Quote Originally Posted by OumaFan View Post
Always was bothered by the bullshit talk about how people knew Clottey would have won if he hadn't "broken" his hand. Clottey doesn't like the kind of pace Margarito sets. His conditioning is suspect and he has had a habit of fading late while Margarito is as good a closer as anybody in boxing. But of course that had nothing to do with it, it was just Clottey's "broken" hand.
You have to admit it had an immediate effect on his performance though. I think people in trying to discredit the broken hand take it to far the other way. It's not as if Clottey simply gassed out entirely after 5 rounds but then still had enough to hang for the remaining 7 and go the distance absorbing punishment. He definetly stopped throwing with the same conviction after the 4th or 5th(cant remember), and in between the rnds he is complaining to his corner about it. No way he just suddenly didn't have the stamina, he was raking Margo with a lot of hard counters that just stopped coming. Sure, Clottey has suspect stamina in the late rounds, but Margarito is actually a pretty good stylistic matchup for him regardless. I think Clottey struggles most with his stamina when he is forced to set a pace or come forward himself. With Margarito he's always going to have oppourtunities to land the harder cleaner counter shots, as Margo can't hurt him with a single punch or make him set the pace. I'd pick Clottey over Margarito in a heartbeat if they did sign to a rematch. Wouldn't put much money on it given the chance, but I'd definetly favour Clottey to win.