Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey is set to return to action in his homeland of Ghana on April 29th. The 38-year-old will face Brazilian Anderson Clayton, 43-10-2(37) in a doubleheader that will also see Joseph Agbeko in action. Clottey, 39-5(22) was last seen being outworked by Gabriel Rosado, losing on points over ten rounds in a good action fight in December.
Clottey, who is, unfortunately, destined to be forever remembered for his admittedly poor, self defensive challenge of Manny Pacquaio, when he was widely out-pointed in a dull fight back in March of 2010, says he has an eye on retirement. Speaking with GhanaWeb, Clottey, who is as tough as they come and has never come close to being stopped, said he plans to call it quits in two years time.
“I will hit 39 this year and by 41 I think I will have to call it quits,” he said. “I almost fought [for] a world title last year but my opponent pulled out [for] reasons only known to him. I can promise my fans something big before I retire so I just need their support and prayers to make things happen.”
The aborted world title fight Clottey spoke of was a fight with Canelo Alvarez, who was close to fighting him before eventually opting to fight James Kirkland in May of 2015 instead. Clottey missed out on what might have been a big chance at redemption over the Pacquiao disappointment, as Alvarez very likely looked at a fight with him as having far too much risk and very little reward. Had Canelo beaten Clottey, fans unable to forgive him for the Pacquiao non-effort would have said, ‘so what?’ Had Clottey actually beaten Alvarez (which wouldn’t have been out of the realms of possibility), the Mexican would not be in the great position he is now in.
So Clottey attempts to land himself “something big” before he calls it a career. And Clottey was a good fighter, who beat good names like Zab Judah and the late Diego Corrales and also came within a whisker of out-pointing Miguel Cotto. How much has the 38-year-old got left today? Clottey faded in the second half of the Rosado fight, but he showed he is still a solid 154-pounder (having moved up from 147 in 2011). Clottey should be able to string together a couple of wins, starting with a probable points win over 37-year-old Clayton (who has won just one of his last five outings but is nevertheless a puncher) – but as to whether or not any of the champions at 154 will toss Clottey a look is something else entirely.