Pac-Man Ready to Eat Up Clottey Early

Manny Pacquiao (-1000) is an overwhelming favorite over Joshua Clottey (+450) when the duo meet in Cowboy’s stadium but this clash still holds plenty of intrigue.

Clottey has no genuine shot at winning this fight. Sure nothing’s certain in the ring but Pac-Man is far to smart to look beyond this fight, especially as defeat would end any hopes of match-up with Floyd Mayweather later this year. Instead the smarter option is to look outside of a straight up winner and see what sports book betting options are available on how this fight will go down.

The challenger, who hails from Ghana but now fights out of the Bronx, has never been stopped in his 39 fight career. All that tag really ever means is that he’s one punch away from his first defeat by KO. The under of 9.5 rounds for a Pacquiao win is great value at +150, especially as Manny has stopped his last four opponents with only one making it past the 9th.

The odds are no doubt influenced by Pac-Man taking until the 12th to dispose of Miguel Angel Cotto last time out but the final result doesn’t tell the story of the fight. Cotto stayed competitive for two rounds before being floored in the third and fourth. After that the result was never in doubt and Manny took his time with Cotto. This was partially out of respect but also to send a message to the Mayweather camp so they’d know what to expect in a 12 round war. This time around the Filipino fighter doesn’t need to take his time, once he gets on top of Clottey he will end it quickly, probably before the 7th.

Cautious bettors may want to consider taking a Pacquiao victory by decision (+135) as a cover bet. I don’t fancy Clottey to go the distance but if he can somehow make it through the first 9 or 10 rounds then he might find Pac-Man takes his foot off the gas late on. It’s hard to see Clottey providing value here, even with the high-guard style he employs similar to Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins. The Ghanaian hasn’t shown the same level of ability as Winky or the Executioner throughout his career, so while the style might keep him upright for a while it won’t take long for Pac-Man to work out a swift route to victory.

For the best online betting options on the big fight in Jerry World check out Sports Interaction’s online sports book.