HOLLYWOOD—Call it machismo or whatever, but Manny Pacquiao sows fear in the ring by taunting bigger opponents to hit him and then retaliating with devastating effect.
Pacquiao did it first against Miguel Cotto, from whom he wrested the WBO welterweight crown, and then repeated the unusual strategy against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Kaya eh (I can take it),” Pacquiao told GMA News of Clottey’s rare punches. “I let him hit me so that he would open up.”
The bigger Clottey jolted Pacquiao with several heavy hits, but these were not enough to trouble the only seven-division world champ.
Before each round ended, it was Pacquiao who did the punishing, forcing Clottey to backpedal.
Most likely, Clottey thought that it was not wise to trade punches with the pound-for-pound king
Never been knocked out in his career, Clottey did not allow Pacquiao, who started his career as a 16-year-old malnourished lefty, to finish him off inside the distance.
Clottey managed to sneak in a few hooks and uppercuts but it was clear he couldn’t stand up to Pacquiao’s speed.
