Pacquiao-Clottey fight booked for March 13

By Jun Medina


It’s final—Manny Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title against former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao will be named the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Decade during its traditional annual Awards Night set on March 1 at the Manila Hotel. Pacquiao has been named PSA Athlete of the Year five times this decade—from 2002 to 2004, then in 2006 and 2008.

Already elevated by the country’s oldest media organization to the Hall of Fame last year, Pacquiao is no longer eligible for the coveted Athlete of the Year award, but remains a major part of the year’s top sports achievers’ list on account of his Hall of Fame exploits in the first 10 years of the new century.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum announced he has reached a deal with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to host the fight at the modern arena, which will be configured to seat 50,000 or more.

Arum told the Los Angeles Times that Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 by knockouts) stands to earn $10 million to $20 million from the fight against the hard-punching Clottey (35-3, 20 knockouts).

A press conference announcing the fight is scheduled for January 18 at the Cowboys home turf, also known as Jerry World, in Arlington, Texas. This will be followed by another press conference in New York the next day.

According to Matt Stalow of Dallas Boxing Examiner, March 13 is a firm date because the March 20 fight date being considered by Top Rank is already taken by a motocross event at the $1.2 billion arena.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, said his prized Filipino fighter is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles Sunday from Manila and will immediately plunge into training at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

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