MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao wants to come out impressive against Josh Clottey.
And impressive, by his usual standard, could mean no less than a knockout.
From his headquarters in Los Angeles, the Filipino pound-for-pound champion said he’s leaving no stone unturned that by the time he takes on Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13, he’d be in tip-top condition.
“I’m the WBO welterweight champion and the BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America) Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade so Clottey will do everything to win,” Pacquiao wrote in his regular column at www.philboxing.com.
“He’s looking for an upset. And I need to prove that I deserve these awards with another masterpiece. I need to come out impressive,” said Pacquiao, in the thick of his training for the bout being anticipated as the first big fight of the year.
The 31-year-old icon has no habit of predicting a knockout, even if he always ends up doing so. He has won his last 11 fights dating back in 2005 and has scored eight stoppages against some of the great names in boxing.
He’s the odds-on favorite to win the bout, and there may be very little hope that the fight is going to last the distance.
“Manny’s going to knock him out,” declared Pacquiao’s chief trainer, Freddie Roach.
“I’ve seen tapes of him (Clottey). He’s not good. He’s got no chance,” added the only man to receive the Trainer of the Year award from the BWAA four times. He seldom goes wrong when he says Pacquiao’s going to win by knockout.
The reigning 147 lb champion, who has knocked out his last four opponents, from David Diaz to Oscar dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, is entering his second week of training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
Yesterday, he pounded the mitts for 10 rounds non-stop and today he’ll be back sparring. In a week, he has logged 16 rounds of sparring and by the time he leaves for Dallas on March 8 he should have logged close to 150 rounds.
Pacquiao said he knows what he’s dealing with.
“A lot of people say this is going to be an easy fight for me but actually it’s a dangerous one because Clottey has the strength, the size and the speed. He’s taller (5’8”) and heavier (being a natural welterweight) and he almost beat Cotto,” said Pacquiao.