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Manny Pacquiao's World
Domination Continues With Welterweight Title Defense In
Front
Of Biggest U.S. Crowd In 17 Years
Photo: Chris Farina - Top Rank
Fighter of the Decade, seven-division world champion,
three-time Fighter of the Year, boxing's No. 1 pound-4-pound fighter and No. 1 box office attraction, the best
fighter of his era...call him what you want, but one thing
is certain, the sport of boxing crosses over all borders
when its only bonafide superhero fights, and his name is
spelled:
M-A-N-N-Y P-A-C-Q-U-I-A-O !
Joshua Clottey (35-4, 21 KOs) from Accra, Ghana, the former
IBF welterweight champion, current No. 1 welterweight
contender and Pacquiao's mandatory challenger, learned that
firsthand Saturday night, enduring an assault of 1,231
punches thrown by the defending WBO welterweight champion
while only being able to counter with 399 of his own.
Pacquiao literally outgunned his bigger opponent by a
blistering 3 to 1 ratio, averaging over 100 punches per
round in front of 50,994 fans, the largest U.S. crowd to see
a fight in 17 years. His unanimous decision victory over
Clottey extended Pacquiao's five-year winning streak to 12
bouts, including knockout victories Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel
Cotto, Ricky Hatton and David Diaz, the last three for world
titles, each in a different weight division. Is it any
wonder that Pacquiao has become the face of boxing as well
as his native Philippines?
"Nothing personal, just doing my job", said the modest
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), from Kiamba, in the Sarangani
Province of the Philippines, immediately after the fight. "I
thank Jerry Jones for giving me the opportunity to headline
the first boxing event in Cowboys Stadium. He was a
magnificent host and the people of Arlington, Dallas and Ft.
Worth, Texas were wonderful. I will never forget my time
there and I hope they do me the honor of inviting me back.
"But now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that
is my campaign for congress. The people of my province are
among the poorest. They have been underserved for too long.
I want to give a voice to those too weak to speak. They
deserve better schools and a higher standard of living. I
know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is
how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to
have escaped poverty I am compelled to be a public servant
for them. If my being in public office can attract new
businesses to relocate to my province and to shine a light
on the neglect my people have endured, I am only too happy
to serve.
"One of the biggest advantages I have is that every fight is
an opportunity to give honor to the Philippines. The
Filipino people don't just give me their support, they also
give me their strength, their pride and their love. Running
for congress is a way for me to repay them."
**********************************************************
It’s a special edition of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® when
HBO Sports presents MANNY PACQUIAO VS. JOSHUA CLOTTEY, the
exclusive replay of their welterweight title showdown, THIS
SATURDAY! MARCH 20. The replay will begin at 11 p.m. ET /PT
on HBO.
The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live event
at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will call the
action. The replay will be available in HDTV.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with the Tecate and MP
Promotions, THE EVENT: PACQUIAO vs. CLOTTEY took place at
Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The $1.2
billion stadium is the largest, most technologically
advanced entertainment venue in the world. It was produced
and distributed Live on HBO Pay-Per-View®.
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