IBF welterweight titlist Joshua Clottey has finally had enough waiting around and being ignored, and he's going the trash talking route in hopes of getting himself a major fight. He's currently waiting in a mandatory defense against Isaac Hlatswayo, which has no date or venue and doesn't appear to be near the top of Top Rank's list.
BoxingScene's Ryan Songalia got the following quotes out of Clottey, and much more:
- "The problem is they don't want to fight me. Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, they are all cowards. They need to stop being p***ies and fight me."
- "In 2005, they offered me the fight but [Mosley] didn't want to fight me because he said I'm a monster. He is afraid of me because he knows I would beat his old ass up."
- Regarding his current manager, Vinny Scolpino: "I have a bad manager who listens to the promoter and doesn't listen to me."
I fully recommend reading the whole article, because that's just a taste of how mad Clottey is these days.
Clottey is fuming, and he should be. He beat Zab Judah when Zab couldn't continue because of "a headbutt" last August, which everyone on earth knows was a punch, and he's been waiting around for a fight ever since. That fight was in August. Judah has been back in the ring on PPV since then (lousy fight or not, Judah got a payday), and Zab's name is always floating in talks for fights.
Clottey's fight only gets mentioned when fans bring him up. He could have fought Kermit Cintron, but Cintron made the business decision to fight Sergio Martinez for more money. I can't blame Cintron for that and nobody should accuse Cintron of "ducking" Clottey, either. He took a fight of similar stature and made more money.
It does wander into my mind -- and this is total speculation -- that Arum will go, "Alright, kid, you want a fight? How about a rematch with Margarito in Mexico?"
Clottey-Hlatswayo is a tough sell because neither of them has any fanbase in America. It has to be an undercard fight on some major Top Rank show, because Clottey deserves that spot and it might help more people notice his existence. He's a hell of a good fighter. The way his career has been handled since his title win over Judah is an outright travesty. His manager and Top Rank should both feel ashamed.