Coffee Is for Closers
(For another take on the Cotto/Clottey drama, I bring you a piece from our man Shoefly, who sees fit to hit Josh Clottey when he’s down – L)
posted by Shoefly
I scored the Cotto/Clottey fight for Clottey 114-113, but I’m glad he lost. I found the whole thing sort of sick and depressing, like a slow-motion car accident or one of those science shows where they show you the details of the digestive system.
To be fair to Josh Clottey , and I won’t be after this , he probably did deserve to win that fight on points, and I think if he had committed the fouls Cotto did (the body slam, the blatant rabbit punch, the low blows) he would have had points deducted. Still, I have no sympathy for him, even when considering the egregious 116-111 card which had him winning only four rounds.
Joshua Clottey deserved to lose because he fought like a loser. He deserved to lose because he’s a natural second-best, taking over the mantle from the previous title-holder Luis Collazo as the ‘hard-luck story of his generation.†But the truth is… it’s not a matter of luck.
In my preview for this fight I wrote, ‘Clottey often claims he is disrespected and underappreciated, and he’s probably right. If he was fated to be born in different geography he likely would have had more fans and gotten the big fights sooner, but it’s hard to feel for a guy who doesn’t seem to be willing to push for the moment himself. It’s not necessarily a flaw in character. Maybe he simply can’t push himself further because that’s all he’s got. Whatever the cause, like Popeye always said, ‘I‘am what I’am.â€
That’s pretty much how it went down on Saturday night. Like me with an attractive woman, Clottey had no sense of the moment. I always suspected he didn’t have it, but the Cotto fight was the confirmation to me that it’s not that he’s physically incapable, like the car stuck permanently in fourth gear, but that it genuinely IS a flaw in character. On this night, all it would have taken was a sustained fourth gear and he would have had it. All it would have taken was for him to reach out and grab the brass ring, but he didn’t want it.
I mean he really didn’t want it. People will point to the last two rounds, where he fought so passively that I was screaming at the screen. But it was there for him the entire fight. All twelve rounds the door was open and he would step his foot forward as though testing the air only to draw it back, like a dog habituated to an electric fence who, even once it is turned off and freedom looms, hangs back and curses his own cowardice.
There are certain people for whom the role of the victim fits naturally, the role of “almost but not quite.” Usually it’s fate, but sometimes it’s a solemn choice. There is a freedom in screeching from the bleachers and decrying cruel fortuna. There’s a position of respect and a certain dignity in being the rightful king in exile. I wonder if Joshua Clottey ever read his Shakespeare?
But this is why the fight hit me so hard that I had trouble sleeping Saturday night. I saw a man flee from his opportunity and even more than that I felt that in the moment HE KNEW IT WAS HAPPENING! He knew he was letting it slip through his grasp and he was fine with it, he preferred it to happen. When he labored on the ground with a sore knee from the slip/slam I felt he wanted the fight stopped so he could lose a technical decision. When he had Cotto hurt in the middle rounds he would stop and smile to show he was in control, but then he refused to throw punches to exercise his dominance. In the last two rounds, this became almost pathological as his activity plummeted. When, at the final bell, he strutted about the ring with the false bravado of a winner, it looked to me like the celebration of a man who knew he had lost and had a role to play.
I’m talking so much about Clottey and not about Cotto because to my eyes he was the only one with any agency. Cotto was brave, but he produced a level of prizefighting that Clottey might have surpassed but didn’t. Cotto is a fine champion and he left it all in the ring, but ultimately he was powerless in the fight. It was Clottey’s choice to make. Fighting is about the psychology of two men, but this fight came down to that of one. In the end it was gruesome and self-destructive and tragically human inside Clottey’s square head.
The reason it upsets me so much is because I identify with Clottey’s choice. I often feel in similar situations with a woman, or with work, or with stepping into the role of the type of person I would like to be and then pulling back. I feel like I can see it happening to me in that very instant, see the sort of man I want to be and see the ways in which I’m not becoming that man all as it unfolds in real time. This is part of the reason I love boxing so much – it’s an ultimate measure of things, the angel’s weighing of the soul on special scales that are only visible beneath the hot lights.
