By James Slater – Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey, last seen in that disappointing fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, is set to leave the 147-pound division behind. Always big for a welterweight, and having had to work increasingly hard to make the weight in recent times, the 33-year-old plans to fight again this year as a light-middleweight; with the ultimate goal being for him to box as a full middleweight.
This is according to one of “The Grand Master’s” trainers, who has been speaking with Ghana’s Joy Sports web site..
“He’s not jumping straight to middleweight, he’s going to junior-middleweight,” Alloway said of Clottey. “He is growing. I think it will help him [moving up]. “You can’t deceive nature. If you look at his record, his KO percentage is getting down, and that tells you if he has to shed a lot of weight before a fight there is no power behind his punches. I think he will do well [at the higher weight].”
So far, there is no mention of a date or an opponent, but the plan is for Clottey to fight again before the end of the year. Whoever the warrior from Accra, Ghana faces, he will be looking to put on a much better performance than the one he gave against Pac-Man back in March. Clottey remained in a defensive shell for practically all the fight, throwing only a sparse amount of punches. The New York based fighter, who fell to 35-4(20) with the wide points loss, later blamed the defeat on all manner of things (including a bad case of the runs!), but maybe he had given all he had to give in making weight for the fight; the biggest of his 15-year pro career.
At 5’8” and with his broad back and shoulders, Clottey could possibly make a good, strong middleweight. Not rushing straight to 160-pounds sounds like a good idea, however, and a fight against a decent name at 154-pounds or thereabouts would prove interesting this year. Having only lost to the best as a welterweight (Pac-Man, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and before that, to Carlos Baldomir way back in 1999, when he was DQ’d in a fight he was winning, due to illegal use of the head), Clottey has proven his resiliency and class.
Okay, his “no-show” against Pacquiao turned off a number of fans, but any fighter is entitled to an off night. Does Clottey deserve the benefit of the doubt, that this is what happened to him in March? Those fans willing to give him a break will no doubt tune into his next fight, and see for themselves whether or not he has the stuff needed to compete with the best at 154/160-pounds.