Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey did 700,000 PPV buys for their March 13 fight in Texas. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

The final tally -- or at least what will now be accepted as the number forever -- for the Pacquiao-Clottey PPV is in. The fight, which was said to be around 650-700,000 buys on pay-per-view, settled in at 700,000, according to Sports Business Daily.

That makes for $35.3 million in PPV revenue. HBO's Ross Greenburg expressed satisfaction with the numbers, saying he expected 500-600,000 buys, and that even the folks at HBO didn't think Manny Pacquiao could carry this fight as high as he did. And make no mistake, this was a one-man show in promotion. Well, Manny and to a lesser extent, the stadium.

All in all, I'd say they did well financially. Not that I'm a financial analyst or anything close, but this seems closer to the high end than the low of what really should have been expected. They'll be blown out of the water in sales by Mosley-Mayweather on May 1, and I think everyone is aware of that, and that nobody expects anything different.

If you see this as a "disappointing" number, I don't know what to tell you. There's no reason to try to "excuse" it by saying Manny's fight took the brunt of the "let's not buy until Manny-Floyd" backlash, which I don't think is real to begin with. People really love to loudly express displeasure, and especially threaten to withhold their money, but they rarely follow through on these things. The people that didn't order the show probably weren't going to to begin with, and the people that "wound up" ordering it last-minute were probably always going to order it.

700,000 people for a $50 TV Joshua Clottey fight isn't bad at all, and is a testament to where Pacquiao's at as a draw. The last time Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a genuine non-draw across the ring from him, he did 325,000 against Carlos Baldomir, who was the legit welterweight champion. I'm not saying that to knock Floyd or pump up Manny, what I'm saying is that it's a great example of the strides boxing has made in the last four years. A fight similar to this in 2006 did half of what it does now, although I'll also concede that 2010 Manny is a bigger star than 2006 Floyd was. Mayweather-Judah that year did about 350K, too. The good thing about all this is that there is no doubt that boxing is stronger and better than it was four years ago.

Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey's fight sold well, but wasn't the smash success of Pacquiao's last three fights. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

With no HBO "24/7" dedicated to the event, an unknown B-side fighter in the main event, and an undercard that while not notably weak certainly didn't help matters, industry chatter is that the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight last weekend did around 650,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States, with the final number likely to be near 700,000.

Even the highest end number there (700K) would put it well below recent numbers for major "event" fights. Last year, Hatton-Pacquiao did around 825K, followed by Mayweather-Marquez at 1 million and Cotto-Pacquiao at 1.25 million. But I'd also say that this shouldn't have been unexpected, and it should be considered a success and testament to Pacquiao's drawing power.

Perhaps most importantly, this could prove to be roadblock No. 732 in making Mayweather-Pacquiao ever happen. Without any question, the buys for Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s fight with Shane Mosley on May 1 will obliterate this number. If all really goes well, Mosley-Mayweather could triple the buys for Pacquiao-Clottey, which would mean there is absolutely no way in hell that the Mayweather camp will acquiesce to a 50/50 split with Pacquiao if they ever get back to the negotiating table. I think Pacquiao-Mosley could've done great numbers, too, but the fact of the matter is that Mayweather was able to line up the better fight commercially, and it's also the better fight in terms of challenge. It may have been more happenstance than anything, but to the victor goes the spoils and all that.

Mayweather, should he beat Mosley and negotiate with Pacquiao, will probably look for at least a 60/40 split at this point. If he and Mosley do really mega numbers, around two million buys or so (which is not as out of the question as it might seem to some, I believe), then he might even open with something absurd like 70/30.

To get back to the Pacquiao-Clottey number itself, though, it's really pretty incredible when you think about it. The man has grown into a serious superstar. I'm sure there will be the dullards that laugh about this number as though it's some sort of "proof" of something heinous or disastrous, but think back to March 2008, when Pacquiao rematched Juan Manuel Marquez. In boxing circles, that fight was just about 100 times more highly anticipated than Pacquiao-Clottey, at least as I remember it. That fight sold to about 400,000 homes, which was an incredible number, and still a record for a main event fight with boxers that size (they were at 130 for that fight).

