Storm Over Clottey Defeat

Joshua Clottey

The defeat suffered by Ghana's Joshua Clottey at the hands of WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacman Pacquiao last Saturday continues to attract the ire of Ghanaians.

Many were those who questioned the professionalism of Clottey's handlers when it came to light that the Bukom born pugilist got dehydrated due to the 'banku' and 'okro' soup he ate a few hours to the fight.

The latest to lash the boxer's managers was Moses Foh-Amoaning, former Chairman of the Ghana Boxing Authority.  

Speaking to CitiFm yesterday, Moses Foh Amoaning said the situation would not have arisen if the manager of Clottey, Vinny Scolpino, had employed the services of a dietician.

Foh Amoaning however did not express surprise at the incident since according to him, Vinny Scolpino is a shrewd manager who is bent on not incurring too much cost in the lead-up to major bouts.

“To a very large extent I will blame his manager,” he said, stressing, “The Italian manager tends to be a bit too stingy.

I have dealt with him personally and Joshua has always had some problems with him because you don't just need a dietician but you also need a physical conditioner and a psychologist around him to psyche him up.

“Usually, we will go out there and do that before the fight and you heard him (Clottey) say that he was very low in the dressing room,” he added.

The experienced boxing administrator suggested that “you need a good team around a boxer in a bout that is going to earn you about $2 or 5 million.

I think it is a huge decision in terms of the management structure of Joshua that his manager couldn't get a good team around him.

“I will talk to the manager personally and let him know that Ghanaians will not accept this sort of rubbish anymore.”

Moses Amoaning also waded into the controversy surrounding statements by Boxing Hall of famer Azumah Nelson that Clottey's corner men failed to give him the necessary technical guidance during the bout.

“I think the trainers were saying the right thing except the boxer was not in the sort of physical condition to execute any of the plans which had been talked over.”

It would be recalled that Clottey put up a spirited performance against the world's number one pound-for-pound fighter, Manny Pacman Paquiao, when the two clashed last Saturday in a World Boxing Organisation (WBO) title bout at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA.

Many bookmakers, including Pacquiao's renowned trainer, Frederick Roach, had predicted a 4-round knockout for the Filipino whose predatory instincts had seen him batter the likes of Oscar 'Golden Boy' De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, sending them into premature retirement.

In Saturday's fight however, he met a warrior in Clottey, and but for the fact that the latter was too economical with his punches, the champion would have been humiliated in front of the 51,000 fans.

In the end however, he lost via a unanimous decision, as the three judges scored the bout 120-108, 118-109 and 119-109, all in favour of the world champion.

After the bout, Clottey stressed on radio that he got dehydrated ahead of the bout after suffering from a stomach upset when he ate a bowl of 'okro' soup which was prepared by a colleague in Dallas.

By Mohammed Muniru Kassim