Pacquiao-Clottey bout all set; challenger makes weight limit

It's all systems go for the slugfest between Filipino boxing icon Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao and challenger Joshua Clottey, after the latter made the weight limit for the bout. GMA News’ Chino Trinidad reported over dzBB that Clottey came in right on the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, while Paquiao was slightly over 145 pounds. "I feel so good. I'm determined and I'm ready. I have my gameplan. I know Manny is a good fighter but I'm ready for him. I'm ready to show the world who Joshua Clottey is," Clottey was quoted as saying in an article on SportingLife.com.

The Filipino champ had no trouble meeting the welterweight limit, coming in at 145 and ¾ pounds as Clottey checked in at exactly 147 pounds during Friday’s official weigh in at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas (Saturday in Manila). "I'm not going to promise a knockout but I'll do my best to make people happy. I don't want them to be disappointed on Saturday night. People are going to be surprised by our strategy," Pacquiao said. Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Clottey before a sellout crowd in the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. While Pacquiao, boxing's pound-for-pound king, sports a 50-3-2 record, Clottey will have a record of 35-3 entering the fight on Sunday morning (Manila time). Pacquiao had shown devastating form in pummeling Miguel Cotto last November. Earlier, Clottey appeared to be struggling to make the weight limit, taking measures from using thermal suit all the way to skipping ropes. He ran around the Gaylord Texan Hotel wearing a thermal suit. “Ang lalim ng mata, tapos humpak dito sa pisngi. Pagtapos, nung nag-hubad, ang lalim din ng katawan. Tuyung-tuyo na (When he stripped, he appeared dehydrated)," said Roger Fernandez, the Filipino assistant trainer of Pacquiao. Fernandez had quietly slipped inside the gym at a time when Clottey’s team was still working out. But Lenny De Jesus, Clottey's trainer, said upon arrival in Dallas that Clottey was already down to 148 pounds and would have no problem making the 147 pound weight. None among Clottey’s corner men would admit his last-minute struggle with the weight. In contrast, Pacquiao weighed 146 pounds on his final working day, when he even had a full meal of pakbet and nilagang baka for lunch. Clottey has declared that on fight night, he’ll be coming in at around 160 pounds, a statement that didn’t escape the attention of Roach. “Obviously, if a guy comes in the ring like 160, 165 pounds, he has trouble making weight," Pacquiao’s trainer said, adding that would be to their advantage. — LBG, GMANews.TV