Pacman pummels foe

DALLAS – Manny Pacquiao did not get the knockout most people wanted, but he did get all the points needed to beat the defense-minded Joshua Clottey and retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt late Saturday night at the Cowboys Stadium.

A huge crowd of 50,944, the third biggest in modern history, came to see the fight, and for 12 rounds they watched Pacquiao dominate an opponent who was so busy defending he almost forgot to throw punches.

It was the first boxing event ever held at the $1.2-billion stadium, and Pacquiao, the greatest fighter in the planet today, made sure it was worth remembering, even for the millions who watched from around the globe.

For the first time in his last five fights, Pacquiao had to listen to ring announcer Michael Buffer go to the scorecards. And unanimously, he was declared winner “and still” the reigning WBO welterweight champion.

Right from the start Pacquiao went after Clottey, but right there as well, he and his cornermen knew it was going to be a long night because the former champion hardly engaged, contrary to what he said he’d do.

Clottey did prove he was tough because after all the punches he took, especially those to the body, he remained standing until the end, never really getting hurt. He covered up so well it looked like his gloves were glued to his face.

Still, the crowd loved the fight because it was a very busy one for Pacquiao who threw a total of 1,231 punches, landing 246 of them, against Clottey, who threw only 399 punches, and was lucky to land 108 of them, including a few good ones.

Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, said the size of the crowd that showed up in his stadium was beyond his imagination.

It was third largest in modern history, next only to the 72,000 that watched the Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks 2 at the Superdome in New Orleans in 1978, and the 60,000-plus of the Pernell Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio in 1993.

The fight, set to start at 10 p.m. Dallas time (12 noon of Sunday in Manila), began almost an hour behind schedule. It was already 1 a.m. here when Pacquiao showed up at the post-fight press conference, and he stayed only for around 30 minutes.

His promoter, Bob Arum, almost begged the media to let Pacquiao go because he had to cross the street, in a trail of SUVs, to grace his own concert at the Diamond Club of the Texas Rangers ballpark. His trainer, Freddie Roach, stayed behind.

“He’s a good fighter and he’s strong. Yeah, his punches hurt, too. I was not in a hurry to knock him out because I knew he was just looking for the big shot. He was waiting for the perfect timing to land a good counter-punch,” said Pacquiao.

“I felt his power. And I was cautious of his power throughout the fight,” said Pacquiao who stretched his incredible win streak to 12, and improved his ring record to 51-3-2 with 38 knockouts, including his last four fights.

“Joshua fought a defensive fight. That’s his game. That’s why it was hard to knock him out. But the chance to fight the best only comes once in a lifetime so I felt he should have fought more,” said Roach.

One-sided fight

Based on their game plan, Roach had wanted Pacquiao to go to the body in the opening rounds and open up Clottey’s famous defense. Yes, Pacquiao stabbed Clottey many times to the body, but they hardly mattered.

But Roach was happy the way Pacquiao dominated a genuine welterweight.

“I thought we won every round. He had a good defense. But a good defense is not enough to win a fight,” said Roach of the 33-year-old hero from Ghana who took his second straight loss and fell to 35-4.

Referee Duane Ford gave all 12 rounds to Pacquiao while Levi Martinez and Nelson Vasquez handed the third round to Clottey, and the rest to the reigning pound-for-pound champion.

It was in the third round where Clottey landed two good uppercuts, and a lead right in the closing seconds. By the third round, Pacquiao’s face started to turn red.

During the post-fight press conference, Clottey admitted that for the first time in his career he felt that he truly lost a bout, because his three previous losses were all questionable.

Against Carlos Baldomir, he was disqualified due to head butts, and against Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto last year he said he felt he won.

“He has the speed so I think I really lost the fight. He has very good movement and he has the speed that was hard for me to handle. His speed was really difficult for me,” he said.

Lenny de Jesus, Clottey’s trainer and former Pacquiao cutman, felt the way his boxer did, saying, “We clearly lost the fight and I don’t think we won any round.”

In the first bout of the day, Eden Sonsona of the Philippines lived up to expectations when he knocked out Mauricio Pastrana of Colombia in the 1:33 mark of the eighth round.

Sonsona, a bantamweight from General Santos City, was leading on all scorecards and was cruising to victory when he caught his smaller opponent with a left to the chin, sending him down and out. He raised his ring record to 19-5 with six knockouts.

Pastrana, a 37-year-old veteran, dropped to 35-13-2 with 24 knockouts.

Another Filipino fought in the ring, but Michael Farenas’ eight-round featherweight contest against Joe Morales of Texas was ruled a no-contest after an accidental head butt in 2:25 of the second round had the local boy bleeding profusely from above the eye. Two of three judges gave the first round to Farenas.

Security was tight in and out of the stadium, with some roads leading to it blocked by police, and only vehicles with special passes could make it through.

A media bus, one of three that took journalists to the event, had to go through a K9 check, and a yellow Labrador probably three feet tall jumped in to do the job. Once cleared, the bus was allowed in.

The place was almost packed with still two hours and four fights before the main event. It was just perfect for a boxing match as big as this one, and it was so huge one could put the Araneta Coliseum inside and still have room to park hundreds of cars.

It was built at a cost of $1.2 billion and it was sure worth every penny. Despite its size, there’s actually no bad seat in the house because there was no obstruction. The main attraction inside the house that Jerry Jones built was two giant high-definition TV screens as big as a basketball court.

During breaks, the entire stadium vibrated with music, and the fans, all 50,994 of them, joined the fun by doing the wave and cheering themselves hoarse.

At exactly 8:30, the two fighters came in, and Clottey was shown first on the giant screens, getting off a black SUV, in a blue jacket and white jogging pants. Then it was Pacquiao’s turn. He was in red tracksuit, holding the hand of his wife, Jinkee, who came in a short purple dress with a matching purple Birkin.

A few minutes later, Pacquiao once again filled the screen, lacing up his fighting shoes and wearing a smile as big as his chances of winning.