"Pacquiao, he was a little bit more banged up than you would've thought you'd see with a guy who dominated the fight," commented ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas as he shared his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao's recent performance in his unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey. Despite winning nearly every round on all three judges scorecards, Atlas believes that Pacquiao may lack the necessary defense to be successful should he step in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. "So what do I say about that? I say that you can find Pacquiao. I say you can touch him. I say if you can do that, Mayweather, if they get in there, can have a very good night," he continued.
It's a valid point that Atlas brings up, as the damage that Pacquiao did sustain from Clottey's limited onslaught was clearly visible on the screen. "I saw Clottey throw a couple of uppercuts. I'm gonna say that I saw him, you know, I didn't keep track, but I'm gonna say I saw him throw seven and he landed seven uppercuts really clean. Nothing else in between. Other than that, he threw maybe one punch every six months. But when he threw those seven uppercuts, again, they had no problem landing on Pacquiao," Atlas would explain. Of course, to be fair, Pacquiao's defense is his offense and, as such, he's going to sustain some damage when he's willing to press the action to entertain the fans by making it a brawl.
Host Brian Kenny, who's been critical of Floyd Mayweather in the past, surprisingly agreed with Atlas. Below is a transcript of the conversation:
Brian Kenny: Alright Teddy, give us your big picture take on what you saw Saturday night.
Teddy Atlas: Well, I saw somebody who was wearing Everlast gloves and he should have probably put an Everlast label on his forehead, and that man would have been Clottey, because he did a pretty good imitation of a heavybag. Look, it's his temperament. Brian, it's his style and his temperament that conspired to give him problems, especially against a fast-handed, busy fighter as Pacquiao is. Because his temperament is to be very careful. I don't think he's as confident, and when I say he of course it's Clottey, as his body would suggest to some people. He's a big, strong guy; people think he's confident. Not necessarily true just because a guy looks the look. And I think that he's a very careful guy, doesn't want to take too many chances, then when you add to that equation that he covers up and he has that kind of style where he can be handcuffed by punches and he can't get off when you're keeping him busy, it's very few and far between where he can really get those hands moving when he keeps those earmuffs on. So when you put those two things together and you fight a guy like Pacquiao, well, you're going to get a boxing exhibition, you're going to get a heavy bag exhibition, and I think that's what you got.
Brian Kenny: Yeah, I agree Teddy. I knew you'd bring that up because we've seen before against Miguel Cotto. Remember, he laid down for awhile and without a good referee in there, maybe that fight ends, but he got convinced to be brought back up. But, well, let me ask you this Teddy, now we've seen De La Hoya, Hatton, Cotto, Clottey, these are top guys and Clottey has been in there with most of those top guys and nobody has really come close to Pacquiao yet, except for Cotto for a little while and then he eventually got drilled, what does this say about Pacquiao, that he had such an easy time with a top 5 welterweight?
Teddy Atlas: Well, he's taking advantage of what's in front of him. He's doing what he needs to do and what's there to be done. You know, he's a professional, he comes well-prepared, and again, he takes what's given him. But, let me go rain on the parade. You know I'm not known for doing that too much, but let me just sprinkle on it just a tiny bit. I saw Clottey throw a couple of uppercuts. I'm gonna say that I saw him, you know, I didn't keep track, but I'm gonna say I saw him throw seven and he landed seven uppercuts really clean. Nothing else in between. Other than that, he threw maybe one punch every six months. But when he threw those seven uppercuts, again, they had no problem landing on Pacquiao. You looked at the screen a minute ago, you looked at the video and you looked at the face of Pacquiao, he was a little bit more banged up than you would've thought you'd see with a guy who dominated the fight. So what do I say about that? I say that you can find Pacquiao. I say you can touch him. I say if you can do that, Mayweather, if they get in there, can have a very good night.
Brian Kenny: Yeah, no, he got his head spun around a bunch of times. Teddy, thank you so much. We'll talk to you later in the night.
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