With his preferred opponent opting for another bout, Manny Pacquiao still attracted the masses.
Joshua Clottey certainly didn’t lack the threat, appeal and financial windfall Pacquiao would have found in Floyd Mayweather Jr. It didn’t matter.
Pacquiao proved again why he is boxing’s most popular fighter and a crossover star Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. The native of the Philippines christened boxing at Cowboys Stadium in style with his lopsided win by unanimous decision against Clottey in front of 50,994 fans.
The turnout was the highest for a U.S. boxing match since the Pernell Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez fight 17 years ago at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Pacquiao originally was scheduled to face Mayweather on Saturday at the much smaller MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. When disagreements over prefight blood testing derailed the bout, Pacquiao kept the fight date and fans responded.
Unlike his previous three fights, when he stopped Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in succession, Pacquiao went the distance against the defensive-minded Clottey. Although a different route to victory, Pacquiao’s performance was dominant from first to last bell.
Pacquiao repeatedly scored with combinations to the body as Clottey kept his guard up throughout Pacquiao’s first defense of his World Boxing Organization welterweight title. Occasionally, Clottey landed rights to the head, and in the 11th round he scored with three solid left uppercuts.
But Pacquiao’s greater punch volume and aggression dictated the bout, and the only suspense left at the end was whether Pacquiao had earned a perfect shutout on the three judges’ scorecards.
One judge concurred, scoring the fight 120-108 for Pacquiao. The other two judges scored one round for Clottey and had Pacquiao winning 119-109.
“He was looking for a big shot,” Pacquiao said of Clottey.
“He was waiting to counterpunch me.”
The byproduct from Saturday’s fight proves again that Pacquiao is boxing’s best “pound-for-pound” fighter. Moreover, Pacquiao’s appeal now enables his promoter, Bob Arum, to explore stadiums for future Pacquiao bouts instead of the safe-but-tired Las Vegas option.
Mayweather preferred to return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for his next bout, May 1 against Shane Mosley. Even if Mayweather wins convincingly, fueling talk again about a fight with Pacquiao, he will find it difficult to match the impact of the story line of Pacquiao attracting more than 50,000 fans to a fight.
GOLDEN GLOVES
Openings are still available for amateur boxers interested in competing in the South Florida Golden Gloves tournament Friday and Saturday at Lucky Strike Gym in Hollywood.
The tournament will feature boxers in open, novice, female and junior divisions. Open-division champions will advance to the state Golden Gloves tournament.
Entry forms are available at www.FloridaGoldenGloves.net. For information, contact tournament director Mark Streisand at [email protected].
SOLIS BOUT
Miami resident and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis will headline a card Saturday night in Key West. Solis, who defected from his native Cuba in 2006 and is 15-0 with 11 knockouts as a professional, will face Carl Drummond in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout.
The vacant International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title bout between former champion Steve Cunningham and Matt Godfrey will be March 26 at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. The bout originally was scheduled for Friday at BankAtlantic Center.
