MANILA, Philippines — Looking for a chance to redeem himself, Joshua Clottey wants another crack at Manny Pacquiao 11 years since he lost to the Filipino boxing legend in a welterweight title fight.
Clottey, who once held the IBF welterweight title in 2008, was steamrolled by Pacquiao from bell to bell with two of the judges scoring the bout 119-109 while the other didn’t even give the Ghanian a single round.
“If he will give me (Pacquiao) a fight today I will take it for no money. No money, no pay, absolutely zero I will fight him. It is because I want to restore my name,” he said on Citi TV as posted on pulse.com.gh.
To his defense, Clottey claimed he was preoccupied heading into the fight due to his issues with his manager.
“The manager did not help us but he should have. He was getting 33 percent including the pay per view and made almost 1.9 million dollars from just that one fight,” Clottey said.
“I told him to take just 25 percent of the fight as well as the pay per view and give me eight percent out of your cut. He refused to do it and all these issues were weighing down on my mind.”
Had it not been for that conflict with his manager, Clottey said the bout would’ve ended differently.
“If I didn’t have all these issues going into the bout I would have been able to wear down Manny Pacquiao.
“He throws a lot of punches and with my blocking and hitting ability, I would give him problems.
The 43-year-old Clottey hasn’t fought since beating an unheralded fighter in Aziiz Mpomda in September 2019 in Ghana.
Pacquiao, 42, meanwhile, is set for another blockbuster bout when he takes on undefeated two-belt champion Errol Spence Jr. on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.