It take 2 to Tango and it takes 2 to make an exciting fight!

March 15th, 2010

Mixed reaction were heard after the Pacquiao vs Clottey fight yesterday. Oh yes, the atmosphere in the Cowboy Stadium was nothing short of electric! Massive 51,000 people packed the Stadium and they were there to see Manny Pacquiao. This proves to show the drawing power of Manny, whomever he fights. He is the superstar, his greatness, the excitement he brings in the ring, his gentleman demeanor, humble and down to earth attitude always endears his fans from different nationalities.

The undercards were also pretty interesting. Jose Luis Castillo, after yesterday's performance, proves to show that he's not like his old self when he was a knock-out artist at lightweight compared to now that he's 36 years old at welterweight. Now, in this fight game of which speed of reflex can spell the difference between evading a punch or getting hit with a 4000lbs force in the face, 36 years old is pretty much old in boxing. When you grow older, you may move fast, you may be strong, but your reflex diminish slowly but surely. I guess resigning from the fight after 3rounds is the right thing to do for Castillo as he is being beaten up by a younger stronger, Alfonso Gomez.

The David Diaz vs Humberto Soto, two friends who have great respect for each other were pitted in the ring to see who is the superior fighter. In round one, as Diaz was closing in on Soto to impose his strength, Soto hit him with a clean right and left hook that sent Diaz down the canvass. During the next early rounds, Soto had his moments as he hit Diaz with combinations while David Diaz, the shorter stockier fighter tries to go inside. During the middle rounds, David Diaz found his rhythm and was able to evade Soto's spear-like punches from a distance and was able to hussle and muscle Soto into a brawl. At the closing round, it seems like David Diaz exhausted most of his energy pressuring Soto. There were more than one time when David Diaz was out of balanced and was called a slip. This is a sure sign of exhaustion on the part of David Diaz. At that time, Humberto Soto looked more of the fresher stronger fighter. Soto tagged Diaz with another one-two combination, and it looks like Diaz fell down due to exhaustion more than being really stunned by the punches. So David Diaz got knocked down in the first and last round of the fight, giving Humberto Soto a unanimous decision win to earn the vacant WBC lightweight championship belt.

The anticipation for the main event was overwhelming. As the combatants marched towards the ring, one can hear the roaring crowd in the air. Joshua Clottey, the challenger walked towards the ring with his patented strut dance moves. I gotta say I was more impressed with Clottey's dancing than his boxing that night. As the champion walked into the ring, Manny Pacquiao was his usual self. That trademark smile when he enters the ring was unmistakeable. The ring is Manny Pacquiao's stage and he is always happy to perform to the crowd. Pacquiao was expected to do what he is known to do. Relentless, blistering speed, punches from all angles, that peppered Joshua Clottey from start to finish. There were times when in the initial stages of the fight that Manny Pacquiao rocked Joshua Clottey with a smacking hard right hook, when Clottey tried to initiate his own attack. But after that shot, when Clottey tagged hard, he shut the clammed up with his tight high guard defense and seemed hesitant to initiate an attack for the remaining rounds. Manny Pacquiao was even inviting Joshua Clottey to take a free shot at him to catalyze the exchange. But as soon as Manny Pacquiao explodes, Joshua Clottey would be contented to close like a turtle and defend himself. Or just maybe, he didn't have a choice but to keep on-guard that he couldn't gamble to throw his own punches. Imagine Manny Pacquiao throwing 1200 punches from all angles, hitting the mid-section and to the head, with thunderous "thud" each time. And in numerous occassions Joshua Clottey was backing down against the ropes hoping for the rain of punches to stop. Giving due credit to Clottey, this guy is as hard as a rock. He took tremendous punishment yet, he was still standing for the full 12 rounds! Joshuah Clottey is one very durable guy.

We could hear Lenny De Jesus in the corner shouting, "You're losing on each round! You gotta let your hand go!" and at the 11th round, Clottey's coach said, "You gotta knock this guy out! You're the bigger stronger man. Take a chance! Knock this guy out, its your only chance! Take a chance now! It's now or never". I guess Clottey chose the "never" instead of taking a chance "now". The corner of Joshua Clottey and the whole world was expecting much much more from the challenger. This is a championship fight! If the challenger is sincere to win the fight, he should take a chance at glory and give the fans what they're looking for. Nobody wants to watch some guy beat up the other guy covering up for the whole 12 rounds. Fight fans wants to see a fight! That's the main reason why they go and watch a boxing match.

It was a tremendous performance by Manny Pacquiao indeed, but the fight wasn't that exciting simply because Joshuah Clottey is an unwilling partner to tango.

atollentino@8countnews.com