“He had a good defense, but defense isn’t enough to win a fight,” Roach said. The Event was a one man show — thanks to Joshua’s Clottey’s ugly performance. Although his turtle shell defense was good, it was only too good for his own good. Impenetrable as it was that only about 20% of Manny Pacquiao’s shots got through, nothing was also fired back. Clottey displayed his defensive mastery to the extreme. He was all defense, and thoroughly forgot that boxing also required a lot of punching in order to win.
We could not blame Pacquiao when it turned out to be a boring fight because in boxing, like dancing, it takes two to tango. And in Clottey’s defense, he’s also not entirely to be blamed. He was simply outclassed. His failure to perform could be attributed to Pacquiao’s masterful performance. Pacquiao, after all, is such a great fighter that even elite opponents look like amateurs. Clottey didn’t become an exception.
When the final bell rung, Clottey was still standing. He avoided the fate of Pacquiao’s previous opponents — Diaz, Dela Hoya, Hatton, Cotto — they all got brutally stopped. That must be, in Clottey’s mind, an accomplishment by itself. With the Pacific Storm’s recent run of havoc, it must indeed be. In short, Clottey came in there to survive and collect his paycheck, not to try to win and entertain the fans. That basically summed up the whole Pacquiao-Clottey Affair.