It’s amazing to see someone step into their moment in a boxing ring, to become actualized in a way that I can only conceptualize and never experience. On the other hand, it literally hurts to see someone turn back at the precipice, so close to inspiration. That’s why I have no sympathy for Joshua Clottey today, because in similar moments I have no sympathy for myself.
June 15th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
great insight from shoefly. some folks have suggested that clottey faded down the stretch. and maybe that’s the case. but i’ve watched thousands of fights in my lifetime and clottey didn’t strike me as a ’spent’ fighter in those championship rounds. instead, he acted like a completely ‘content’ fighter….someone at peace with the impending outcome of a fight, despite having already publicly forecasted that outcome to be a hometown decision in favor of cotto. as a fan, it was tough to watch (maybe not “car crash/human entrails” tough…but frustrating as hell nonetheless.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Amen. I was calling him all kinds of horrible names. Dude needed to listen to that Oscar winning Eminem song a few hundred times before the fight. It was like a he punted on 4th and inches inside the opponents 35 with the score tied. Let me just reiterate again how glad I am I didn’t wager on Clottey. Jesus, that would have killed me.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I’ll have to watch the broadcast plain and simple.
From (close to) ringside, you just had this huge vibe that Cotto could fall apart at any moment but that ultimately, he wouldn’t and he’d pull it out. Frankly, I had the same feeling when I went to the Garden for his fight with Mosley. By the end of the fight, you knew that the other guy probably deserved better, but that Cotto would get the decision and it really wouldn’t be considered a robbery.
I think your pre-fight analysis of Clottey was spot on though Shoefly. Clottey is a guy who has four gears but not a fifth. It probably is more mental than physical though. We’ve seen guys like Bernard Hopkins who revelled in being the villain and beating the Puerto Rican hero at the Garden. Clottey clearly just doesn’t have a strong enough mojo like that to overcome against the big stars – even though he may be more physically talented than they are.
I also thought your analysis of Cotto was spot on. It is disappointing that he’s not a dominant special fighter. The sport was ready for him to ascend to the top before the Margarito fight. Had he won convincingly, there would have been no argument who the best in the world was and how special Cotto was. But he didn’t win and now he’s struggled mightily against Clottey.
On a slightly lesser level, it reminds me of the career arc of one Oscar De La Hoya. ODLH never dominated anyone in a superfight and the most exciting one he was in – he lost (Mosley I). Had he beaten Trinidad convincingly, he would have ascended to greatness. Instead he lost a boring controversial decision and was never able to separate from the pack – though he remained very popular and made tons of $$$. I see Cotto kind of repeating that but with less fanfare and smaller PPV revenues.
June 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Kurt, yo, I can’t believe you’re not giving Cotto more of a pass against Clottey given the cut. Extreme circumstances demand survival tactics. He did what he needed to do, and Shoefly is right – what he was capable of in there given the circumstances were such that if Clottey wanted to take it to the next level, it was his for the taking. Clottey couldn’t do that, and part of it is his fault, but part of it was even wounded and running, Cotto is a tough out.
Unless, you know, you got a little help from Dr. Feelbad putting your wraps together, innit mate?
This Pacquiao/Cotto fight, if it goes off… and look, I don’t love it, but still… it’s going to have some cliffhanger drama going in. Is Cotto shot? Can Pacquiao handle a legit welter with big-time pop? That’s going to be some exciting shit.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Clottey’s nationality does hinder his exposure to an extent. After Saturday, I have to believe that part of it has to do with who he is. Maybe it was right to only give him a certain amount of attention. He’s never gonna be an elite fighter despite his talent level. This game is just as much mental as physical. I think Clotttey’s level of fame was just about right.
As far as Cotto, it’s hard for me to be unbiased. I’m a Cotto fan through and through. I thought he did a great job given the circumstances and I’m glad he’s getting his monster payday.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Way to go Shoefly, that was a good. I couldn’t agree more. I had a strangely depressed feeling after what was on the surface a good fight. It’s because Clottey basically passed on an opportunity to become considered an “elite” fighter and Cotto seems a bit shopworn.
