Joshua Clottey-Manny Pacquiao: Five Reasons Clottey Can And Will Win This Fight

Yesterday, I highlighted five reasons I think that Manny Pacquiao will defeat Joshua Clottey (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359092-5-reasons-why-the-pacman-will-eat-up-joshua-clottey ), and today I will take the opposite stand.

It was easy to find five reasons why Pacquiao could win, but it wasn’t so easy to find five why Clottey will win. He is a big, tough, and durable welterweight, and other than that I had a hard time finding reasons.

At any rate, let's get right to it.

1. Size

While it is true that Pacquiao has fought welterweights, he hasn’t really fought a “true” welterweight. Clottey is a career welterweight.

In fact, every single fight he has had since 1998 was in the welterweight division. Some people may be thinking that Miguel Cotto was a true welterweight, but he only fought nine of 36 fights at the welterweight limit.

If you look at Clottey, you can tell that he is clearly the bigger man. He stands at 5’8” and should weigh around 160 pounds on fight night.

2. Defense

Clottey has the best defense that Pacquiao has seen in awhile and when he puts his gloves up, its hard to find somewhere to hit.

When his hands are up the only real place you can land a shot is the top of his head.

His arms are long enough to go down and cover his stomach/ribs. This may frustrate Pacquiao as he likes to be aggressive and land a lot of punches.

3. Chin

Even if Pacquiao gets through that tight defense, the chance of hurting Clottey is slim to none. He has one of the best chins in the game.

He has only been down one time in 39 fights and it was a flash knockdown against the solid punching Miguel Cotto. Another testament to his chin is his 12-round fight with Antonio Margarito.

Margarito threw a CompuBox record of 1,765 punches and didn’t even appear to stun Clottey.

4. Confidence

Clottey is a very confident fighter and truly believes he will win. He isn’t afraid to lose either.

He knows that he may lose but he is determined to not go out like everyone else. He openly talked about losing, but says that he wants Pacquiao to say Joshua Clottey is the toughest fighter I ever faced.

Not being afraid of losing is a dangerous thing. He will leave his heart in the ring this Saturday and will do anything to win.

5. Body Punching

Clottey goes to the body often and when he does it can be devastating. His left to the body is a very good shot and it could prove many problems for Pacquiao.

Clottey even stopped opponents at junior middleweight with this punch. The same punch also gave Margarito and Cotto problems throughout their fights.

We know Pacquiao can take a shot to the head but at 147 lbs, what will a body punch do to him?

While it was hard to find five reasons why Clottey will compete, these are very solid advantages. Clottey’s defense and chin may get Pacquiao out of his game since he will have a hard time hitting him and when he does it may have no affect.