Benjsports.com » Joshua Clottey

Not exciting

Benjie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:56:11 +0000

The recent fight of Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey last weekend drew cheers and boos here in ‘Pacman’s’ home soil. Cheers for Manny’s victory and boos for the subpar performance of Joshua Clottey. At Gaisano Grand Citimall Cinema here in Davao City where we watched the fight, people were obviously dissatisfied with what they saw. And most likely, same thing goes to the almost 51,000 who packed the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and the million others who watched ‘The Event’.

Jeff’s brother Jay told me that he wouldn’t bother to watch the replay at all. Me too. It was not Manny’s fault. Nor the referee’s and the judges’. Numbers don’t lie. Manny threw a total of 1,231 punches and landed 246 of those. Joshua, on the other hand had a mere 399 punches thrown and made 108. So, what can you expect?

It looked like Clottey was there not to win but merely to survive 12 rounds with Pacquiao. It was definitely not exciting at all. Truly, Clottey made ‘The Event’ uneventful.

Just a sleep away

Benjie — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:45:45 +0000

Well, it’s almost 12 midnight as I’m writing this post. The ‘Event’ is just a sleep away. Remember Gino Padilla’s hit maker ‘Just a smile away ‘? It became so popular back in the early 90s and we could replace its lyrics with ‘just a sleep away’.

What makes sense to these words is the fact that the fight between the two boxing heroes Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey is really worth the wait. I bet that this showdown would take us to the edge of our seats. For the first time, I’ll be watching it at the Gaisano Grand Citimall (formerly JS Gaisano) in Ilustre St., Davao City. I’ll be with my buddy Jeff, his fiancée Doodles, and Jeff’s brother Jay.

Now as the clock ticks near midnight, I am about to take that ‘sleep’ away.

Going back to ‘final four’

Benjie — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:23:43 +0000

Around early July last year, Manny Pacquiao finalized the deal with their date with Miguel Cotto in November. The way things were going, it seemed that there was a ‘final four’ in boxing as Floyd Mayweather was already set to face Juan Manuel Marquez last September 19. In other words, it was Pacquiao vs. Cotto on one hand and Mayweather vs. Marquez in the other. The winners were both expected to slug it out for boxing immortality by early 2010.

Well, for some reasons, the winners Pacquiao and Mayweather did not come to terms for their much anticipated showdown. Who’s to blame? I don’t know. Just blame it on the rain.

Now, Manny is locked to face Joshua Clottey on March 13 while ‘lil’ Floyd will face Shane Mosley by May 1. I hope we’ll see to end going back to final four after May 1.

Manny – Floyd showdown may not happen at all

Benjie — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:40:21 +0000

Yes. I believe the aborted Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather fight could be headed to its final grave. After all, Manny is set to face dangerous Ghanian Joshua Clottey on March 13 and Floyd is reported to have signed the contract to face ‘Sugar ‘ Shane Mosley on May 1. With this scenario, I expect Manny to handle Joshua in a late KO or a Unanimous Decision while Floyd will be in for the toughest fight in his career against Shane. A Pacquiao victory and a Mosley win will set the stage for the richest fight in boxing history. In other words, it may be a Pacquiao vs. Mosley in the second half of the year.

Breaking down each fight, I think Manny could take Joshua’s best blows same as he did against Miguel Cotto. And Pacquiao’s speed, footwork and ring generalship will be too much for Clottey to handle. The only question that makes sense is if Pacquiao can knock Clottey out.

Meanwhile, the Mosley – Mayweather fight has long been overdue. As what I’ve mentioned in my previous post dated January 10 that this bout is a decade long in the making. At least, finally it becomes a reality. In this fight, I pick Mosley to win over Mayweather in a Split Decision or a Majority Decision fashion. Mosley can equalize the speed of Mayweather but Mayweather can not match Mosley’s power.

It’s still February but I bet that the best fight that we’ll most likely see is the Pacquiao vs. Mosley and not Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. Manny – Floyd megashowdown may not happen at all

Star Snippets: Manny Pacquiao, Seok Hyun-jun, Ken Takahashi …..

Benjie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:56:14 +0000

Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao has already agreed in principle to face Joshua Clottey of Ghana on March 13. This came after the negotiations between the camps of Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fail to agree on the drug testing protocol. Pacquiao and Clottey will most likely fight in Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas.

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Japan’s Akifumi Shimoda will face compatriot Hiromasa Ohashi on March 26 in the latter’s hometown of Nagoya. The fight will be for the OPBF Super bantam weight title currently held by Ohashi. This will be Ohashi’s second defense of the title.

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South Korean Seok Hyun-jun has signed with AFC Ajax in the Eredivisie becoming the first Asian football player to sign with the prestigious Dutch club. The 18-year old striker also became the eight footballer from South Korea to play in the Netherlands. Among those who played in the Eredivisie before Seok are Huh Jung-moo, Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo, Roh Jung-yoon, Song Chong-gug, Kim Nam-il and Lee Chun-soo.

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Midfielder Koo Ja-cheol of South Korea will undergo a trial with the Blackburn Rovers of the English Premier League. The 3^rd pick overall in the K-League 2007 draft is currently under contract Jeju United but has received green light from manager Huh Jung-moo to join the tryouts late this month.

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Ken Takahashi of Japan will rejoin his former team Hiroshima Carp in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) after a brief stint with the New York Mets in the Major league Baseball (MLB). The 40-year old native of Yokohama hopes to end his career with the Carp where he started his professional career in 1995.

Careless whispers

Benjie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:49:08 +0000

Photo Courtesy: Boxnews.com.ua

Miguel Cotto repeatedly said that all is well now after his brutal loss to Antonio Margarito last year. As they say, there’s always a first time for everything. It was the first time that Miguel Cotto lost and got knocked out in his pro career.

While the biggest fight of his life is just a few ticks away, there have been a lot of rumors and all these talk that Cotto is still hounded by the not so distant past. Freddie Roach publicly cited that it’s really difficult to get over that first loss and first knock out. It’s a tough pill to swallow, he added.

In contrast, Joe Santiago, Cotto’s trainer, insisted that Miguel Cotto’s past two performances against Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey are indications that his prized ward has totally recovered from it.

On fight night, we will all know the answers of these careless whispers.

Boxing’s 1st Half Highlights – Part II

Benjie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:53:19 +0000

Photo Courtesy: Bing.com

Here’s the part II of my previous post Boxing’s 1^st half highlights…

4. Gerry Peñalosa vs. Juan Manuel Lopez (April 25)

It’s a fight I wouldn’t like to watch again. CompuBox had it all. Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lopez landed 444 out of 1020 total punches thrown thru Round 9 compared to the ‘Fearless’ Gerry Peñalosa’s 99 out of 392. Obviously, Coach Freddie didn’t want Gerry to take on more punishment that’s why he called it a halt at the beginning of Round 10.

5. Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton (May 2)

I know everybody watched this one. Should I say I was shortchanged watching this fight? I think not at all. After driving for an hour to go to Gaisano Mall Cinema with my brother , we watched a fight of less than six minutes! Nonetheless, it was all about fun, excitement and everything I could have wished for. Manny Pacquiao, once again, proved why he is called ‘pound for pound’ king as he finished off Ricky Hatton in 2.

6. Miguel Cotto vs. Joshua Clottey (June 13)

Cotto vs. Clottey fight ended in a controversial split decision. It was a close one and it could have gone either way. I must confess that I am a Miguel Cotto fan but that victory was far from being conclusive in his favor.

I hope the second half of the year will bring us more exciting fights to watch and fewer controversies in boxing. By the end of the year I’ll be doing my Boxing’s 2^nd half highlights….