You’re also spot on about Clottey having “no sense of the moment”. In that respect, Pacquiao is the anti-Clottey. Pacquiao seems to completely understand the moment and rise accordingly. As each of his fights gets bigger, his game gets better. That’s why he’s so fun to watch. Leonard Gardner wrote a piece for Inside Sports about Roberto Duran before the first Leonard fight in Montreal. It was an absolutely huge fight by standards we may never see again. Duran was on the cover of Inside Sports, Sports Illustrated and Leonard face grace Newsweek the week of the fight (it’s unlikely we’ll ever see media coverage like that again). Gardner wrote “Duran seemed possessed by the wild joy of his own vitality. After nine weeks of training, the nearness of the fight seemed to fill him with happiness.”….that reminds me of Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao had such a huge grin on his face going into the ring with Hatton. You just knew he was relaxed and enjoying what he does and where he is…his fighting, like Duran’s, reflect this joy of boxing.
Clottey’s was more like that of a man forced to punch the clock and work with no real love for it.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Large – I’m honestly not harshing on Cotto. I think he absolutely did a great job of managing a potentially catastrophic event and even pulling the rabbit out of the hat by winning a close decision over a really tough hombre. It took tremendous heart and skill and he’s clearly one of the upper-echelon fighters in the world.
Shoefly wrote a column on his blog where he acknowledges Cotto’s place as one of the best in the world but also admits to being disappointed that he didn’t become THE best in the world. I guess maybe our expectations are too high for these guys sometimes – they are human. But I too was hoping that Cotto, having blasted past Judah and edged Mosley would maybe take it to another level. He’s still really good – but to quote Shoefly on his performance Sat. “I never wanted to see bravery from Miguel Cotto, I wanted to see excellence.”
I guess you’re making the argument that we did see excellence and that the heart and wherewithal he showed to outbox a fighter of Clottey’s calibur with only one eye showed the potential for greatness. There is definitely some validity to that – but I’m a little more swayed by Shoefly’s argument.
I really thought I saw the air come out of Cotto after the 6th round and he just never seemed to get that second wind. No doubt that having to move and box saps strength – but he just seemed to be barely hanging in. I guess most people who are so frustrated with Clottey’s performance in the late rounds sensed that vulnerability as well. I give Cotto all the guts and glory for hanging in and seeing it through but I didn’t see enough excellence over the last six to truly be excited about him.
I like the Pacquiao fight – only in that it will create excitement. I really don’t know that Pacquiao beats Cotto. To me, the jury is still out on Pacquiao. It’s one thing to beat the best smaller guys but the rubber meets the road at 147. Historically, this is where the best fighters reside. I agree there are questions about Cotto now. I don’t think he’s shot by any means – but the edges are getting a little frayed.
The fact that Cotto’s fought Quintana, Judah, Mosley, Margarito and Clottey over the last 30 months with only one loss in there is pretty impressive stuff. He deserves major props. Should he beat Pacquiao impressively, I think his stock goes back into the stratosphere. I’m just looking at his last two big fights – twice busted up, twice fading badly in the late rounds – he’s damn good, but he’s just not separating himself from the pack at this point.
June 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Glad you guys liked it, that fight really hit me hard in a way that rarely happens unless I’m really invested in a fighter, which I’m not particularly with either of these guys.
Kurt: Glad you agree with me on Cotto, I’m having a tough time reconciling my expectations for him. I feel like he’s twice robbed up of a superfight- if he had beaten Margo then Floyd would have taken that fight (I believe) and after so much vulnerability I think a Pacquiao fight will lose some of its gravity. I mean you even have Large speculating that he might be shot at 28! He’s a really great fighter, with a fine roster of wins, but he’s really never had a dominating performance against a real name; he’s struggled to various degrees with Torres, Malignaggi, Corley, Judah, Mosley, Margarito, and now Clottey. Now those are excellent opponents, but he’s never had the transcendent win that I’ve been hoping for, and it’s going to impact how we see what happens from now on.
It was interesting to read Kurt’s comment on the fight with Mosley, which I hadn’t really thought about in regards to this fight but had a similar feel. I guess the difference was that Mosley seemed a little more of a spent force, and Mosley had already ripped the chalice free years earlier, so it wasn’t so painful that he seemed to come up short. It’s interesting though, maybe Cotto’s despertation/ panicky boxing style is more effective than it looks, it worked against Mosley and Clottey, if not against Margarito.
