Pacquiao, Clottey welterweight bout set for March 13 in Arlington

[madinmaryland]

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/mma/boxing/01/19/pacquiao.clottey.ap/index.html

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Standing under the world's largest high-definition television and surrounded by Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey were all smiles for the announcement of their welterweight fight on Tuesday.

The March 13 bout will be the first boxing match at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.

"This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.

Not really. That would've been the hoped-for matchup between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was scuttled after Mayweather outlined a drug testing plan Pacquiao wouldn't accept.

Had that fight come together, it would have been in Las Vegas. So as far as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was concerned, things worked out just fine.

"It did," Jones said, smiling. "This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive. We were pretty quick to make a deal."

..snip

[H2O Man]

1. Strange fight.

I was kind of surprised that Freddie Roach thinks this is good for Manny. Almost beyond a doubt, Manny will win. The biggest question is if he'll TKO Clottey in the late rounds, or take a decision.

However, money aside, it's not going to be considered a huge victory. As good as Clottey is, he has lost every big fight that he has had. However, he has often looked good -- even losing. He has very good hand-speed. He's strong. But he always tires after six rounds, because he cuts so much weight to make the limit.

But, that said, the real risk for Manny comes because of one of Clottey's most effective tactics: he is known to butt virtually every opponent he meets. Sure, he will get warned, then lose points. Maybe be DQed. But he is very likely to cut Manny. And possibly injure him, either with head butts, or other illegal tactics.

Don't get me wrong -- I both like and respect Clottey. But I don't see any real gain for Manny, other than money. And he could have made more in any one of a number of other fights.