There’s an old cliche in boxing, almost as old as the sport itself. It goes ‘a good big un always beats a good little un’. Makes sense. Time has proven on many occasions that there is only so far you can move up weight divisions before you simply lose to fighters who are perhaps less talented than you. Ask some of our genuine all-time greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and Stanley Ketchel. They all became victims of that old adage.Unfortunately, for opponent Joshua Clottey at least, Manny Pacquiao 50-3-2 (38KO’s) has removed himself from the mould.

Nevertheless the fight remains a must see event, televised live in the States on HBO PPV/Sky in the UK, from the Cowboys Stadium in Texas on Saturday night.

Starting as a young minimumweight at just 106lbs, the Filipino sensation Pacquiao has torn his way through division after division wreaking havoc everywhere he goes. A title holder at flyweight, super-bantamweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and welterweight, as well as a linear champ at light-welterweight and a claim to it at featherweight, the current pound for pound best fighter has nothing left to prove. His victim list reads like a who’s who of boxing for the last ten years.

Joshua Clottey

This alone could intimidate his opponent, former welterweight title holder Joshua Clottey, but as we all know, Joshua Clottey 35-3 (20KO’s) is a tough man. Although generally on the losing end of marquee fights, one thing no one can say is that they had an easy night against him. His only three losses have all come to World champions, namely Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Carlos Baldomir. He has excellent wins over the likes of the late Diego Corrales and Zab Judah, and is a career welterweight.

Given his distinct apparent natural size advantage, many people could well pick Clottey to win the fight, but as already mentioned Pacquiao doesn’t seem to respond to situations the way other fighters before him have done. Yes Clottey is big and yes he’s good, but to beat a man like Manny Pacquiao I feel you have to be very special. Clottey is good, but as far as we’ve seen so far, not that good.

Of course, all the call was for Pacquiao to take on rival pound for pound claimant Floyd Mayweather Jr. Unfortunately for whatever reasons, the pair didn’t seem to want the fight. It’s a shame as Mayweather could be the only person in boxing right now who can stand with the Pacman. If Pacquiao wins Saturday night and Mayweather beats Mosley, a genuinely big task in itself for Mayweather, who to his credit has taken a very good fight, the pair cannot fail to meet later this year in one of the biggest fights of all time.

Pacquiao must remain focused

Still, Pacquiao has Saturday night to consider first, and as long as he doesn’t take his eye off Clottey, remains focused and motivated I can only see one outcome in this fight. Pacquiao will pepper Clottey with left hands until Clottey, bloodied and bruised, quits on his stool in the later rounds.

On the undercard, former Pacquiao victim David Diaz 35-2-1 (17KO’s) of Chicago fights for the title he lost to the Filipino, challenging Mexico’s Humberto Soto 50-7-2 (32KO’s) for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.

It’s a good fight, and should almost certainly be one for the spectators, with neither man very inclined to take a backwards step. I don’t think either man would claim to be an elite fighter, but both have held World titles and Soto is on a six-fight winning streak, having only recently given up the super-featherweight version of the title.

It’s this form that makes Soto the favorite in my eyes, and although I expect a tough, twelve round battle, Soto should have just a touch more freshness than Diaz, but with his warrior heart should last the distance at least.

Also on the card, Alfonso Gomez 21-4-2 (10KO’s) of Contender fame tackles rugged Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo 60-9-1 (52KO’s) over ten at welterweight. Apart from the Contender series, Gomez has since made his name by first ending the career of the late Arturo Gatti then getting destroyed by the then WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in five painful rounds. Since then Gomez has had three wins over limited opposition, and judging by the way Castillo looked the night against Ricky Hatton a whole three years ago, the trend doesn’t really seemed to have changed for Gomez.

Finally, Ireland’s John Duddy 28-1 (18KO’s) continues his rehabilitation after the Billy Lyell loss three fights ago with a scheduled ten round middleweight bout against Michael ‘Murder Man’ Medina 23-1-2 (18KO’s).

1. Pacquiao Beats Clottey But Is Forced To Go The Distance
2. Pacquiao and Clottey Weigh-In