Who can help Clottey repair his right punch?

Pacquiao vs Clottey
By Recah Trinidad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:36:00 03/09/2010

Like Floyd Mayweather Jr., their flawed skipper, they were never expected to play it fair with Filipinos.

But Richard Shaefer of Golden Boy Promotions and a dirty dove by the name of Kelly Swanson surpassed themselves when they savaged Filipino broadcasters, who came all the way from Manila, and shooed them from a press conference in Los Angeles last week.

“It was a move borne out of arrogance,” cried the respected Michael Marley in his column at examiner.com.

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The Filipino TV crew was able to record the insult.

So Marley bore down harder on the American pair after they brushed off and denied the incident, which took place during the Mayweather-Shawn Mosley media event.

“They’re spitting in our faces by telling us it’s raining,” Marley wrote.

Naturally, there came a clamor for a boycott of the Mayweather-Shawn Mosley bout in response to the Marley report.

But Marley was just out to report candidly, not to slur or ruin anybody.

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This friend of Filipinos, an original ally of Muhammad Ali who has done a lot for the betterment of boxing, will always go all out for fairness in the sport.

But, come to think of it, does Marley, just like his friend Freddie Roach, also foresee a mismatch in the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey clash this weekend?

You see, there has been a one-sided flow of information centering on the overwhelming edge Pacquiao enjoys over Clottey.

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This could partly be blamed on Clottey himself, who continued to claim he did not see the need to study Pacquiao fight tapes.

Of course, Clottey had also seen Pacquiao on tape.

But whether this tough Ghanaian was playing it coy or openly offering a handicap, Marley may have to step in and give a timely advice.

Granted that Clottey indeed no longer sees the urgent necessity of dissecting Pacquiao on video, it’s a must that he (Clottey) restudies himself on film.

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Marley may have to also join Clottey the challenger in this effort to re-check Clottey the fearless fighter who’s also dubbed back home as the Grandmaster.

If they do sit down and watch together, there’s no doubt Marley, who we understand learned the Sweet Science under Ali, would readily see the grand flaw in Clottey’s right-hand punch.

This reporter had the luck of observing Clottey when Solar Sports replayed last Saturday his bout versus Shamone Alvarez of the US in 2007.

Clottey, as confirmed by The Dean, Quinito Henson, won that bout by unanimous decision.

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Anyway, as Henson would confirm, he also observed something strange in Clottey’s right punch.

Actually, it’s a clinical defect from this reporter’s view.

Clottey has the primitive habit of launching the right blow wholly from the shoulder, like a pitcher throwing a fastball.

This causes the promising powerful shot to be pushed or slammed, instead of being speared with a crackling snap from the navel area.

Here’s hoping Marley would be able to be seated with Clottey and his current trainer Leni DeJesus.

What could come out of this pre-fight conference should help greatly in making the Pacquiao-Clottey fight a fairly even and memorable bout.

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(In case the Clottey camp is interested in getting pointers on last-minute repairs, they could try and contact former two-time world champion Luisito Espinosa through his founder and original manager, Hermie Rivera. Espinosa got timely advice 36 hours before his successful defense of the world featherweight crown against Mexico’s Cobrita Gonzalez in Guadalajara in March 1996.)

Source: sports.inquirer.net