Now, with Clottey, who not only isn't a mainstream fighter by any stretch, but also doesn't have the incredible Mexican boxing fan following, Pacquiao has sold at least 650,000 or so PPVs. We're talking about at least a quarter million more people buying Pacquiao-Clottey than the highly-anticipated Marquez-Pacquiao II. Not bad.

In this potentially doctored photo, Joshua Clottey is actually throwing a punch on Saturday night. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Manny Pacquiao's Saturday night win over Joshua Clottey has generated a lot of discussion, and not all of it has been very positive. Some of the criticisms have been downright harsh, and a lot of them are deserved.

So before we move on in the boxing world, let's take a final, sober look at the Pacquiao-Clottey card.

Main Event

Manny Pacquiao comes out of the fight just fine. Despite the complaints that the fight was boring, Pacquiao's 1200-plus punches thrown are a testament to the fact that it wasn't boring because of him.

Joshua Clottey, on the other hand, could have damaged his reputation very badly. His arms-up, hyper-defensive performance was the first time that a lot of the people watching have ever seen him fight. Clottey has never been particularly exciting, and never a major star. He got himself on the biggest stage he could against Pacquiao, and he pretty much laid an egg out there.

It's not just that Clottey was "boring." His cover-up game was so drastic that it has led people to believe he was indifferent about whether or not he won, that he "didn't come to win," which is, when you break it down, essentially saying he all but threw the fight. If he wasn't trying to win, what kind of contest is that?

Please note I'm not accusing Clottey of actually throwing the fight. But that is pretty much how a lot of people see it. He wasn't there being a competitor. He was existing, doing all he could to not get knocked out, and cashing a paycheck.

Joshua Clottey is a very good fighter, but he'll need some serious career rehab to starting smelling rosy again for a big portion of the audience that paid to watch him on Saturday. He might well be able to land another big fight by the end of the year, but it'll be more coincidence than anything. He doesn't draw, doesn't have much of a fanbase, is a difficult fight for just about anyone, and now he's got some bad press.

There is talk of Clottey moving up to 154 pounds. Bob Arum mentioned a possible fight between Clottey and Yuri Foreman, should Foreman retain his title against Miguel Cotto in June. God help us all if that matchup becomes a reality, because I don't see a network that can afford it (HBO) paying for it.

If he stays at 147, though, he could easily get a title shot this year. If Andre Berto and promoter Lou DiBella wanted it, Clottey could be an opponent for the WBC titlist, should Berto get past Carlos Quintana on April 10. Of course, Berto and DiBella might see Clottey as too big a risk for too little gain.

And as badly as Clottey has suffered from "big risk, little gain" in the past, that might be worse than ever now.

In short: Manny's fine and trucks on. Clottey's reputation is badly bruised, but the limited options for a lot of people could keep him a player anyway.

Undercard

The HBO crew spent a lot of time complaining about the undercard. Is it too much to ask that they just call the fights, especially when two of them (Duddy-Medina and Soto-Diaz) were perfectly watchable? Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman especially acted like they were being stabbed during the undercard. I understand their desire to point out the fact that the fights didn't have a ton of meaning, and that's not a bad thing that the voices behind the biggest boxing broadcaster in America are willing to speak up for something the fans say, too. But say it and then move on. The fighters deserve that much, at least.

Anyway, I'll take my own advice and shut up with the complaining and give some quick thoughts on these fights.

Humberto Soto definitely won, and his two knockdowns helped that, but he had some difficulty with David Diaz that makes his future at lightweight a bit more questionable. He's tall and lanky, and his power came with him. He can still punch, and he's a good fighter. He's definitely a top 10 guy in the division already. However, Diaz was able to effectively pressure Soto and push him around some simply because he's a more natural lightweight. That could be a real problem against a better fighter than David Diaz.

