"I think the Clottey and Pacquiao fight is an interesting matchup. Clottey is one of those guys that a lot of people avoided because he's a big, strong welterweight, but he's also a defensive-oriented welterweight. So he's kind of a hard guy to look good against, but he's also a guy that takes rounds off. He's going against a smaller guy, so let's see if he tries to enforce his will on the smaller guy in this fight and if so, it could be a very interesting fight
All of those in the know understand that Clottey is a tough challenge for Pacquiao and anything can happen," stated boxing and MMA trainer Ron Frazier as he shared his thoughts on the March 13th clash between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey. Check out what he had to say about Pacquiao, Clottey, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley and much more.
PC: What would you like to see Mayweather do next considering Pacquiao has moved on and Mayweather has given up on the March 13th date? How do you see Pacquiao-Clottey fight going?
RF: Well, first and foremost, I was glad to see Floyd give up on the March 13th date. I think if Floyd and Shane can fight, that would be the megafight of this year and if Floyd goes on to win, that would kind of force Manny's hand. I think the Clottey and Pacquiao fight is an interesting matchup. Clottey is one of those guys that a lot of people avoided because he's a big, strong welterweight, but he's also a defensive-oriented welterweight. So he's kind of a hard guy to look good against, but he's also a guy that takes rounds off. He's going against a smaller guy, so let's see if he tries to enforce his will on the smaller guy in this fight and if so, it could be a very interesting fight. If not and he fights his typical fight, he normally comes up a little short when he fights in big fights. he was disqualified against Carlos Baldomir. The Margarito fight he was doing well in and I will give him a pass in that fight because he did break his hand and that affected him I'm sure. I thought the Miguel Cotto fight was his for the taking and for the last 2 ½ rounds, he just didn't do anything and then he complained about the decision, but if he would have stepped on the gas, it wouldn't have been anything to worry about. We'll see and we will see what he brings to the table. Obviously Top Rank knows something because I don't think they would risk a $40 million payday with Floyd Mayweather if they weren't confident that they could beat Joshua Clottey.
PC: Miguel Cotto is moving up to 154 to fight Yuri Foreman. After seeing him at 140 and then 147, how do you see Cotto fairing at 154?
RF: He can go up there and possibly beat a Yuri Foreman. Yuri Foreman is not a big hitter. He has 28 fights and he has 4 or 5 knockouts. That might not be that problematic. He's going to try to outbox Cotto and Cotto is a decent enough boxer, so he could beat guys like Yuri Foreman. I just don't understand how you get blown out in your last fight and then you get a title shot at the next weight. That's what's wrong with boxing to me. That's what's wrong with this sport. You have guys bypassing guys; they don't want to fight this guy and they don't want to fight that guy. I don't care what some of the typical fans say, how does a guy
and I like Cotto. Cotto is one of the nicest guys you ever want to meet. He's a good guy and a good boxer, but you don't deserve a title shot when you just lost to a smaller guy. And he didn't lose close, he got blown out in that fight and now you get a title shot at a higher weight against a bigger guy? What about the other 154-pounders out there? What about the #1 and #2 contenders? What do they have to be saying to themselves? I'm sure they are asking themselves what do they have to do to get a fight and that's my problem with boxing.
PC: Friday Night Fights went through their stage of who is to blame for Pacquiao and Mayweather not fighting. I want to get your opinion.
RF: Bob Arum. I blame Bob Arum more than I blame Pacquiao or Mayweather. Obviously negotiation-wise, those 2 can be difficult to negotiate a fight, but I blame Bob Arum because he is the one that came out and said that they have a done deal and obviously they didn't have a signed deal and everything wasn't agreed upon. And he decided to take it to the media and I think that was the wrong approach. I think Richard Schaefer did it best to kind of negotiate everything behind the scenes. When everything and all of the details were ironed out, then you can come out and say we have a fight, but until then, don't negotiate in the media. I know Bob Arum has no love lost for Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya probably doesn't have any love lost for Top Rank, so that makes it very difficult sometimes to get things done. Unfortunately, the people that lose the most are the boxing fans. It's a great fight that could have happened and now we may or may not see it.
Hopefully it comes off in the fall. It looks like Mayweather will be fighting someone else and Pacquiao is signed to fight someone else and it's a fight and anything can happen in a fight. All of those in the know understand that Clottey is a tough challenge for Pacquiao and anything can happen; a cut can happen or anything. Unlike basketball and football where you have the next week to perform and you can erase a bad night, in boxing, if you have a bad night, titles changes hands and money goes out of the window. We've seen it in the history of boxing. I'm sure Joe Frazier was looking forward to fighting Muhammad Ali and defending his title again and all of a sudden, he gets annihilated by George Foreman and he had to backtrack and go in a whole other direction. Time and time again, in boxing, you have a mega showdown getting ready to happen and then you have somebody spoil the party and this could happen. I blame Bob Arum for this because he is the one that came out and announced they had a done deal and they didn't. You're going to have your people in the Pacquiao camp, and his camp can be a little ridiculous in their statements, and so can the Mayweather people from time to time, but my thought on the situation is personally, I don't believe Manny has done any performance-enhancing drugs, but having said that, why are you balking at the test? We've seen him give blood on 24/7 before he fought Ricky Hatton and he blew him out. I think he just didn't want Mayweather dictating to him and he decided he wasn't going to let Mayweather be the boss of him. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and Manny wins his fight in March and Floyd fights and beats Mosley, which I think he could, and we get this fight in the fall.
PC: Good luck with your guys you have coming up. It's always good to catch up with you. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
RF: I hope everybody has a great New Year. I think the situation down in Haiti kind of put things in this sport in perspective. You can love Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather or Shane Mosley or Berto or whoever, but when human tragedies happen, hopefully people can find it in their hearts to lend a helping hand to those that need it and get away from the BS of calling people names and all of the other nonsense that happens on a daily basis. It doesn't bother me. People can say anything that they want about me and it's not going to affect me, but when a human tragedy like this happens, hopefully people can come together and lend a helping hand.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]