MANILA, Philippines – Reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao - Joshua Clottey faced off in the final press conference leading to the “The Event” fight card on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
Promotions for the event are almost coming to an end, with the final press conference held at the $1.2-billion (P55.2-billion) Cowboys Stadium on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
Pacquiao, who arrived early at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium together with his wife and his team, said he is excited to defend his title against the Ghanaian in front of more than 45,000 fans.
The Filipino champ insists he is not taking Clottey lightly. "Clottey is a good fighter," said Pacquiao, who has won 11 consecutive fights. "He is so strong and he is bigger and taller than me.
"I don't want to underestimate this opponent. I am going to do my best and give it a shot," he added.
Clottey, for his part, said he is ready for whatever strategy the pound-for-pound king has set on him.
“I never crack before so I want to see if he can do that. But no matter what happens, I will still respect him,” said Clottey, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion.
Both fighters appeared calm in addressing the crowd. However, they assured their fans there will be fireworks once the opening bell rings.
Pacquiao is also grateful for the Ghanaian's respectful manner of addressing him. Just like the Filipino champ, Clottey's refused to trade trash talk.
“I like this match very much because there's no trash talk and we can be a good example to everyone,” said the Filipino boxing superstar.
Pacquiao's coach, Freddie Roach, remains confident that they can get the durable Clottey in the latter rounds.
"We can stop him in the late rounds," Roach said. "I didn't say a knockout but we can stop him with an accumulation of punches. He (Clottey) has never seen a guy like Manny Pacquiao before and I don't think he will be able to handle it."
Roach said this fight has its own unique characteristics because they are fighting in a gridiron stadium as opposed to the smaller casino venues in Las Vegas that they are accustomed too.
"This will be the biggest crowd we have fought in front of," Roach said. "We have a good game plan. Manny Pacquiao is at the top of his game right now.
Pacquiao to prevail
Some sports scribes present at the press conference, meanwhile, gave their fearless forecasts. Most of them believe the Filipino will win a very hard fight.
“Clottey will put up a fight,” Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports told ABS-CBN News.
Kieran Mulvaney of Reuters said: “I can see Clottey holding on... But Manny will prevail.”
Pacquiao has a record of 50-3-2 (with 38 knockouts) while Clottey has 35 wins (with 20 KOs) and 3 losses.
Both fighters have one more day of training before the weigh-in on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
Center of attraction
Aside from Pacquiao, the center of attraction in the Cowboys Stadium is its HD screen, the largest in the world.
The 180 ft. by 70 ft. screen costs $40 million (P1.8 billion)
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, “You'll be able to see Manny and Joshua 70 feet tall… It’s lowered to 50 feet.”
Pacquiao-Clottey Tickets are priced at $50, $100, $200, $300, $500 and $700. – Report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News, and Agence France-Presse
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment