AFTER PUTTING up a rotten show on Sunday, Joshua Clottey now blames a rotten stomach for his heartless stand against Manny Pacquiao in Dallas.
You think Clottey’s tough, tested countrymen back in Ghana will buy that?
Well, before Clottey tries another trick, he must be told the ugly truth.
Sports lovers all over the world don’t fall for cheap alibis.
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Banku and okra stew may indeed sound healthy and delicious.
But Clottey should’ve tried a more believable prop.
Oscar De La Hoya did turn to the sea to restore lost pride after that grand humiliation from Pacquiao’s blinding hands.
At least, in Oscar’s case, his oyster excuse did not totally flop.
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It’s too late in the day, but Clottey must be made to realize an uglier truth.
He has not only savaged the gallant image of great Africans.
He has also victimized poor, innocent small-time merchants.
These include plain market adventurers that gambled lifetime earnings on pirated DVDs of his bout against Pacquiao.
* * *
These poor, trusting side street vendors lost the shirts on their backs.
In the Quiapo area alone, considered the Wall Street of pirated videos in the Philippines, the market crashed.
Before, tapes of Pacquiao fights were grabbed from the shelves where they would go on display an hour after the big bout.
DVDs of the Clottey non-event remained untouched Wednesday.
* * *
No takers, groaned grizzled vendors after they were forced to peddle the merchandise at a losing price—from P50 down to only P10.
This was the first time this has happened and the planned thanksgiving visit of Pacquiao to the miraculous image of the Nuestro Se?or de Nazareno in Quiapo may not cause a significant improvement in sales.
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Why did tapes of Oscar De La Hoya’s surrender sell like hotcakes?
Well, chorused the poor vendors, Oscar quit on his stool after being beaten up.
Oscar did try to put up a fight.
In Clottey’s case, said the losing vendors, he gave up standing.
It was not a case of a bad stomach but of frazzled nerves and a weak, rotten heart.
No wonder, Nelson Mandela must be feeling worse than Bob Arum and the poor vendors.
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Anyway, unlike Clottey, SkyCable need not apologize.
But please share this explanation from the management of the No. 1 pay-per-view provider in the country:
Dear Subscriber,
We sincerely apologize for not being able to service your need to watch the Pacquiao-Clottey fight on pay-per-view.
Solar Sports, official licensee of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, granted SkyCable the right to broadcast but only on HD (high definition) PPV for residential subscribers in Metro Manila. We were not granted the right to broadcast the fight on SD (standard definition), that would’ve enabled us to offer the event to a broader base of subscribers in the Metro area.
After getting HD rights in mid-February, we immediately set out to communicate this exciting coverage through various media platforms.
The response was overwhelming. We did not anticipate such demand for this new service on short notice.
This explains our inability to provide service for your planned subscription.
We’ve realized the willingness of more people to embrace HD viewing and we will ensure we will be more prepared to meet the demand of our customers in the future.
Respectfully,
Juan Amado V. Rojo Corporate Communications SkyCable
