A big sense of 'what if' hangs over this fight because if everything had gone to plan this would have been the big one, the fight every fan really wanted to see: Pacquiao v Mayweather. But when negotiations broke down earlier this year the Pacquiao camp alighted on Clottey as a worthy opponent for the Pac-Man while Mayweather has agreed to fight 'Sugar' Shane Moseley in May.
Still, now the Pacquiao fight is upon us, there's a genuine sense of excitement as there is every time this pocket powerhouse steps into the ring. His opponent, the Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, is strong and won't go down easily in the manner of Ricky Hatton. And as Boxing News's Tris Dixon reports, he could enter the ring at anything up to 165 pounds, making him easily the biggest opponent Pacquiao has ever faced.
Clottey has only lost three times in 38 fights and has never been knocked out, losing on points to Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito and suffering a disqualification against Carlos Manuel Baldomir at Wembley Arena back in 1999. Having said that, Pacquiao has never looked better according to coach Freddie Roach and was in devastating form against Cotto last time out. But this is only Pacquiao's second fight at welterweight and Cotto was just two minutes away from going to the scorecards when Pacquiao overwhelmed him with a flurry of high speed punches in the twelfth round.
Clottey believes that Pacquiao has been distracted by the Mayweather business and the fact that he is contesting a congressional seat in his native Philippines in May, something Manny vigourously denies.
However I wouldn't be surprised if Clottey goes the distance and with the bookies making Manny a best-priced 1/6 favourite overall I think the 15/8 on offer for a Paquiao points victory with Skybet, Paddy Power or Ladbrokes represents good value.
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