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It was too much, too soon for Diego “Chico” Corrales Saturday on Showtime. attempting to move up two weight classes against a dangerous, world-ranked, full-fledged welterweight, the three-time world champion was battered and beaten up by Joshua Clottey, who scored two knockdowns en route to registering a clear-cut, dominant 10-round unanimous decision.
It was an exciting, albeit one-sided slugfest from the outset. As expected, there was little dancing or posing and the boxers performed with as much determination and courageousness as any one could expect. Both stood their ground on the inside and connected with their best shots.
But the naturally bigger Clottey (31-2, 1 NC, 20 KOs), of Bronx, N.Y., by way of Accra, Ghana, was always a tad faster, quicker, and especially, stronger than Corrales (40-5, 33 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev., by way of Sacramento, Calif., who suffered his third consecutive defeat.
Seemingly as fresh late as he was early, Clottey scored one knockdown in the ninth and another in the tenth en route to triumphing by 100-87, 98-89 and 97-90. Corrales had a point deducted in the tenth for spitting out his mouthpiece after going down. His mouthpiece also came out after the initial knockdown.
“Corrales was tough and this was not an easy fight,” said Clottey, the WBO No. 4 contender, who broke Corrales’ jaw in the middle rounds, rocked and staggered him throughout with pin-point combinations to the chin and cut him over the right eye in the later sessions.
“I expected a hard fight and that is what I got,’’ Clottey continued. “But I knew from the beginning that I had him, that if I fought my fight I would wear him down. This is a huge win. I am very happy. I got an opportunity and I was able to make the best of it. This puts me right where I want to be.’’
Clottey was coming off a close decision loss to WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in a bout Dec. 2, 2006, on Showtime in which he re-injured his left hand. “My hands did not give me any trouble tonight,” Clottey said.
Corrales, a world champion at 135 pounds and two-time world champ at 130, has always readily accepted any and all challenges, so he knew going in he was taking a major risk.
“I do not think I made a bad decision because I was able to fight the kind of fight that I wanted, which was on the inside,” he said. “I was hurting him with body shots. I think my jaw was broken in the fifth round. My corner asked me if I wanted to keep fighting and I said yes.
“My main concern now is getting the jaw fixed. Once that it is taken care of, I am going to sit down with my team and decide if I want to stay at 147 or go down to 140. Clottey deserves credit. He caught me with a couple of great shots.’’
Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions co-promoted the hard-fought match before a near-capacity crowd of 2,300 at The Shrine Mosque. The crowd-pleasing bout aired on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Showtime Championship Boxing’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called the action from ringside with Karyn Bryant serving as special correspondent. The executive producer of the Showtime telecast was David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
The telecast will re-air on Showtime and the premium network’s multiplexes this week as follows:
Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME EXTREME
Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME TOO
Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME
For information on Showtime Championship Boxing and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the Showtime website at www.sho.com/boxing.
