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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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PACMAN CHECKMATES THE GRANDMASTER By Granville Ampong PhilBoxing.com Tue, 16 Mar 2010  Ringside Report from Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Arlington, Texas, March 13, 2010 - Pound-for-Pound King Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao retains his WBO Welterweight title after unanimously gaining a decision victory over the tough panther of Ghana, Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey. In the early rounds through ninth, Clottey kept his defense tight and was more reluctant to openly engage to Pacquiao's non-stop aggression. Fiery shots that mostly landed on the gloves and blocked by the forearms of Clottey never stopped the latter from moving forward. But, Pacquiao's surgical, abdominal body shots heavily landed , mostly, on the left quadrant and a few to the right and mid-section as Clottey pressed on his defenses. "I lost this fight with Manny," Clottey said of Pacquiao who threw more jabs in the first round making it the highest number of jabs he had thrown of his entire boxing career. "I did my best. But, Manny is fast." For the twelve rounds, Pacquiao threw 1,231 punches, landing 246 while Clottey landed 108 out of 399, showing the latter a much higher rate of accuracy. But, Pacquiao threw 682 power punches versus Clottey's 237. Clottey said, "He is extremely fast. That's the best thing about him...his speed." One judge scored every round for Pacquiao while the two gave round 3 to Clottey, giving Pacquiao a unanimous decision victory. In that victorious third round for Clottey, he launched two counter-attacks, of which he landed one to the forehead, another to the face and a distinguishing uppercut which snapped back the head of Pacquiao. As manifested by Pacquiao's frustration over Clottey's insistence not to engage proactively and exchange leathers from the first through mid-rounds, Pacquaio, as well, made a sweeping record as the first fighter who fired Clottey with bilateral hands hammering simultaneously the temporal sides in the fourth round, prompting the referee to give him a warning of such illegal shots. The fifth round marked the point wherein Clottey started to attack Pacquiao sporadically. One uppercut had Pacquiao's head snapped back again, which the former successfully landed the same in the seventh. But, the latter retaliated with body shots and more jabs upstairs, mostly blocked, even in the eighth and onward. Clottey showed himself as the aggressor right after the bell rang in the tenth and got Pacquiao by uppercut, and three more sharp uppercuts in the eleventh. All were met by the latter's persistent counter-attacks, gunning a barrage of punches that almost sent the former to the canvas. In the final found, Manny Pacaquiao took a deep breath, looked straight to Clottey, and stared up high and made a sign of the cross - a kind of belief in a transcendent reality he invokes each time he fights - all as the twelfth round of boxing was about to start. But, as they met in the center of the ring they both hugged each other as the thunderous cheers of over 51,000 in attendance reverberated in the $ 1.3 billion facility of gigantic proportion. Then, the final event took the stand. Both fighters were equally active. But, Pacquiao landed more power shots after an accidental clash of heads in the middle of the round. And it went through with both fighters finishing the bout fresh and strong as if three more rounds were needed to reestablish a comparative historic mark of 15 rounds back to the times of Muhammad "The Greatest" Ali , Joe Frazier and Leon Spinks. Asked if Pacquiao hurt him with some of the big shots, Clottey said: "I was not hurt at all." Pacquiao thought Clottey is a very strong fighter. "I tried my very best for a knockout. But, Clottey is a very strong fighter and has a very good defense," said Pacquiao on his way to the locker room along with his escorts. Conversely, some fans wanted Pacquiao, who is running for Congress in the lone district of Sarangani this May 13, 2010 Philippine National Elections, to fight again. Others hoped he will not. "I hope this would be the last fight of Pacquiao. Otherwise, he will face the same fate of Muhammad Ali who lost to undefeated Larry Holmes by referee technical decision in round 10 and to Trevor Berbick by unanimous decision, both beat him badly after his glorious bout against Leon Spinks in 1978," said Jeff Reeves, one of Pacquiao's fans who drove from Michigan just to watch "The Event" live. But, most sportswriters, including this author, and most fans, still hope Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will happen before the close of this year. And Pacquiao himself wanted the fight as well. "I want that fight, but it's up to him. I am ready to fight anytime," said Pacquiao. "Maybe if Mosley wins, I'll fight him." Pacquiao intimated to the outcome of the match between Mosley and Mayweather this May 1, 2010 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to which both Top Rank Godfather Bob Arum and celebrated trainer of Pacquiao, Freddie Roach, wanted either fighters to fight Pacquiao based on whoever wins their match. "I want to see Floyd Mayweather, Jr. getting knocked out by Pacquiao and it's going to happen," said Roach. "I don't want to hear any excuses from him." On the other hand, Arum remained apprehensive of the tactical play the Mayweather camp will employ relative to extraneous issues on drug testing by a series of random blood draws inside 30 days of the fight date. "The issue of drug testing is not for one fighter to raise in negotiations. It doesn't belong there," Arum said. "There are applicable people who are charged with a policy of administering items like drug testing." "We believe that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. raised that issue to duck Manny Pacquiao," Arum added. Meanwhile, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, expects another fight of Pacquaio to happen this year. "It's been an ambition of mine and an ambition of ours to have a great fighter of Pacquiao's stature to fight with another great fighter here in Dallas Cowboy Stadium again this year," said Jones. "This is an amazing history for all of us." "I am very happy of the outcome, and it helps the stadium to easily promote future boxing events," Jones added. Pacquiao, 31, improves 51 wins inclusive of 38 knockouts, 3 losses and 2 draws while Clottey, 32, scores 35 wins inclusive of 20 knockouts, with 3 losses, of which the latter maintains zero knockout loss as against the former with 2 knockout losses, of their respective entire boxing careers. Note: Philboxing.com's team had electrical power and internet access issues during their attempt to give our internet readers fresh coverage of "The Event." While other news writers had no issues, most had encountered the same. And the same issues remained unresolved all throughout the event. Both Granville Ampong and Jason Aniel worked side by side to address them, as with Ceatta Bogatai and Julie Flynn of the Steve Flynn and Landon Lynn Communications, along with the technicians of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium. We, therefore, regret of such failure. To send comment(s), please e-mail to granvilleampong@aol.com. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Granville Ampong.  |
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