believe Mosley will thrown more, leaving more openings for you to hit him back. And his defense is just not the same as Clottey's either.

uatu said...

I suppose Manny cannot really be blamed, as he did throw a lot of punches.

rein said...

manny pacquiao is really the best!!!!!!!!!!

uatu said...

Yeah Manny is great. Clottey is a tough customer and Manny took every round.

Regardless if Floyd or Shane would beat Clottey if they fought him, I doubt they would sweep every round.