Pacquiao defends title with points victory over Clottey
Pacquiao defends title with comfortable points victory over Clottey
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 14, Mar 2010 10:54
By Richard James.
Manny Pacquiao defended his WBO welterweight title with a unanimous points victory over Ghana's Joshua Clottey in Dallas.
The three judges scored the bout 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 all in favour of the Philippine.
Clottey maintained an extremely defensive guard throughout the entire fight, throwing only 398 punches during the 12 rounds, compared to the 1,231 thrown by Pacquiao.
After the fight, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach criticised the challenger's style, saying: "When you fight for the world title it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"I thought he would have thrown more punches. He was in survival mode and when a guy is trying to survive it is hard to knock him out."
Pacquiao was slightly more complementary though, declaring: "He's a very defensive fighter. I was looking for a strategy to beat that defence, like body shots, uppercuts. It worked.
"Clottey is not an easy opponent - he is very strong. He took a lot of punches and was never hurt."
The fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas on Saturday only came about after the proposed fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr fell through after disagreements over blood testing prior to the bout.
After defending his WBO title, Pacquiao declared he was still keen to fight the American but it was up to Mayweather to make it happen.