For instance, I can't see Humberto Soto beating Michael Katsidis right now. Not because Soto isn't, pound-for-pound, better than Katsidis, but because Katsidis is a burly guy who never backs off. I think he'd eventually wear Soto out. That's just a "styles make fights" thing. Of all the guys in the top ten, I think Soto would have the best shot against No. 1 and legit world champion Juan Manuel Marquez, actually. Marquez isn't really a lightweight either, he's aging, and he's always willing to stand in the pocket and take shots to give back. Marquez was able to beat Juan Diaz in a firefight, but Diaz can't punch. That same fight with Soto instead of Juan Diaz, and I think Marquez goes out on his shield. And it would be a marvelous battle, too.

Right now, it looks like Soto will face Anthony Peterson on the Foreman-Cotto undercard. That's an interesting enough matchup.

There's not much more to be said about Jose Luis Castillo than we already have. He's retired now. Alfonso Gomez may have earned himself another PPV undercard fight in the future with this win. He's been on the last two Pacquiao shows. He's affordable, nobody is going to be afraid to fight him, and he does come to fight. He's made a nice career for himself.

John Duddy was John Duddy. He's extremely limited, but he's also competent. I think he'll smash Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. if those two fight this summer, as has been the rumor, and that seems unwise to me from a business standpoint. If I'm Top Rank, I don't put Chavez in with Duddy. Chavez has never beaten anyone as good as Duddy, and we know Duddy can take a shot. Chavez couldn't dent freaking Troy Rowland. From a business standpoint, there's way more money in Chavez than in Duddy, too.

As for Michael Medina, who lost to Duddy on Saturday, he seems like a guy who could have a nice career as a professional opponent, and if he refines himself some (which can happen to young guys who get cast in the "opponent" role, simply because they're fighting good fighters all the time), he could be a late bloomer. I'm going to write a note on a Post-It to check back in on the "Murder Man" in five years.

Manny Pacquiao's win went according to script last night in Texas. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Back again with another feature is Ted "The Bull" Sares, who looks back at his prediction for last night's Pacquiao-Clottey fight, and examines how it turned out in the end.

* * * * * * * *

Prediction (03/07/2010)

I see "Pac Man" beating the "Grand Master" in a medium-paced fight in which Manny will exploit Clottey's weakness beginning in the mid rounds (but I don't see it happening the other way around). This exploitation will be enhanced by Pacquio's incredibly fast in-and-out movement accompanied by just about every punch in the manual-- and each thrown with malice aforethought-as he befuddles the Ghanaian and slows down his already slow stalk.

However, despite his superb performances against Cotto, Hatton and De La Hoya, I don't see him winning within the distance. Clottey is just too strong in my view. After a competitive start - maybe the first five rounds -- I see Manny reaching cruising speed and begin to dominate, In the end, Clottey's trademark pressure and counter-punching will not be able to overcome Pacquiao's foot speed and quick-handed, sharp-punching attacks. Speed will be the decisive factor here and speed is what Manny Pacquiao is all about

I envision Pacquiao outworking Clottey and building an early lead, although possibly without landing a whole lot of hard, clean punches through Clottey's excellent guard. I'm going with Pacquiao by solid UD.

Outcome

Except for the absence of counterpunching by Clottey, the fight turned out pretty close to the prediction. Clottey's inability to pull the trigger once again cost him dearly, except this time, when he did pull it, he paid a price. Manny also exploited Clottey's weaknesses earlier than I anticipated -- by the third round to be exact.

Clottey's corner also proved less than compelling and instead of giving him some tactical advice, it simply repeated the obvious. Namely, that he was behind and had better start throwing some punches.

In sum, Clottey clearly lacked the Eye of the Tiger; Manny did not, and won this one with his blinding speed and and quick-handed, sharp-punching, punishing attacks.

We are fortunate to witness this marvelous fighting machine. Indeed, those of you who are young enough will be discussing him with your grandchildren in years to come.

