Fire Quinito rounds up all the must-read stories for the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight, so you could immediately go back to reading your FHM X anniversary issue.



Andrew Corsello, GQ Magazine: “You’re not a boxing fan? Doesn't matter. We're all fans of the strange, hardwired to seek and behold it—and Manny Pacquiao is the most beautifully strange human being to befall boxing, and perhaps even all of sport, in a generation.”

Tim Starks, The Queensberry Rules: “No use beating around the bush here. You know that scene near the beginning of 'Jurassic Park,' where they lower a cow into the velociraptor pit by crane, then after some infernal racket, they wheel the cow’s harness back up and there’s nothing left but ragged straps? That’s what I think Pacquiao-Clottey is kind of going to look like.”

Lem Satterfield, The Fanhouse: “The end, for challenger, Joshua Clottey, may happen along the ropes or in the middle of the ring. But either way, it will happen -- before a screaming crowd of about 4,500 at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on Saturday night. Trainer Freddie Roach has envisioned it to be so. The 32-year-old Clottey will be covering up, or, more-or-less, cowering, as he tries to employ his vaunted hands-held-high-around-his-ears, peek-a-boo defense. But even that will no longer protect the wilting challenger from the gattling-gun blows that will be coming at him from all sides as seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, forces local referee, Rafael Ramos, of San Antonio, to come to the Clottey's rescue.”

Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports: “If Pacquiao doesn’t got for the kill, though, he could open himself up for problems. Big underdogs have won before – a 42-1 underdog (Buster Douglas) and a 24-1 underdog (Evander Holyfield) both defeated Mike Tyson – and if Pacquiao doesn’t get rid of Clottey if he has a chance, he may come to regret it. Roach, however, believes fully in his fighter’s desire to perform at the highest level. Other fighters who were major upset victims became content with their success. Pacquiao, though, is not. He’s begun to watch video to spot opponents’ tendencies, something he didn’t do for much of his career. He’s become much more detail-oriented.”

Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times: “Still, Pacquiao and his people know that danger lurks in any ring battle, no matter the odds. They know that, in this one, Clottey’s forehead may be as dangerous as his fists. The head-butting issue is especially significant in this fight because Pacquiao has a history of not doing well when cut. ‘He freaks out a little bit,’ Roach says.”

Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times: “Clottey (35-3, with 21 knockouts) was raised with little education in the African country of Ghana. He made daily trips to the sea as a youngster to reel in fish that he would sell to help support a family he described as ‘transient.’ But Clottey, 33, had the good fortune to follow his older brother, Emmanuel, into a sport that proved to be his calling. ‘Some guy thought I could fight and put some gloves on me,’ Clottey said, recalling that when he was 6, he was sent into a bout against a larger youth who promptly slugged him in the stomach and caused him to lose his lunch. ‘I stayed at it. I learned. This was the way I was going to become somebody.’”

Bryan Armen Graham, Sports Illustrated: “The wiry Ghanian will never be confused with Sugar Ray Leonard or even Ike Quartey, but he presents some unique challenges for the champion. Aside from the obvious height and reach discrepancies, Clottey, who weighed 156 pounds in the ring against Zab Judah in 2008, may have as much as a 15-pound advantage on fight night. Pacquiao may have defeated Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya at welterweight, but those opponents enjoyed their greatest success at 140 pounds or below; Clottey has campaigned nearly his entire career at welterweight.”

Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing: “Clottey is, in some ways, this generation’s Ike Quartey; good enough compete at the top but not quite good enough to win there. But like his fellow Ghanaian fighter, Clottey’s physical strength, durability, underrated speed and tough-to-crack defense will present all kinds of problems, at least early on for the division-jumping Pacquiao. He has had his shots at elite welterweight glory before, most notably a decision loss against Antonio Margarito in December of 2006 and again, last June, when he dropped a close (and in some circles, controversial) split decision to Miguel Cotto.”

Dan Rafael, ESPN: “Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest. ‘Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium,’ said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and boxing lifer.”

Calvin Watkins, ESPN Dallas: “Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones, fresh off morning meetings to discuss free agency with his NFL team, said there are a few hundred seats available for the 45,000 seating capacity. He expects the event to be a sellout. ‘We are really moving toward that number real good,’ Jones said. ‘Down to just a few hundred, and I'm talking about just a few hundred at different levels.’ Jones hinted that the fight could be a sellout by the end of the business day Wednesday. Jones, however, needs this fight, called The Event, to succeed because he put down a $7 million site fee, with some conditions. A return on his investment could lead to future fights.”

Scott Christ, Bad Left Hook: “This isn't the Manny Pacquiao from a year ago. While Manny was big before his December 2008 fight with Oscar de la Hoya, and very big after, he's become huge. He's the boxer of choice for everyone in the world that wants to be inspired by a boxer, it seems, featured everywhere. Pacquiao's popularity has in large part come the old-fashioned way. When he fights, people want to see him, because he's exciting, fearless, and ruthlessly efficient in the ring. Outside the ring, he's humble, good-humored, a philanthropist, and, at least in his own mind, a dynamite singer.”

Gareth A. Davies, The Daily Telegraph: “When Manny Pacquiao fights crime drops to zero and fighting factions in his homeland put down their weapons to witness a different kind of war. But Pacquiao seemingly has the same effect elsewhere. The Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey title fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13 has created a truce in the war of words between promoter Bob Arum and UFC president Dana White.”

Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files: “When Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey of Ghana in the ring on Sunday (Saturday in the U.S.) in Texas to defend his welterweight crown, the Ampatuan clan won’t be in the audience at the Dallas Cowboys stadium to cheer him like in his past fights.”