And Brad I agree with you entirely about Pacquiao, it’s probably the reason I love him the most; I feel he has no mind/body split when he’s in the ring. I love Hopkins because I feel there is a split, but he is the complete master of himself, an act discipline that is humbling.
I’ve been thinking of Golota for the last few hours too. Another guy, like Clottey, who didn’t seem to want it, although Golota’s weaknesses were much more overt and buffoonish and didn’t seem to me to have as complicated a psychological component. He was just a nut.
June 15th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
That was an incredible article. I disagree fundamentally with the idea that you could be glad someone lost who you had winning on points, but you argued the hell out of that point, and for that I give you a lot of credit. Plus, the way you tied the inability to go for it when the moment is there for you to your own completely non-boxing experiences was genius. Maybe it just seems genius to me because I know exactly what you mean, but if you can write so well to make people feel exactly how you feel, thats some type of genius. Great work.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
This was heartfelt and affecting, thank you.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Great read.
Just a short notice on Cottos “despertation/ panicky boxing style”: I really think it has something to do with his opponents. He fought the hardest-chined guys in the division in his three fights. Mosley has never been down but from a headbutt, Margo was Mr.Steel-chin himself and I have yet to see Clottey even buzzed. So his normal power-house-breaking-people-down-style won’t work against those guys – he still found a way to win.
Against Pacman, he won’t go that road – he will attack him, corner him and hammer the body… we will see how the once small Manny can take that.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:24 am
shoefly is the shit
June 16th, 2009 at 7:02 am
God damn, what a great fucking post, Shoefly.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:20 am
You’re a great writer, Shoefly. There’s just something about your style, the way your work reads, the way you craft your sentences, that is unique. It just kind of flows, one sentence leading into the next so naturally – it’s the smoothest stuff I’ve ever read. As a young writer I mimicked several of my favorite guys – Simmons, Plaschke, Klosterman – until I finally reached the point, recently turned 21, at which I felt that I had developed a formative style. Then I discovered your writing, about a month and a half ago, and since then I’ve tried to kind of implement some of that flow and sentence structure that you exhibit into my own work. So congrats, you can say that you were an influence on someone’s career. Keep up the good work.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
hate to kinda hijack this thread but…i need to get something off my chest here at the mas…
i know ive been on the floyd side of a recent argument…but bob arum is getting ridiculous..to the point where i almost want no part of any fight or ppv event that he is involved with(although i realize that is actually impossible because i love the game too much)
he is obvious so all about the public relations and trying to ruin floyds credibility and reputation…and its disgusting…he is now coming out and claiming to offer pbf a 50/50 split…weeks after saying that would never happen…now that a pac/cotto fight is seemingly almost done…this guy is an insane old bat….and a snake….when floyd was under him he was calling the greatest ever…now arum is going out there saying 50/50 we can do this when he hasnt even made an official contract offer to floyd….
June 17th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Ricky if you know Arum it’s nothing new. He’s the same guy he always has been. It was once noted by William Nack that if Don King is a “sledgehammer then Bob Arum is a stiletto.” Arum is a Harvard Law grad who became an assistant U.S. Attoney under Robert Kennedy. Apparantly he was investigating suspected tax fraud in connection with the Liston-Patterson fight and had agents pounce on the box-office reciepts at every closed-curcuit venue in the country. He was astonished to realize just how much money could be made in boxing and soon got into it himself. His speciality became his “unchallenged expertise in the vagaries of closed-circuit television.”(George Kimball) Newsday writer Bob Waters once caught Arum in a lie. Waters pointed out to Arum that he was saying something opposite of what he said 24 hours earlier. Arum said “yesterday I was lying.Today I’m telling the truth.” Arum has always been ridiculous.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
always enjoy hearing a good story from you brad…thanks
June 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Just a general question – does anyone give a shit about the Wladimir Klitschko – Ruslan Chagaev fight? I’m going to watch it – even though it will be a challenge to find out where ESPN Classic is on our cable system.