Pacquiao smiles. Clottey content to exist in background. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Jim Lampley 'Bang Bang Bang' a Bizarre Blow-by-Blow (FanHouse)
This is one of those internet buzz things that's never going to go away. This is probably going to become a meme. I didn't want to make, like, a feature commentary out of it or anything, but let me throw in my additional two cents to the Jim Lampley Sounded Like An Idiot Fund. BANG. BANG BANG! BANG! BANG! Just horrible.

Manny Pacquiao - Too Good for Joshua Clottey (The Boxing Bulletin)
Our friend Andrew Fruman from our sister site The Boxing Bulletin analyzes Pacquiao's easy victory.

No sense in ducking Pacquiao-Mayweather (Yahoo! Sports)
Dan Wetzel offers this thought: "Boxing put on a heck of a show Saturday, with almost 51,000 fans making Cowboys Stadium an electric environment. It just didn’t stage much of a fight."

'IT'S ABOUT NUMBERS': Cowboys' Jones major player (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jerry Jones isn't out to hurt Las Vegas, he's out to get boxing more exposure: "Here's how it helps Las Vegas. By having a fight like this here (in Cowboys Stadium), it creates more visibility and interest in fighting. So when Las Vegas hosts a fight, that interest transfers over. These fights lift all boats."

What we learned from Pacquiao-Clottey (Sports Illustrated)
Bryan Armen Graham has five things learned from the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, leading off with the prevailing thought about last night's challenger: Joshua Clottey did not come to win.

Pacquiao pounds Clottey, calls out Mayweather (Yahoo! Sports)
Pacquiao had some interesting post-fight comments about Floyd Mayweather Jr., including saying his style "isn't difficult" (a comment that led Max Kellerman to ridiculously request Manny show him, right then, how he would fight Mayweather). I'm a bit sick of talking about Pacquiao-Mayweather until it actually gets signed, but hey, it happened.

Manny Pacquiao proves his worth against Joshua Clottey (ESPN)
Like others, Clottey says it's Pacquiao's speed that killed: "I didn't feel Manny's power. It's just that his speed was too much for me." Clottey's replacement trainer, Lenny DeJesus, offered this: "We clearly got beat. i don't think we won a round."

Arroyo lauds Pacquiao's patriotism, perseverance (GMA News)
I hear this guy Pacquiao is some sort of big wheel in the Philippines.

The massive Cowboys Stadium served as a great host for boxing last night. (Photo by Tom Pennington / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Let me start off by saying I hate the Dallas Cowboys. Who doesn't? Outside of Cowboys fans, I mean.

I'll also say that when the billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium was being launched, I found the building to be downright gaudy. It was everything about modern sports stadiums that I hated. Overblown, overdone, looking almost like a shopping mall instead of somewhere that sports are played.

I have since come around, and it didn't just happen last night. The stadium is undeniably impressive in every way, and serves as a testament to crazy old Jerry Jones' desire to be ahead of the curve -- hell, to create a new curve. Say what you will about Jones, but the man can promote, and the man knows how to keep the money flowing. Even the routinely deplorable NBA All-Star Game felt kind of significant when played in this structure.

Last night's card wasn't too great. The main event was a one-sided drag and the undercard stunk.

But the building? The building was phenomenal. 50,994 fans came to Arlington, Texas, to see the world-renowned Manny Pacquiao defend his throne against Joshua Clottey. What's amazing is that only a speck of those people came for Clottey. For the most part, Pacquiao and the building sold the show. And sell they did.

I won't say that everything went perfectly. With that big of a venue and fights like the ones seen last night, the crowd is never going to fully play into anything. Instead of the roars you hear in the more intimate Vegas casinos, where boxing has survived for the last few decades, most of the night's "action" was met with more of a murmur. Hey, you get 51,000 people together, and even if they don't give a crap you're going to hear something.

Can you imagine that building with a great fight, though?

Hats should be off to Jones and to Bob Arum, who got a less-than-incredible fight into this enormous stadium, and sold the hell out of it at the live gate. If everything went well financially, there's no reason to believe that Cowboys Stadium can't stay a player for the biggest boxing fights out there. If you can get over 50,000 people in for a Joshua Clottey fight, you just might have a viable venue.

