Joshua Clottey only wants to fight on HBO
by Scott Christ on Dec 29, 2009 1:59 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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Joshua Clottey has another reason for pulling out of his scheduled January 16 fight with Michel Rosales. First we heard he was unhappy with the money, which is true, and now he also says it is in part because he considers himself an "HBO fighter," meaning he wasn't going to fight on the FOX Sports-televised event.
Really, the two go hand-in-hand. A fight televised on HBO is more money than a fight televised on FSN. Overall, it's just another case where Clottey does himself no favors. He's kind of tough to market given that he's got very little by way of fanbase, and he's so good that nobody is rushing to fight him in the welterweight division. He's also not particularly exciting; combine that with his lack of drawing power, and Clottey against a mid-level opponent just isn't going to get bought by HBO. Any exposure would be good for him at this point, but he apparently doesn't see it that way, which is too bad.
I don't really know who he thinks he's going to fight on HBO. Shane Mosley and Andre Berto are both tied up, neither Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao are going to fight him, and I'd doubt he gets a Cotto rematch. So who's that leave? Luis Collazo, a Zab Judah rematch (also not going to happen), a possible jump to 154? Kermit Cintron was discussed a bit back, and that didn't come through. Sergio Martinez challenged Clottey, who turned down the fight. His scheduled fight with Carlos Quintana fell through, and Quintana has decided to stay at 154 pounds, too.
If he's looking for an HBO fight, it's going to be another long wait, I fear, but I guess he's comfortable with that. He's turning down stay-busy fights on TV that will pay him.
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I guess money doesn't pay the bills..
He must have found a new means of currency, making those demands.
If you always thought what you thought, then you wouldn't think what you knew.
Collazo-Clottey would be the perfect matchup for both. Both are talented fighters who can’t seem to get over the hump when they fight higher talent level. The two should fight it out for divisional gatekeeper status, which would be pretty interesting.
I could see that being part of a BAD undercard
Which would then meet his HBO demands (hopefully he doesnt’ expect headlining of HBO as that could be even longer).
probably not
He was perfectly happy to fight Quintana on the Pavlik-Williams undercard, and then oops.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 29, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions
I doubt HBO would want to be associated with Margarito.
Mind you, he is now possibly an even bigger name than he was before the Mosley fight, rightly or wrongly, and therefore you just never know…..
Some people are acting like Pacquiao should be expected to have just gone, "Yeah sure, let’s do something I’ve never done before because your dad made some dumbass baseless comment."
(SC, 28/12/09; http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/12/27/1221143/mayweather-pacquiao-update-bob#comments)
It would be big money and could be syped really well
so it’s hard to know really.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Dec 30, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions
Only wants HBO?
Then maybe he should work more steadily in fights.
To be honest...
FSN is pretty much the worst place to showcase yourself in combat athletics.
You can be the best fighter in the world shown on FSN and nobody will know about until next year at 2:00 in the morning.
"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
You know what’s worse? Fighting on no channel at all.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 29, 2009 8:21 PM EST up reply actions
He needs to let his hands go… as good as he is he doesn’t have the punching power of elite fighters. When was his last stoppage? He needs to go the Marquez route if he wants to be considered an HBO fighter.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
yeah because his fight with Cotto was such a bore.
by BabyBull1289 on Dec 30, 2009 12:38 AM EST up reply actions
To be fair
Clottey needs to be in with someone who makes him exciting for it to be a good fight. He’s so defensive that action doesn’t come to him natrually.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Dec 30, 2009 1:09 PM EST up reply actions
Listen, Clottey is my favorite fighter so I’ll rarely criticize him. But I agree with the sentiment here. You have to fight. Josh isn’t Shane Mosley or Bernard Hopkins. He can’t take 18 months off and hop into a main event. He has to keep busy, keep his name out there and a chance will come. Basically at this point he is waiting for HBO to have an open undercard slot to slide him in vs. a Quintana or a Collazo. If that opportunity presents itself fine but don’t waste valuable time in your prime waiting.
If I was him, I would have fought Rosales and if a TV option didn’t arise I’d go get the IBF title again. HBO still likes guys with belts around their waist. So go pick up an easy one again and another big fight will materialize.
I’ve blamed Bob Arum in the past for stunting Clottey’s career. But now it is Clottey himself that is hurting his own career.
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