I’m hoping against hope that it’s not just a continuation of the snoozefest that was Wlad Klit vs. Ibragimov. I saw the Valuev-Chagaev fight and Chagaev moved the entire 12 rounds. We’ll see if he’s on his bike again for this one. Seems to me the three losses Wlad has had are when guys take it to him and back him up. Sam Peter almost gave him a fourth loss fighting that way. But hey Chagaev, don’t let me influence your gameplan.
If it feels good, do it baby.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I will watch the fight Kurt. It’ll be a boring fight but it is important to me for some reason. To finally be able to tell people, “Thats the heavyweight champ, forget all the belts,” would be nice. Wlad is going to dominate though, 9th round KO.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:20 am
ill be watching too because i just cant really resist…i heard wlad has been sparring with andy lee…and ill probably be watching diaconu vs pascal on versus friday night too
June 18th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Diaconu vs pascal should be a goodie.
Wlad vs. Chag…..I’m not sure. For quite some time I thought Chag could be one of those guys who could be dangerous for Wlad. But Chag has really looked shitty in his last fights – so I guess we will see a lot of jabs and a straight right hand ending the fight around the 8th.
And Kurt, living in germany, you have to watch this one – its huge over here.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I hear you Ricky, The Versus card is solid Friday night. I’ll be looking for a bar on Marco Island that will show it. Diaconu should win but Pascal makes good fights. I also like watching fights out of Montreal. They know how to put on a show and you can feel the energy even when you are watching it on the tube.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
gene…im actually leaning a bit towards pascal in this one…my book doesnt usually drop odds on these fights till the day of the fight…unless its a big name or a big fight…some im willing to be diaconu is a favorite…not sure how much…but i might drop on pascal for the hell of it….not too well versed in either fighter….but diaconu is 31…and giving away a couple of inches…i did see diaconu vs chris henry on youtube…wasnt very impressed…was a home fight…and he won a close one…although i did hear some things about diaconus father dying of cancer leading up to that fight and him not training hard…..diaconu certainly looks like the stronger guy …but he looks kinda flabby….pascal is younger and maybe he can use his athleticism to his advantage
June 18th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Trickster – I know that the Klitschkos are huge in Germany. Are they really expecting 60,000 in attendence for that fight? That’s amazing. It really is a major heavyweight matchup. It’s pretty unanimous across the ratings board that the top five heavyweights are all from the former USSR – the 2 Klits, Chagaev, Valuev and Povetkin. No. 1 vs. no. 3 is an interesting matchup, let’s hope it’s an interesting fight. (As an aside, there are many who think this fight should not be happening at all due to Chagaev’s hepatitis problem. I know boxing writer Eddie Goldman had someone from the AMA on his radio show saying that Chagaev could never fight in the US).
I was supposed to be going to Germany with Giovanni Lorenzo at the end of this month to fight Arthur Abraham. But Abraham’s promoter applied for an exception (i.e., gave the IBF $20,000) and now he’s fighting Mahir Oral. Apparently Abraham is having trouble making weight and rather than get in with a dangerous puncher like Lorenzo, he’s squeezing in one more title defense against a former sparring partner.
If you’re wondering about the curious decision by Showtime to televise Abraham-Oral (and not Klitschko-Chagaev, for example) it’s because both Showtime and ESPN are now in the predatory practice of taking an option on each fighter they broadcast. They hold an option on Carl Froch from the Froch-Taylor fight and they’d like to use that option to make Froch-Abraham on Showtime. Thus, this is a showcase fight for Abraham to lead into a possible Froch-Abraham bout. Froch has other options, but this one is a definite possibility. I guess I can’t blame Abraham – but my guy takes a huge hit in the wallet. If Abraham moves up, we have to fight the winner of Sebastian Sylvester vs. LuJuan Simon for the vacant IBF Middleweight title. I know all of you in No Mas are clamoring to see that one – lol. It’s just the nature of the beast.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Large,
I just finally watched the broadcast of the fight. I pretty much agreed with your scoring Large – other than I scored the 11th round even. I had it even after 9 as did you and Harold. I actually was surprised at the punch stats after the 10th round. They had had Clottey landing almost twice as many punches. I just didn’t see that. I thought Cotto outworked him and landed those two big hooks at the end.
