Pacman: Don't compare Clottey with my past foes

If you'll ask Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey should not be compared to his previous beaten foes.

Pacquiao made the statement after critics questioned his pay-per-view drawing ability based on his 12-round unanimous decision win over the Ghana-born Clottey. They pointed out that the figure was the lowest in the Filipinos’ last four outings. The March 13 Pacquiao-Clottey bout, where the seven-time world division champion staked and defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, drew a modest 700,000 hits in PPV buys and earned $35.3 million as per the official release of HBO and Top Rank. "Clottey is different from my previous opponents. He should not be compared to Oscar De La Hoya," said Pacquiao in Filipino. "We’re not dismayed with the figures. It’s still okay with us." The 700,000 PPV buys is a far cry from the 1.25 million Pacquiao earned during his 12-round stoppage of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last November at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The PPV buys generated by Pacquiao’s technical knockout win over Cotto is considered to be the biggest boxing earner in 2009. The 1.25 million PPV buys from the Pacquiao-Cotto fight is the same number generated from his "Dream Match" with De La Hoya in 2008 and likewise made less with the 850,000 hits produced by the Filipino champion’s devastating second round knockout of Ricky Hatton last May. Prior to his blockbuster showdowns with De La Hoya and Cotto, Pacquiao drew 400,000 in PPV buys in his 2008 rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez. With Pacquiao taking the action on a defensive-minded challenger like Clottey, the 31-year-old southpaw from General Santos City walked away with a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision in their March 13 duel at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Top Rank promoter Bob Arum himself was satisfied with the PPV figures, surpassing his expectations of a possible 650,000 buys. "That is the worst it would have done," he said. "But the number that you can’t go any lower than is 650,000 for the fight." Arum and HBO predicted that the PPV total is likely to increase once all figures are officially in. The 12-round fight, however, drew a crowd of 51,000 at the sprawling Cowboys Stadium, easily the third largest in prizefighting history in the U.S. – GMANews.TV