Boxing Manny Pacquiao News

Ghana vs Philippines: Which boxer stands a better chance?

According to ABS-CBN News, Joshua Clottey made a bold statement to his fellow Ghanaians, saying that he will shock the world by defeating 7-time world champion Manny Pacquiao on March 13.

“I am taking this fight not for the money but to win the title. I know it’s Pacquiao but I don’t want people thinking that Manny is super, that nobody can beat him. He is a human being like me. He has lost three times and I have also lost three times. We speak, laugh and share jokes together. I promise that I will dethrone him,” Clottey said in a press conference in Accra, Ghana as quoted by GhanaWeb.com.

Clottey, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion, continued: “He is beatable and as such I will put up my very best fight ever in my career to ensure that I beat him.”

Clottey (35-3, with 20 knockouts) promised to make his country proud by scoring a win against Pacquiao.

“I will ensure that Ghana’s flag is raised very high in the USA by accounting for the Filipino,” he said.

The 32-year-old Ghanaian plans to wrest the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title from Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) when they clash at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

A former trainer of Pacquiao, however, thinks that Clottey has no chance against the Filipino boxing superstar.

“I think this is a kind of an easy fight for Manny. Clottey is bigger and is physically stronger but Manny’s got everything else. He’s got the speed, he’s got the skills plus Clottey is a blocker. It’s almost like if Manny goes out there and throws punches in bunches, he doesn’t have to hit him hard,” American Rick Stehely told Ronnie Nathanielsz of PhilBoxing.com.

According to Nathanielsz, Stehely handled Pacquiao when he defeated Thai Chatchai Sasakul to win his first world title, the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight belt, in 1998.

He even predicted that Pacquiao “should win a very easy twelve-round decision or possibly stop Clottey late like he did with (Miguel) Cotto.”

The Filipino boxing sensation defeated Cotto by a technical knockout in the 12th round last November at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Prior to his TKO defeat, Cotto won over Clottey via split decision at the Madison Square Garden in New York last June.

Who will win this time? Will Clottey get his chance to shock the world? We’ll see.