Exclusive Boxing Interview: Joshua Clottey

“I Need To Fight The Best!”

Joshua Clottey, 30-2 (19), is one of the sport’s best but often overlooked welterweights. The native of Accra, Ghana, who now lives in the Bronx section of New York City, has been fighting since he was just a boy. After a lengthy amateur career, Joshua joined the pro ranks in 1995 and won his first bout via points decision over Samuel Lotsu.

He continued his success by winning the Ghanaian light welterweight title and made the occasional trek to England, which helped tone his already evident skills. In 1999, Clottey faced future welterweight world champion Carlos Baldomir. Clottey controlled the fight and was on the verge of winning when he was disqualified in the eleventh round for leading with his head.

After the minor setback, Joshua continued his winning ways and in 2003 made his American debut at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Manhattan with a sixth round stoppage of Jeffrey Hill. Since then, it’s been full steam ahead for the African native.

Clottey won his next eleven bouts, becoming more impressive each time out, and then finally on December 2, 2006, the hard work paid off when his chance at a world title arrived. The opportunity came against WBO Welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito.

Early in the bout, Clottey seemed to be in control, making the highly regarded WBO kingpin look slow and ordinary. Then his luck turned sour; Clottey injured his hand. The injury caused him to slow down his offensive pace, giving Margarito what he needed to get back into the fight.

Without being able to get his punches off, the bout ended up with Margarito taking the unanimous decision and keeping his title. After Clottey’s performance in the early rounds, many who witnessed the bout believe if not for the injury, Joshua would be the WBO champion right now.

At 30 years old, Joshua “The Hitter” Clottey is reaching a crossroad in his career. If he wins his bout against Diego Corrales on April 6, it will lift him to the next level and he will be without a doubt one of the elite contenders at 147.

If Clottey loses, it could cause him to be branded with the reputation of “He can make it to the big show but don’t expect him to be the star”.

When a fighter is put into that category, they often end up as the eternal “opponent”, a moniker that is almost impossible to shake no matter how well you perform.

Earlier today, I had the chance to speak with Clottey about his upcoming bout with Diego Corrales, the loss to Antonio Margarito and his plans for the future. Here is what he had to say about those topics and more, exclusively to SaddoBoxing.

SaddoBoxing: How are you feeling? How is the hand?

Joshua Clottey: “I feel good. I am ready.”

SB: It seems to me that you are a guy who is constantly stepping up in quality of competition; you fought Richard Gutierrez, then you received a title shot against Margarito for your hard work. Now you are going in against Diego Corrales and so never a step backward for you; are you seeking out these opponents or are they seeking you out?

JC: “I am a boxer from Africa. It is in me to fight the best. If I get a call from my promoter to fight I am ready. I need to fight the best. If I don’t fight the best, how will I be considered among the best?”

SB: You’re known as a tough durable fighter with good power and your boxing skills are surprisingly underrated; do you think the fact that people underrate you works to your advantage?

JC: “Yes I think so. They think all I have is power and don’t consider my boxing skills. I am an all around fighter. I can fight when I have to and that is what I like to do. When the times come where I can’t go in and just fight, I will box. I can box well. I have showed that in the past. Just because I prefer to fight does not mean my boxing skills are not there.”

SB: Your last fight was against Antonio Margarito and in that fight you showed the world that Margarito might not be as good as some of his past performances have suggested. Do you think a rematch without the injury to your hand would have a different outcome than the first bout? Have you and your people tried for a rematch?

JC: “I want one but he won’t fight me again. If he does fight me again, I know I’ll beat him. I can’t do that unless he agrees to another fight.”

SB: Your only two losses are the decision you dropped to Margarito and a disqualification loss to Carlos Baldomir. To date, you have yet to give a bad showing and are clearly a legit contender to be taken seriously; why do you think you haven’t had more high profile bouts?

JC: “When I was an amateur in my homeland, I was highly respected. I had a lot of recognition. People who wanted to bet and win, bet on me. Now people say, who is Clottey? I am here to fight. I am a top fighter. I had Carlos Baldomir beat. I was disqualified. If it wasn’t for that, I would have won. I out boxed him.

“In the Antonio Margarito fight, if my hand did not get injured I would have won that fight. Antonio Margarito did not beat me, my injury beat me. I have yet to be beaten by my opponent, only circumstances. I have yet to truly lose.”

SB: Your next opponent, Diego Corrales, has never fought past the 135 lb mark, aside from being overweight for the third Casamayor fight. It is a big jump going from lightweight directly to welterweight, especially without easing into it with a few warm up bouts. Do you think he is making a mistake by making that jump and going after a fighter of your reputation and caliber for his first meeting as a welterweight?

JC: “Other people have asked me that same question; In my opinion this is boxing. In this sport one punch can make all the difference. The right punch thrown the right way landing in the right place can end the fight for anyone. Diego knows what he can do. He is a capable fighter, but I am dangerous. This fight will let him know if the move up was a bad decision. I will be the one who helps him decide if he will stay at 147 in the future or go back down in weight.”

SB: If you beat Corrales, it should propel you into the next level and start a strong climb in the rankings. Is there anyone in particular you would like to fight next outside of one of the champions?

JC: “I’ll fight anyone at anytime. I don’t care who it is. If my management team called me up in the morning and asked me to fight a heavyweight, I would. I am only looking to fight the best. If I fight anything less then the best, how will I ever be considered among the best in the sport? To me it doesn’t matter, as long as I can prove myself in that fight.”

SB: If offered a title shot tomorrow and you had your choice of champions, who would it be and why?

JC: “I think I would like to fight Kermit Cintron, the IBF Champion. I think it would be a good fight. Kermit and I are friends. We have even spoke of fighting each other in the past. I need to fight the best and that means champions. To me, that is all that matters”.

SB: What can we expect to see from Joshua Clottey in the future? If we talked one year from now, where do you feel you will be with your career?

JC: “I think I will be one of the top guys in the division. If I can get a title shot by then, you will be speaking to a champion. Unless they duck me, one of the champions will have to give me a shot by then. If they do, then I will be the one wearing the belt.”

SB: Is there anything that you want to say to your supporters out there before we go?

JC: “I want to thank everyone out there who has supported me. I want to thank my friends and management team. I would like to thank you and SaddoBoxing for taking the time to interview me.”

SB: Joshua, Good luck in April.