Philippine Sports News and Updates

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Joshua Clottey is looking to bring home the biggest boxing victory to his home country of Ghana when he faces the world's best boxer Manny Pacquiao this weekend.

So confident is Clottey's coach Lenny de Jesus that the Ghanaian has the skill and power to put down the Pacman that he is willing to make a prediction. He said Clottey can win the fight in 6 rounds.

“I'm not hoping... I'm going for a knockout,” said De Jesus.

Asked his own opinion abut de Jesus' prediction, Pacquiao’s coach Freddie Roach had a simple reply: “Lenny’s not fighting.”

The Pacman was also cool about Team Clottey's prediction.

“He can knock me out in 6 rounds?” Pacquiao asked while smiling. “Interesting. Malaya silang magsabi ng ganun.”

Pacquiao still did a little over an hour of workout on Thursday, doing 7 rounds with Coach Freddie. The WBO welterweight champion was sharp and quick.

The Filipino champ weighed 151 pounds but coaches said he will have no problem making 147 pounds on Friday even without skipping any meals.

Planing in to Texas on Thursday was Pacquiao's victim in his last fight, Miguel Cotto. The Puerto Rican champ will be watching the Pacquiao-Clottey fight at ringside.

“Manny Pacquiao is an excellent boxer… he has a disadvantage to Clottey, too,” said the former welterweight champ.

A boxing analyst said a strong performance by Pacquiao against Clottey will put him in a better negotiating position against Floyd Mayweather.

“If I know Manny as I think I know him, he will try to put on a spectacular show. [So that] when they negotiate with Mayweather, they will have the upper hand,” said veteran boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz in an interview over dzMM.

However, Nathanielsz said Pacquiao won't have an easy time against Clottey, who is a full-blown welterweight boxer.

“[Conditioning coach Alex] Ariza said Clottey is a very dangerous opponent,” he said.

Nathanielsz said that if Pacquiao plays his cards right, he can win the match in the middle to latter rounds just as coach Freddie Roach predicted.

“Somewhere there, (Rounds 6, 7, 8)… but you know, ugali ni Manny Pacquiao, entertainer siya, eh. Palagi niyang concern is ‘I want to make the people happy’,” said the analyst.

Sports analyst Joaquin Henson shared Nathanielsz’s view about Clottey.

“The consensus is it won’t be easy disposing of the Ghanaian challenger,” said Henson in his analysis published in The Philippine Star on Friday.

He said that among the things Pacquiao should watch out for is Clottey’s unpredictability, aside from the Ghanaian’s ability to handle southpaws.

“Clottey’s size may make it a little difficult for Pacquiao to find angles for his punches and he’ll surely use his body mass to tire out the Filipino by leaning on him. The downside is because of his huge frame, Clottey is not as mobile as Pacquiao, making him an easy target,” Henson said.

• ABS-CBN News
• Philippine Sports Central