By Tyler Curtis
With today officially kicking off Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight week, I have decided to put up an article every day about this fight.
Clottey is a big tough welterweight, and in my eyes he is the first true welterweight Pacman has faced. The set of challenges he faces in this fight are different then any he has faced before.
There is no reason to believe that Pacquiao won’t overcome these challenges like he has in almost every fight. So let's get to the five reasons why he will get the W.
1. Hand Speed
His hand speed is far better than Clottey's, and he will be able to get off faster. Clottey hasn’t seen hand speed like this and will have trouble dealing with it.
Clottey did fight Zab Judah in 2008, and while Judah has good hand speed, I think it is a tad slower than Pacquiao's. Pacquiao should be able to get off first, and that is always a recipe for winning.
2. Work rate
Clottey has a questionable work rate, and he can get away with it when he fights a man who doesn’t have a high work rate. Pacquiao is not that man.
Pacquiao has a high work rate in every round and never seems to slow down. Clottey has been known to take rounds off, and he can’t afford to do that in this fight.
3. Chin
Pacquiao has a good chin, and he has shown it over the years. It was suspect in his earlier years, but it is a non-issue now.
The last time he went down was in 1999, when he was knocked out by Medgoen Singsurat. The past 11 years his chin has stood up to bigger and bigger men.
Miguel Cotto was the largest man he faced, and he couldn’t even dent his chin.
4. Power
Pacquiao is the smaller man, but without a doubt he is the bigger puncher. He has 38 knockouts in his 50 wins and has knocked out his last four opponents (David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto).
On top of that, he is the only man to knock out Jorge Solis, Erik Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera. His power has carried with him, and this fight should be no different.
Clottey only has 20 knockouts in his 35 wins and has never knocked out a top-tier opponent.
5. Big fight experience
Clottey has faced some big name fighters, but he hasn’t been in the spotlight like this. The whole boxing world will be watching this fight, and the pressure will be huge.
Pacquiao has been here plenty of times and is used to this. Clottey has also proved he just doesn’t beat the best guys.
His losses have come in his biggest fights, and there is no reason to think that will stop now.
All in all, I think that Pacquiao should win this fight, but I have been wrong before.
One point I left off that I wanted to add is talent. Pacquiao, simply put, is the more talented fighter. When looking at this and that, sometimes we forget that the more talented fighter usually wins, and that is Pacquiao.
Source: sportzhypeboxing.com
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