Speed will prevail over size
TEXAS. – Filipino ring king Manny Pacquiao said his lightning fast speed will be enough to nullify Joshua Clottey’s size advantage when the two meet in Dallas on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
"My quickness will be the key, my speed," the seven-time world champion told Reuters as he prepared for a public workout in front of a throng of fans.
However, the WBO welterweight champion is not taking his Ghanaian opponent lightly.
"You cannot underestimate Joshua Clottey," he said. "He’s a good fighter, and he’s bigger than me, and I have to be very focused in the fight."
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach acknowledges that former IBF title holder Clottey, a natural welterweight, has a size advantage over the champion, who began his career forty pounds lighter.
"But I don’t think size wins fights," he said. "I think skill does. He may be a little stronger than Manny on the inside, he might hit a little harder, but I think our speed will nullify that."
Roach said he has been watching footage of Clottey’s fights, and has identified a few key habits that he and his fighter intend to exploit.
"He’ll wait for you to throw a combination and then, when you’ve stopped, he’ll throw back. So if you stand in front of him, you’re an idiot," he said. "We’re not going to do that. He’s not going to be able to find us.
"Sometimes he uses his head," Roach said of Clottey, 35-3 (20 KOs), whose first defeat came when he was disqualified for head butting.
"If you fall into the pocket with him, his best punch is an uppercut and his second best punch is a headbutt. So we’re not going to go in there. We’re going to fight him at distance."
A crowd of several hundred watched Pacquiao’s workout, a turnout that a beaming Pacquiao, 50-3-2 (38 KOs), described as "amazing."
Pacquiao’s open workout, held at a warehouse-like workout space and media center at the Gaylord Texan Hotel, was watched by more than 1,000 adoring fans.
Those who wanted to watch the finest pound-for-pound fighter stretch and punch and dance waited nearly an hour for that privilege. One woman, Linda Parong of Dallas, took a day off from her work at a Dallas health-care clinic to watch Pacquiao swat and sweat.
"I am Filipino myself, so of course I am a Manny fan," she said. "Boxing is a national sport in the Philippines, and he is a national hero."
Parong has already bought tickets to Saturday’s fight. "The $50 ones. I am poor!" she said, wearing a Pacquiao T-shirt and relishing the chance to see the champ up close and personal.
The fight will be the first to be held at Cowboys Stadium, with 45,000 spectators expected to attend, and the Filipino said he was looking forward to the opportunity to show his skills in front of such a large audience at a new venue.
"I’m very excited to fight in Cowboys Stadium, especially because this is the first fight there," said Pacquiao. "It’s an honor to fight in Dallas. I can’t wait until Saturday. This is for the fans. This is my chance to show them what I can do."
Unlike Clottey who worked out for about 20 minutes and talked for at least 20 more during his media day last Monday, Pacquiao was almost entirely business. The Las Vegas Sun said he did lend some promotional shenanigans to the session, posing for photos with none other than fight fan and former Cowboy playmaker Michael Irvin. Top Rank chief Bob Arum and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, along with Pacquiao even "presented" Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones with a bottle of wine.