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Bob Arum: We are a little over two weeks away and we are very excited about the full house we are going to have at Cowboys Stadium with Manny Pacquiao, who is the most exciting fighter in the world today and we couldn’t find a more competitive opponent that Joshua Clottey.
Clottey has a heart like a lion and he is a terrifically balanced fighter who comes and gives it everything. We think that whoever wins this fight, at the end of the night, they will be saying that this is the best fight that Manny has ever, ever been in. This is the toughest fighter that Manny Pacquiao, the Fighter of the Decade, has been in the ring with. There are many experts saying they wouldn’t be surprised if Joshua Clottey won this fight.
Vinny Scalpino: Joshua has been training very hard and his team around has been reporting wonderful things. So we are ready to rumble.
Joshua Clottey: I would like everybody to know that I have been training very hard and that the owner of the Cowboys and Bob Arum will be very happy and I want to make everyone happy, that’s what I am doing now. I am training to do my best and to bring my best to the ring.
Question: Can you talk about your confidence level going into this fight?
JC: Like I always said, Manny’s a good fighter, he’s the best now. This is my 40th fight in the professional ranks and it is the most special and I’m taking it a special way. I think this is the third time going for the WBO title and my fourth world title overall. I have had a fight with Cotto and now Manny Pacquiao.
I was so surprised that I had this opportunity to fight against Manny Pacquiao and when Bob Arum and Top Rank called me about this opportunity to fight Manny Pacquiao, I was so happy and I want to win this fight in a big way.
I think you are right. He does throw a lot of punches. He throws a lot of punches to people when he sees the openings. He won’t see the openings with me. When I block the punches it will always make him think. You see, I have my game plan. I know what is going to happen in the ring. I always come to fight and I always see my openings. My game plan is to chase him, but if he is going to be there, fine.
Q: Do you think you need to throw more punches to win the fight? Against Cotto it seemed as if you needed to throw more…
JC: I think you are right. You know, I’m not a flyweight. I am not a bantamweight. I am a welterweight and welterweights only throw punches that connect. I can throw shots which connect and land and cause damage. Not throw a lot of punches that he is deflecting and blocking. If you look at the last fight, I won the last round. He threw punches and I blocked them and I threw punches and they connected. I will throw punches that cause damage.
My training is going to show when I get in the ring, but with Manny Pacquiao you don’t have to miss with him. When he is throwing you have to let him do it. Like you said, they come from many angles. I have my plan.
Q:What would a victory mean to you?
JC: A victory would mean very, very more than a lot to me. That’s why I am so happy about this opportunity. And second, if I beat Manny Pacquiao I am going to be very much happy, because he is the best fighter out there. He is the man now and he’s giving me a chance to fight him and if I beat him, I’m going to be on top of the world. It will be very important to the people in my country and that is very important in life.
Q: These are both your fighters and it must be difficult for you…how do you see this fight playing out?
BA: Of course I have and the more I play it over in my head I realize how competitive this fight is going to be. Nobody, with any real certainty, can predict this fight. Everybody knows how Manny Pacquiao fights. Everybody knows the angles that he throws punches from. Everybody knows that Joshua Clottey is a tremendous defensive fighter and can put a real hurting on an opponent. Everybody knows that Clottey is the bigger man and Manny is the smaller man.
People talk about how much Manny has gone up in weight, but he really hasn’t gone up much. He couldn’t make 130 so he fought at 135 pounds. He was 138 when he fought Ricky Hatton. If he gets on the scale now at the weigh-in weighing 142 or 143 that’s because he ate breakfast and lunch on the day of the weigh-in, so if he had to he could still make 135 pounds.
The idea that suddenly Manny Pacquiao has become a big man is just not true. Joshua has the size and he is a natural welterweight…Manny Pacquiao isn’t and that makes intrigue in the fight. Even Joshua would admit that Manny is the favorite in the fight because he has such a great resume but I can go either way.
Q: What do you think Manny’s weak spots are?
JC: No matter what people are going to talk about him, he is the best now. When he beats guys, like in the Cotto fight, he beats guys that don’t have a good defense. I have a defense. I will never say anything bad about the guy because he is the best now.
When I walk in the ring with Manny Pacquiao and I lost, I will tell everybody I lost the fight. But I keep telling people I didn’t lose the Cotto fight because I don’t feel that I did. When I walk into the ring, I do what I want to do to win the fight, to do my best. When I walk into the ring I will know what I need to do to win the fight.
