Clottey comeback?

Clottey's New Focus, Ready To Reignite Career at 154

By Mike Coppinger

Former welterweight championJoshua Clotteyhasbeen incognito ever since his uninspiring effort against Manny Pacquiao inMarch2010.

Rumors of his prolonged hiatus from the squared-circle ranged from being content with his hefty purse from the “Pacman” bout to not having the desire to train any longer.

For the first time since his loss to Pacquiao,Clottey spoke at length,breakinghissilence of over 16 months, stating “I just wasn’t ready to answer questions before.”

Clottey, who was schedule to return in March versus Calvin Green before pulling out with a wrist injury, maintains he simply was taking some time off, waiting for theright fight to come along.

“I can fight at any time,” Clottey exclaimed. “My lawyer has been talking to Top Rank about me getting back in the ring, because you see I’m sick and tired of people calling me asking me, ‘When are you going to fight, when are you notgoing to fight?’ My fans worry about me, when I’m going to return to the ring… and I’m going to return to thering.”

Top Rank Vice President of Operations Carl Moretti sees a November or December return for Clottey, where Top Rank will assess the fighter and make plans for his future.

“First he needs to get back in the ring, which will happen between nowandtheendof the year,” said Moretti. “Thenwe’lljustevaluatefrom therewhat’s going to be available. He’s got an uphill battle right now.”

Clottey is ready for the challenge though, insisting that money isn’tanissue.

“I’m ready to return to the ring, now it’s up to the promotersbecause I’m waiting for them to give me a decent fight. I think [manager Vinny Scolpino] hasto let me just do my thing. I’m not saying that I need all the money, but it needs to be fair. It’snotgoodthat he’s going to call me and offer me low money, I’m not ready for that.”

The Bronx, N.Y. resident will be moving upto junior middleweight when his layoff finally comes to an end. He hopes to return to the ring in a tune-up boutbeforetheendof the year, before possibly challenging the winner of the rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, two fighters with whom he’s quite familiar.

“When I was at 147, I struggled a lot to maketheweight,” said Clottey, a bigwelterweight who once unofficially weighed in at 170 on fight night. “So sometimes theweightkilled me before I got to the ring. Because of the warrior I am, I always do my best. This time, I’m moving up to 154 and it’s going to be a new story.

“If you look at me, I’m big from head to toe. My legs are so big. Even at 154, I still have to make weight, but I’m going to struggle myself like at 147.”

The one fight Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) wants is a rematch of his controversial June ’09 clash with Cotto, a split decision loss which many observers felt should’ve went theother way.

“One tune-up fight, two tune-up fights for me, I will be thereandfightthebest,”Clottey said. ”I want a fight with Miguel Cotto because we have unfinished business.We needto fight again because our first fight they robbed me. I won thefight,they robbedme,so I need to get my revenge.”

Climbing the Ranks

Clottey, 30, entered the public consciousness in 2006, makinghis HBO debut with a majority decision victory over Richard Gutierrez.

The Accra, Ghana native impressed boxing pundits with his excellent defense – a tight guard held high in the mold of “Winky”Wright– and his toughness andsize.

Clottey followed up that win with a loss to Antonio Margarito on Showtime, a fight in which “The Grand Master” was faring quite well until a hand injury suffered in the fourth round. Clottey ended up losing on points to the Mexican pressure fighter, but he was right back in the mix in his next outing.

“If not for my hand, I would have won the fight,” said Clottey.

His next bout was also on Showtime,Diego “Chico”Corrales’ first fight above 140 – and the late fighter’s final ring appearance. Clottey thoroughly dominated Corrales from the onset, battering his foe throughout the duration of the 10-round bout.Clotteyeven dropped Corrales ineach of the last two rounds, but couldn’t finish him. Nonetheless, the statement was made– Clottey was a force to be reckoned with in thewelterweight division.

In August 2008, Clottey authored the biggest win of his career, a nine-round technical decision victory over Zab Judah on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, nettinghim his first title.

The bout was a grueling toe-to-toe affair. Clottey weathered Judah’soffensive onslaught and began to impose his will as the fight progressed. Judah eventually bowedoutdueto a nasty gash from a punch, althoughtherefereeincorrectly ruled it was from a clash of the heads. So it went to the cards, Clottey pulling off the closevictory.

What should’ve been a momentum builder instead turned into a10-monthhiatus.Clottey rode the pine until his June ’09 showdown with Cotto at MadisonSquare Garden,a bout which saw Clottey rise off the canvasinthefirstround.Thefightwasa back-and-forth encounter, with many roundshardto score. Ultimately, Cotto wasdeemedthevictor, although it’s a fight that warrants a rematch.

New Weight Class and Mindset

Clottey has been criticized in the past for not letting his hands go, contentto stay in his defensive shell and rip uppercuts. His lack of offense can be attributedto many of his losses, something he plans to change upon his return to thering.

“Right now everything is going good with my new trainer, he’s teaching me a lot about offense,” Clottey said. “He’s a good trainer, everything is going good. I can’t wait to get to the ring and show the people not to write me off because of thePacquiao fight.If I’m throwing my hands, nobody’s going to beat me. Me and my trainer are workingon that. “

Athough Clottey hasn’t fought in over 16 months, he remains in topphysical condition, with a regiment that includes daily runs.

