By Evan Korn | January 20, 2010
"I want to make this fight physical. I want to make it physical and see if Pacquiao can stand the physical. I'm going to try Pacquiao and Pacquiao is going to try me...I'm not thinking that he's too small...One thing I know about me is that I know how to handle a southpaw. I never lost to a southpaw in my life before...I'll pressure Pacquiao," stated former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey, who was on hand at the Madison Square Garden Theater earlier today for a press conference to announce his upcoming March 13th clash with Manny Pacquiao. Check out what Clottey had to say about Pacquiao, the fight and much more.
On whether or not it will be tough to win a decision...
Like I said, if I won the fight, I know I won the fight. But this one is going to be different because one thing I know for sure is that I know how to handle a southpaw good. I can handle a southpaw fighter so good.
On what it was like when he found out he would be fighting Manny...
Well, at first, I got an email from my manager that maybe we're going to get a big fight with somebody, but he never mentioned the person. Then I went to I think Boxingscene and I saw that Bob Arum was saying that maybe Joshua was going to fight Pacquiao. I was like, "Are you kidding me?" I couldn't even believe that, so I called my manager, because he told me to call him, and my manager confirmed to me that we're fighting Pacquiao. I was like, "Wow!" That is a fight I love. I love to fight with Pacquiao because Pacquiao is the most guy that everybody wants to fight...I can't believe that it's me fighting Pacquiao. I'm so excited about it.
On whether or not Pacquiao is underestimating him...
No, no, no. There's no underestimating me at all...Pacquiao can not understimate me. I'm too big to be underestimated, so I don't think he is, but I think he's giving me the chance to fight him. That's why I respect him.
On whether or not his size will be advantage...
The reason why Pacquiao is most of the time beating the guys is people don't realize he's too small and as small as he is, he's going to dodge your punches or move away from them. It's like he's going to fly, you see, because he's too tiny. So those people are dangerous. Forget about the weight. Forget about how big I am. If he's in front of me, then he's too small in front of me; you can't even see him.
I think I'll have a defense that will surprise him a little bit.
On his gameplan for the fight...
I want to make this fight physical. I want to make it physical and see if Pacquiao can stand the physical. I'm going to try Pacquiao and Pacquiao is going to try me.
I'm not thinking that he's too small.
One thing I know about me is that I know how to handle a southpaw. I never lost to a southpaw in my life before. All of my boxing career, amateur, professional, southpaw always easy for me to handle. What do you call him, Zab Judah, he had speed, but when I fought him, my blocking and my tight defense always make him confused. Pacquiao throws more than Zab Judah. Pacquiao is smaller than Zab Judah. That is the difference you have to worry about, but my blocking is still going to be good.
I'm training already.
When I was going to fight Cotto, I told you people that I'm going to pressure him. That's me. I pressure people. I did that, right? I pressure him and he was running away all around the ring. My fight, again, with Pacquiao, is to pressure him. I'll pressure Pacquiao.
Cotto is stronger than Pacquiao, it's true, but you know, Cotto don't respect Pacquiao. He think Pacquiao is too small to hurt him. When you see Pacquiao standing in front of you, you think, "Oh, he's just too small. He's this little guy." You know, that's what hurts you. I'm not thinking that at all. Send me in the ring at first, you'll see that I will give him a lot of respect. He's not going to suprise me with any punch.
I have a stiff jab...I think I will jab him a lot.
On allegations that Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs...
The way Pacquiao is just beating the guys, you see, anybody can just say something because it's unbelievable. By beating Oscar like that, beating Ricky Hatton, beating Cotto down, especially the Cotto fight. Mayweather started thinking that maybe something is going on because of the way Pacquiao beat Cotto. But I think one thing that you have to think is that Pacquiao let the guys drain themselves to make the weight, so when they do that, they already lose. So that's why he beat them all.
Source: fighthype.com
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