ARLINGTON – On Saturday, March 13, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, boxing’s pound-for-pound king Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao further cemented his legacy in the sport, while helping make his case as arguably the greatest pugilist of his era. He did so in front of 50,994 fans, which is the biggest fight crowd in the United States in 17 years. His opponent would come in the form of IBF welterweight champion Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey, who hails from Accra, Ghana. This would be the biggest stage and opponent the African boxer has ever fought on, as he challenged the Philippines favorite son Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight championship, which is the title Pacquiao won four months ago with a resounding 12th round TKO over former WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.
Coinicidentally, Cotto is also the last man Clottey had faced coming into this contest. However, Clottey had dropped a razor-thin Split Decision nod to the Puerto Rican superstar back in June 2009. Even though, Cotto was the winner, Clottey’s combinations throughout the fight gave Cotto problems and fans felt the decision could have been awarded to either fighter or even scored a draw. Regardless of the outcome, Clottey’s efforts were noticed by Top Rank and Pacquiao’s camp and he was rewarded with the biggest fight and highest grossing purse of his career. However, that is just about all Clottey had to be happy about after Saturday night, as Pacquiao systematically battered the Ghanaian fighter for 12 rounds. Pacquiao’s offensive explosion was about four times that of Clottey, as he landed 387 of 1,231 punches thrown, whereas Clottey only managed to connect on 95 of 403 punches thrown.
The win gave Pacquiao his twelfth consecutive victory that spans over four and a half years. More impressively it gave "Pac-Man" another quality win over a widely-regarded Top 5 welterweight and durable former welterweight champion. Furthermore, this win came right after his November win over Cotto, where Pacquiao became the first fighter in boxing history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions. The bout also came after months of heated negotians for a blockbuster mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. had fizzled out during the first week of 2010 over Mayweather’s baffling blood testing requests 14 days before the bout, which is something above and beyond what any professional prize fighter has ever been required to do in the state of Nevada. In any case, Pacquiao’s performance against Clottey on Saturday night, albeit a one-sided affair, only adds to his ever-growing legacy.
Pacquiao vs. Clottey – The Event
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Cowboys Stadium
Arlington, Texas, USA
Non-Televised bout: Eden Sonsona over Mauricio Pastrana via TKO at 1:33 of Round 8 (Bantamweight Bout).
HBO bout: John Duddy over Michael Medina via Split Decision after 10 rounds: 96-93, 93-96, 96-93 (Middleweight Bout).
HBO bout: Alfonso Gómez over José Luis Castillo via TKO: Castillo did not answer the bell for the start of Round 6 and announced his retirement from competition (Welterweight Bout).
HBO bout: Humberto Soto over David Diaz via Unanimous Decision after 12 rounds: 117-109, 117-109, 115-111 (WBC Lightweight Title Bout – Title Retained).
Main Event: Manny Pacquiao over Joshua Clottey via Unanimous Decision after 12 rounds: 119-109, 119-109, 120-108 (WBO Welterweight Title Bout – Title Retained).