The trick is getting back into boxing shape, as he’s been absent from the gym while awaiting his next assigment.

“I’m always in shape, I’ve been jogging,” Clottey said. “I’m expecting to have my tune-up fight before the year closes. I just need two months,so thatI canfly my trainer to U.S., he’s in Africa. I want to be a champion at 154 in 2012.”

Fight with Pacquiao

Clottey’s last bout came against the great Pacquiao inMarch‘10, a fight thatcame about only after negotiations between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather famously crashedand burned. While boxing lost in the aftermathinthebiggest fight in boxing history not happening, Clottey turned out to be a huge winner, receiving by far his biggest payday and a chance to dethrone Pacquiao.

The big payday was the closest Clottey came to victory.TheGhanaian wasthoroughly dominated, remaining stuck in a defensive shell for the vast majority of thebout,more content to cover up than let his hands go. He received massive criticism for theeffort, with many fans and observers claiming he just showed up for a paycheck.

As the fight was put together at the last minute – finalized in January for a Marchdate –Clottey had little time to prepare amongmany problemsinhiscamp. His trainerhadvisa problems, forcing him to use Lenny DeJesus for the bout.

“I went to training campfor only threeweeks,”saidClottey. “[DeJesus] is not my trainer, he’s my cut man.You go to training campfor only three weeks for Pacquiao, it’s not going to be easy. The world’s pound-for-pound number one fighter. It was very short notice.He had speed and I couldn’t utilize my gameplan.

“It’s not like I’m makingexcuses,I lost to Pacquiao.He’s very dangerous,I lose that fight. I took the fight on short notice because I’m a warrior. If I win, I get the big fights likewith Mayweather.ButI didn’thavetime to prepare. For Cotto and Margarito,I had months to prepare.

Clottey warns fans and writers not to write him off based on his lackluster performance against Pacquiao.

“But that is not the end of Joshua,” said Clottey. “I want everybody to understandthat they shouldn’t just look at the Pacquiao fight,they should look at my past fights. My fight with Margarito, my fight with Cotto, my fight with Diego Corrales, my fight with Zab Judah.

“I really miss the ring, I really want to fight. I want the fans to knowthatthey shouldn’t write me off because of the Pacquiao fight.”

Besides the Cotto-Margarito winner, there’s one more name Clotteywould love to add to his resume.

“I remember when they madethefightwithPacquiao,everyone saidhe’s goingto beat me easy,” Clottey recalled. “They shouldgiveme to Canelo [Alvarez] andsee if Canelo is going to beat me easy. I’m going to wear him down if they give me the chance.”

Clottey is ready for the second act of his career to begin, seven poundsnorthat154.

“Those guys at 154, I’m going to beat all of them if they give me a chance,” said Clottey. “I’m really here to be something.”

School Project wrote:Cheers BALTI, I personally don't like Clotteys attitude regarding the Pacquiao fight. It was one of the most feeble efforts I've seen. Although Mosely did run for his life against Pacquiao.

Anyone know the punch stats for Pacquiao v Clottey? I can't remember anything being thrown in that fight from Clottey.

BALTIMORA wrote:

School Project wrote:Cheers BALTI, I personally don't like Clotteys attitude regarding the Pacquiao fight. It was one of the most feeble efforts I've seen. Although Mosely did run for his life against Pacquiao.

Anyone know the punch stats for Pacquiao v Clottey? I can't remember anything being thrown in that fight from Clottey.

Can't remember the exact figures but I know accuracy was something like 27% for Pacquiao, 20% for Clottey.



Just found them:

Pacquiao 27% of 1231, 549 jabs, 14 landed (3%), 232 of 682 power punches (34%)

Clottey: 20% of 399, 26 of 162 jabs (16%), power punches 82 of 237 (35%)



I didn't want to just repost an existing article after Steffan has been slated for doing that, but I was on a mobile and low on patience.

BALTIMORA wrote: I'm hoping he livens up 154 a bit.

eddyfightfan wrote:i think alveraz vs clottey would be a decent fight, and can see it been made too. clottey is a least as worthy at a shot as hatton, rhodes or gomez

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

eddyfightfan wrote:i think alveraz vs clottey would be a decent fight, and can see it been made too. clottey is a least as worthy at a shot as hatton, rhodes or gomez

So completely unworthy then? 3 wrongs don't make a right. Just find it hard to get excited about the 154lb division with Alvarez beating up journeymen every ten weeks and welterweight hasbeens who can't make 147lb anymore claiming to be rejuvinated at the weight when in reality they are trading off past glories (or just the past in clotteys case).

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

eddyfightfan wrote:i think alveraz vs clottey would be a decent fight, and can see it been made too. clottey is a least as worthy at a shot as hatton, rhodes or gomez

So completely unworthy then? 3 wrongs don't make a right. Just find it hard to get excited about the 154lb division with Alvarez beating up journeymen every ten weeks and welterweight hasbeens who can't make 147lb anymore claiming to be rejuvinated at the weight when in reality they are trading off past glories (or just the past in clotteys case).