Even if Cowboys Stadium never hosts another boxing event, we'll at least have had this one. Arum and Jones took a shot, and they scored.

Joshua Clottey was no match for Manny Pacquiao last night. Surprised? Don't be. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

When I woke up this morning, last night's pay-per-view was still, of course, on my mind. The undercard, as usual, was pretty dreadful (more on that sometime later this week, maybe later today). The main event, as usual, was lackluster (same "more on that").

And Joshua Clottey is who we thought he was. And I let this fight off the hook.

In my preview for the bout, my respect for Clottey as a fighter kind of guilt-tripped me into mealy-mouthing a little bit. Yes, Clottey's a good fighter, I was trying to say. But he's also no match for Manny Pacquiao. This fight, I wanted to say without being harsh, would be damned easy for Pacquiao.

Because Joshua Clottey wasn't good enough for Manny Pacquiao. He was never going to win this fight, save for Pacquiao uncharacteristically taking him lightly.

The laughable 30-second TV promo for the pay-per-view called Clottey a "devastating brawler." That was rich. Clottey doesn't have half the power a lot of people seem to think he does. He's about as devastating as any wall can be. For 12 rounds last night, he stood motionless, allowing Pacquiao to unleash over 1,200 punches, landing 20% of them.

It wasn't Pacquiao's most scintillating performance. It wasn't even his most dominant, though it was a virtual shutout for a fact. Pacquiao was more dominant against Cotto, Hatton, de la Hoya, Morales in their third fight, David Diaz, and twice against Marco Antonio Barrera. He was also more entertaining. He also had opponents who seemed to at least consider fighting back.

Clottey, it was noted, gave tough fights to Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, and he beat Zab Judah. Beating Judah is nothing too amazing anymore. He gave the Cotto fight away by doing in too many short bursts what he did all of last night.

Who among those three men (Clottey's best opponents coming in) could really hold a candle to what Pacquiao brings to the table? By the time Clottey fought him, Judah had gained the reputation of a six-round fighter. Margarito, devastating as he was at his best, is a slow, plodding guy. Cotto was damaged goods in the minds of many.

I'm not trying to say that Joshua Clottey is not a good fighter. He is. He remains one of the six best fighters in the welterweight division, a completely credible boxer and a tough out for most. But against Manny Pacquiao, he was in a fight he really couldn't win. He fought like it, too.

Joshua Clottey didn't lose credibility last night, necessarily, but made it clear that he's not a great fighter. And he's never going to be a better fighter than he is now. Clottey is rugged, durable, good defensively, and limited. We usually save "limited" for guys like John Duddy, but it applies to Clottey, too. Good as he is, he's only so good. And Manny Pacquiao made him look bad.

Veteran Jose Luis Castillo didn't have it last night against Alfonso Gomez. After the bout, he announced his retirement. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Former lightweight world champion Jose Luis Castillo found the going very rough last night in Arlington, Texas, quitting after five rounds of one-sided action against welterweight fringe contender Alfonso Gomez.

After the fight, the 36-year-old "El Temible" announced his retirement from boxing, and offered an apology. From the Associated Press:

"I just found out tonight I don't have it anymore," Castillo said. "I want to apologize to the public and I am definitely announcing my retirement."

Castillo, who had basically been forced up in weight over the years to get to the welterweight division, looked old, slow, powerless and completely ineffective against Gomez, who has now coincidentally retired two major action stars of the era. Gomez also knocked out the late Arturo Gatti in Gatti's final bout, back in 2007.

It's been about three years since Castillo (60-10-1, 52 KO) won a meaningful fight, against Herman Ngoudjo in Las Vegas. That fight was meant to set up a battle between then-junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, which it did, but the red flags went off in a big way. Castillo struggled mightily with the young, unsung Ngoudjo, barely escaping with a split decision victory.

