Yesterday we took a look back at who the real winners of this past Satruday’s mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey. In case you missed it, you can check out the piece here. Today, we will take a look at the true losers of “The Event”.
The Losers
Joshua Clottey – When casual fans scoffed at the notion of Pacquiao fighting Clottey, insisting that the fight was nothing more than an exhibition bout, diehard fans and the media quickly jumped to the Ghanaian’s defense. Clottey, it was thought, was a legitimate welterweight, a strong chinned, powerfully built welterweight who posed the real danger of knocking out Pacquiao with his hands. Funny how foolish we all look following Pacquiao’s undressing of the tough-willed fighter. Clottey appeared to be gun-shy through most of the fight, and Pacquiao’s speed and punch output did more than enough to keep him at bay. The most irritating part was that on the rare occasions that Clottey offered up any semblance of offensive pressure, he often found a home for a straight right hand to the head of Pacquiao. Sitting near ringside, I can attest that there were a couple of moments in the fight when a right hand would land flush and Pacquiao gave off the impression that he truly felt the punch. Imagine how much more competitive this fight would have been had Clottey not been content to perform his impression of a heavy bag.
Clottey is no stranger to coming up short in his biggest fights, but unlike his close and controversial losses to Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto, this loss was as one-sided as you could get. Make no mistake about it; this loss is going to haunt Clottey until the end of his career.
The Televised Undercard – Top Rank is no different than any other promoter who offers up a great pay-per-view main event but fails to deliver on the undercard. But in all honesty, on paper, the undercard of “The Event” looked promising in terms of delivering some television friendly slugfests. Of course, that was on paper. In reality, the undercard did a commendable job of underwhelming the majority of fight fans in attendance, and I dare say, watching the fights on the television. John Duddy vs. Michael Medina, Alfonso Gomez vs. Jose Luis Castillo, and Humberto Soto vs. David Diaz; eight fighters who based on their own merits promised to delivers some good ol’ fashion barnburners. Hell, not one of these fighters is a slick “cutie” counterpuncher. These guys are come-forward bangers who typically engage in some of the more fan friendly fights. So what the hell happened Saturday night? Duddy-Medina was a major let down with neither fighter making any attempt to seize control of the fight. Gomez-Castillo was downright sad. Watching the corpse of Castillo try to keep up with Alfonso Gomez damn-near brought a tear to my eye. I mean, this is a guy who engaged in some all-time great fights. Lucky for Castillo he was in with an Alfonso Gomez who seemed reluctant to let his hands go. Mercifully, Castillo quite on his stool, then announced his retirement from the sport. I hope he sticks to this promise. As for Soto-Diaz, well, we knew they were friends going in, but damn at least pretend like you want to hit the guy. This was nothing more than a glorified sparring session, which is a shame as this fight had the potential to steal the show.
Fight Fan’s Pocketbooks – With tickets ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars, “The Event” was nowhere near being economical. Arum and Jones marketed this as the biggest and best card in boxing, and you better believe that your inclusion was going to cost a pretty penny. When you factor in the cost of parking at the stadium ($50 dollars), the extortion practice that is concession sales ($5 for bottled water, $8.50 for a beer) and you were looking at emptying out your 401K to finance the night. I understand that Jerry is trying to recoup the cost of the stadium, but damn, give a fight fan a break.
Golden Boy Promotions – My editor over at Undefeated Magazine made a great point Saturday afternoon, the reason Top Rank was so eager to get a fight at Cowboys Stadium is that they in effect marked their territory, sort of like how a dog does. The only other promotional entity with the vision and money to take a fight to the “Palace in Dallas” that is Jones’ stadium would be Golden Boy. If you have been following the boxing news wire, then you undoubtedly know that there is another Cold War brewing between Top Rank and Golden Boy. While I personally don’t feel like this uneasiness will impact business like their previous falling out, the fact remains that there is a real sense of rivalry between the two companies. Top Rank has struck first with Saturday’s fight, and it will be interesting to see how Golden Boy plans to top it when their showcase fight, the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight, takes place this May in Las Vegas. Right now, the ball is in their court.
(Photo by Edward Garza)
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