Clottey: I throw punches that cause big damage

MANILA, Philippines - Joshua Clottey doesn’t enjoy watching tapes of his opponents on the ring. Not even Manny Pacquiao.

However, that doesn’t mean that the 33-year-old fighter from Ghana is climbing the ring on March 13 not knowing what he’s up against.

“I have never watched his tapes. I never sit down and watch him and I never sit down and talk about him,” said Clottey during a media teleconference the other day to drum up his coming showdown with Pacquiao in Arlington, Texas.

The fight is set at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, and no less than 40,000 fans are expected to brave the cold weather and see the fight. Promoter Bob Arum said there’s only around 8,000 tickets left and by fight time should be sold out.

“The only thing I think about is me and what I have to do when I come into the ring. I have been training very hard for myself to get to the ring and do my best. When I get to the ring, the fight will start and that’s what I’ll do,” he said.

Clottey is facing the biggest fight of his life and he considers this one as a rare opportunity to be with the greatest fighter in the planet. He is getting paid $1.2 million for this fight, and it’s more than what he’s earned over the last couple of years.

He said it doesn’t matter if he hadn’t seen any of Pacquiao’s fights.

“That is right. I never watch tapes of people. I don’t like watching tapes but I know how he fights. When I get to the ring I know how he is going to be,” he said of the gun-slinging fighter from the Philippines.

Pacquiao is staking his WBO welterweight crown against Clottey, and doesn’t see any reason why he’s going home empty-handed, just two months before he runs for a congressional seat in his hometown in Sarangani.

Clottey, however, said Pacquiao could be terribly wrong because he just knows what to do.

“I think you are right,” he told the media conference.

“You know, I’m not a flyweight. I am not a bantamweight. I am a welterweight and welterweights only throw punches that connect. I can throw shots which connect and land and cause damage,” he said.

“Not throw a lot of punches that he is deflecting and blocking. If you look at the last fight, I won the last round. He threw punches and I blocked them and I threw punches and they connected. I will throw punches that cause damage.”