<<Print>>

Manny Pacquiao proved once again Saturday night that, for now, he is untouchable. In front of the third-largest U.S. boxing crowd ever recorded, Pacquiao controlled Joshua Clottey from start to finish, winning a unanimous decision and retaining his WBO welterweight title. In raising his record to 51-3-2, Pacquiao showed the crisp skills that have led many to crown him one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in pugilistic history. Clottey, whose ledger dropped to 35-4, was never able to gain a foothold in a bout where he was considered a definite, although dangerous, underdog. Clottey, a former IBF welterweight titleholder, came into the bout with a slight weight advantage, 147 to Pacquiao's 145 3/4. Employing a wait-and-see strategy, the challenger seemed to be waiting for the champion to make an error that never came. Time and again, Pacquiao tore into Clottey's high and tight defense with his now-trademark combination of terrifying speed and deceptive power. Let it be known that Clottey did make efforts to engage the champion in exchanges more to his liking, but was rebuffed time and again by lightning-fast counters from Pacquiao. Seemingly unable to dictate the pace of the bout, Clottey was resigned to merely surviving all 12 rounds rather than truly threatening Pacquiao. This was reflected both in the punch counts (Pacquiao 1,231 with 246 landed to Clottey's 399, 108 landed) and in the judges' scorecards, which had the bout 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 for the champion. The throng of nearly 51,000 inside Cowboy Stadium bore witness to 'Pac-Man's' greatness, but what will the world see next? This fight was initially intended to be the much-anticipated superfight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., perhaps the only other fighter who could lay claim to Pacquiao's pound-for-pound crown. Before it was derailed earlier this year by Mayweather's refusing to back down on pre-fight blood testing regulations, both fighters stood to earn record-setting purses. Even if the pre-fight testing issue is resolved, Mayweather is scheduled to fight 'Sugar' Shane Mosley in May, and it is unlikely that the two would be able to properly prepare for one another until late 2010 at the earliest.