The Ngoudjo fight came after Castillo failed to make weight for the second time when set to face Diego "Chico" Corrales, the greatest rival of his career. Castillo did fight Hatton in the summer of 2007, and was knocked out by a body shot in the fourth round.

It was as obvious in 2007 as it was last night that we weren't ever going to see the "real" Jose Luis Castillo again. Tons of miles, plenty of damage, a lot of ring wars, and maybe even some psychological effects had taken their toll. It was cemented for everyone when he couldn't make 140 pounds to fight Timothy Bradley, moving up to 147 and facing Sebastian Lujan on a July 2008 edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights. Lujan, a fringe contender like Gomez, dominated the veteran ex-champion.

It was thought then that Castillo would retire, but for many reasons, he fought on. He built up a comeback last year, winning four fights against sub-par competition, and was then given a chance to get back in the game against Gomez.

No dice. On the big stage at Cowboys Stadium, Castillo looked every bit like a 200% shot fighter. As the HBO commentary team remarked during the fight, it was one of those times where you could see a fighter's gears turn. Castillo seemed to notice the openings that Gomez gave him, seemed like he wanted to pull the trigger offensively, and then just could not. Gomez didn't give out the beating to Castillo that he did to Gatti, but Castillo was really never in the fight, physically or mentally.

I hope Castillo is in a place financially where this retirement can stick, because it's obvious that he's just worn out. His late-career struggles will never erase his first fight with Corrales, which was the greatest fight of the last decade and one of the very best of all time, nor will it damage what he did when he was in his prime. Castillo fought them all -- Corrales, Joel Casamayor, and Stevie Johnston, to name just three. And let's not forget that Castillo is the only man, really, for whom anyone will argue a deserved win over Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Best of luck to Jose Luis Castillo, and may the old boxing sins be forgiven, and we remember him for what he was when he was his best: one hell of a good fighter.

Tonight was easy for Manny Pacquiao, who dominated Joshua Clottey in Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Joshua Clottey said he'd be aggressive.

Joshua Clottey lied.

Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO) easily won a unanimous decision against a tentative, scared Clottey (35-4, 20 KO) on scores of 120-108, 119-109, 119-109. Bad Left Hook scored it 119-109 for Pacquiao.

Clottey just did not come to win this fight. In the second (the only round we gave Clottey), it looked like maybe it would be a fight. But it was not. Pacquiao landed 246/1231 (20%), to Clottey's 108/399 (27%). The fight was not even remotely close. Not even close. Miguel Cotto put up far more of a fight than did Clottey, who gave the fight away. Period. He gave the fight away.

Pacquiao now moves on to hopefully face the winner of the May 1 fight between Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr., because there's little else left without another crazy move up in weight. Clottey was no challenge whatsoever for Pacquiao, who smiled, tapped gloves, and hugged his way through a genuinely easy contest. Clottey was begged by his corner to go for the KO, but never did. Not even once.

We'll have more in the next couple of days, but for now, all we have is Manny Pacquiao again dominating a fight. Clottey offered no resistance for Pacquiao, and all they did was smile at each other. Hooray!

Humberto Soto knocked David Diaz down twice en route to a unanimous decision win. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Humberto Soto knocked down David Diaz in the first and twelfth rounds of a fairly close bout in the main co-feature of the night, winning a unanimous decision to win the WBC lightweight title.

Soto won on scores of 115-111, 117-109 and 117-109. Bad Left Hook scored it 115-111 for Soto.

Soto (51-7-2, 32 KO) managed to get past the physical strength and pressure of the limited Diaz (35-3-1, 17 KO). Diaz did his best to neutralize Soto's offense and was fairly successful, but Soto was just a more dynamic fighter.

It wasn't much of a performance from Soto, but he did win legitimately. Diaz remains as he was before the night, a gatekeeper more than a real contender, and a bit of a weird story in recent boxing history. It's still odd that he was a major titlist.

Our live coverage continues three posts down for the main event.

Join us for the main event in the comments of this post!