Pacquiao Dominates Clottey In Front Of 51,000

Dallas, TX, United States (AHN) – Nearly 51,000 people watched Manny Pacquiao put on a boxing clinic in Dallas, Saturday night. For most of the night, Joshua Clottey was one of them.

Clottey could barely get a punch in edgewise as Pacquiao rained blows on the overmatched challenger, defending his WBO Welterweight title with a unanimous decision over Clottey.

“I was in control from the first round, but I never felt overconfident,” said Pacquiao.

Clottey concentrated on defense in the early rounds, hiding behind the shield of his gloves in front of his face. Pacquiao threw 90 punches a round, nearly 70 more than Clottey.

If Clottey was counting on Pacquiao tiring out, he quickly learned that his defense wouldn’t last as long as the champion’s stamina.

By the middle rounds, Pacquiao was landing long combinations to Clottey’s midsection. When Clottey dropped his arms to protect his body, allowing Pacquiao to land looping shots to the head.

By the late rounds, Pacquiao could split Clottey’s guard, throwing punches down the middle.

“I didn’t feel his power too much, but his speed was tough,” said Clottey of his inability to generate any offense.

When he did throw punches, Clottey was accurate and effective. Pacquiao had a bruise under his right eye by the middle of the fight, but the few successes were washed away by Pacquiao’s onslaught.

“He took a lot of punches and never even seemed hurt,” said Pacquiao.

One judge gave Pacquiao every round, while the other two awarded Clottey a single round for scores of 120-108, 119-110, 119-110. AHN’s unofficial scorecard was 119-110 for Pacquiao.

“I want to apologize to my fans. Next time, I’ll come back big,” said Clottey.

Pacquiao moved to 51-3-2, while Clottey fell to 35-4, losing his second straight decision.

A crowd of 50,994 at Cowboy’s Stadium was the third largest audience for boxing in the last 50 years.

On the televised undercard, Humberto Soto won the vacant WBC Lightweight title with a unanimous decision over David Diaz. Soto scored knockdowns in the first and last rounds.

Diaz was aggressive and active, but he struggled to land punches. Soto’s movement and accuracy led him to a relatively easy win. Scores were 115-111, 117-109, and 117-109. AHN’s unofficial card had if 117-109 for Soto.

Soto moved to 51-7-2. Diaz fell to 35-3-1.

Alfonso Gomez won by technical knockout over aging legend Jose Luis Castillo in a welterweight matchup.

Gomez dominated the early rounds, landing punches at will while Castillo seemed unable to let his hands go. Castillo did not answer the bell for the sixth round, giving Gomez his eleventh career knockout.

After the fight, Castillo announced his retirement, finishing his career with a 60-10-1 record. Gomez moved to 22-4-2.

Middleweight John Duddy won a split decision over Michael Medina. Duddy gave a workmanlike performance.

He was the aggressor throughout the night, but he didn’t show the reckless abandon that has marked other Duddy fights.

Medina spent much of the fight backing up and lost a point in the seventh round for a low blow, but he did enough to earn the decision on one judge’s card, 96-93.

The other two judges overruled him with twin 96-93 decisions for Duddy. AHN’s unofficial scorecard had the same score in Duddy’s favor.

Duddy moved to 29-1. Medina fell to 22-2-2. He has lost his only two fights outside of his home nation of Mexico.

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