Joshua Clottey will never fight Manny Pacquiao. And he will never fight other superstars such as Sugar Shane Mosley or Floyd Mayweather.
That doesn?t make him a bum on the street. He proved his mettle even though he lost a split decision Saturday night to gritty Puerto Rican and WBO 147-pound champion Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden.
Clottey is what we in the trade refer to as a useful opponent, a guy who will make a strong showing but never seems to do enough to defeat his ?A? side opposition.
We didn?t really learn anything new about the strong Ghanian fighter over the extremely entertaining 36 minutes of brawling, however.
Clottey was sharp in the opening round until just before the bell when a stinging Cotto left jab seemed to morph into a hook. The blow dropped the Bronx resident to the canvas and instead of taking the opening round, 10-9, he lost it by two crucial points.
This was a fun fight to watch, delighting the majority Puerto Rican crowd of 17,734, and a fun fight to score. I finished up agreeing with judge John McKaie and his 115-112 tally. Don Trella was a bit too generous at 116-111, Cotto, and Tom Miller?s 114-113 Clottey verdict was also off the mark.
Clottey?s second biggest mistake after getting clipped at the end of round one was letting Cotto sweep rounds two, three, four and five.
For some inexplicable reason, Clottey?s motor was fully turned on until the sixth round when was nothing short of dazzling. I had Clottey taking an edge in that round and also in rounds seven through 10.
Clottey could have pulled off a somewhat stunning upset but he was not as formidable over the final two rounds. I thought Cotto clearly won rounds 11 and 12.
No matter how you slice it, the winner here deserved the victory.
Cotto will take the split decision and run with it. He contended with a nasty gash over the left eye caused early on by a Clottey head butt.
What?s the old Chinese proverb, may you live in interesting times.
For all those in Manny Pacquiao?s orbit, including his next foe Cotto, these are interesting times.
Clottey remains useful but he isn?t and will never be in Pacman?s high priced orbit.
He came into the Garden as a ?B? side guy and that?s how he left it.
Bob Arum will provide more opportunties, decent paydays ahead for Clottey.
But, for the rest of his natural life, Clottey will know he had his big chance against Cotto and he came up short.
If the Ghanaian warrior didn’t know his ring limitations before, he knows now.