I also thought that Cotto looked like he had a little more juice in the late rounds than I gave him credit for when seeing it live. He definitely looked like he was done in rounds 8 and 9 but he rallied down the stretch where Clottey, as Charles Barkley would say, suffered from sphincter shrinkage. Cotto was on the run in overdrive in 10-12 but he had also found a little rhythm and coupled with Clottey’s fading away, it gave him the opening to pull it out.
I give Cotto much credit for pulling it out. He is indeed an extremely tough out for anyone. He showed tremendous versatility and resourcefulness – maybe more so than his fellow countryman Tito Trinidad. But Tito had more of that fight ending power whereas Cotto has more thudding where-you-down kind of power. I still think Cotto has not quite risen above the pack but his list of victims puts him at or near the top of 147 – and a win over Pacquiao puts him back on top of the P4P list.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Kurt – always great to read your insights!
Yeah, 60k is what I’m hearing – that’s alot, but I guess ticket-prices are pretty low and the “Ruhrpott”, where the arena is, is a huge area with millions of people living there.
Sorry to hear that Abraham stuff – and interesting, there was no news at all about that over here. The official line was: “the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement”. Any more details on that, Kurt?
Considering the fact that AA is having huge weight problems, as far as I know, Giovanni would have had a punchers chance for sure – thought if you really fight the winner of Sylvester-Simon … that is not a bad fight and you got a pretty good chance to win it.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Trickster – we didn’t reach an agreement because they pulled their offer off of the table before we could agree – lol. In all honesty, we were probably about $25K apart but if they had held their ground – we would have taken the deal. I think Abraham just had a tough time making weight with Simon and had a tough 12 round fight. He wasn’t looking for another tough physical 12 rounder after battling to make weight again.
I agree that we have a puncher’s chance with Abraham but he is a bad boy – weight problems or not – and my guy is a huge underdog vs. him anyway you slice it.
Yeah – we’ve actually cut a pretty good deal now where a) if Abraham decides to keep the title we fight him and get X (what we were asking for originally) or; b) if Abraham moves up and Sylvester wins the eliminator, we also get X (pretty sweet) or; c) if Abraham moves up and Simon wins the eliminator, we only get Y (still a decent payday to fight a no name for a world title).
Obviously, we’re kind of rooting for scenario b – lol. If we got the payday, won the title and then parlayed that into a unification with Pavlik – to quote Homer Simpson – life would be a mighty sweet fruit. We’ll see what happens.
June 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I’m with you about the weight issue – AA was totally spent agains Simon. This is kind of sad, because it robs us (the fans, not you the Lorenzo-guy) a potential Pavlik-AA-clash. I just don’t see AA still making 160 when they’d finally fight. At 168 there are still a lot of good scraps for Abraham though.
About a potential Sylvester-Lorenzo-fight… this would be in Germany, right?
June 19th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I hear you on Pavlik-Abraham. That should have gotten made earlier this year. Both sides say the other didn’t want it. Something tells me Abraham wanted it a little more than Pavlik.
Sylvester-Lorenzo would be in Germany, most likely on September 19th.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
great article, shoefly. love the writing and i wanna agree with it because i had similar feelings about clottey but i’m really torn on whether he bitched out or not. in watching the fight again… he seemed to really be invested in the fight. i think he did want it. his knee was clearly bothering him for possibly the duration of the fight but his mannerisms and swagger never seemed to be those of someone who didn’t want it. he was stalking cotto from the 7th round on and that headshake he gave in like the 8th or 9th when cotto had him in the corner and hit him with a couple of shots… that ain’t the bravado of a pussy.
i don’t think he rose up in the final rounds like he could have… but saying that, i scored the 11th round for him.
the only heartless moments i saw from him were in the 12th round were where he soccer flopped at the rabbit punch and bitched about the lowblow. which brings me back to the fact that i’m torn on clottey’s performance. i really think he wanted it (i even read somewhere that he told arum that he was so devastated by the decision that he was quitting the sport) but why wasn’t he balls to the wall in the final rounds? i agree with everyone that had feelings of it being a bit of a letdown, but i can’t be too hard on the guy. i scored the fight 115-112 for him.
again… great read, shoefly.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Nicely written article for this one. I really agree with what you said. I expected Clottey will lost this match.