Texas Fight Night: The Good (Scola), The Bad (Dirk) & the Pacquiao Fight
Dirk Nowitzki (photo. Monte Isom)
Amidst some crucial college basketball games and one major boxing match, the biggest upset on Saturday happened when the Knicks snapped the Mavericks’ 13-game win streak. Playing at home, maybe Dirk Nowitzki and crew were preoccupied with trying to get to the Manny Pacquiao/Joshua Clottey down the road, but they never showed up and got 35-pieced. Adding to the unlikely upset was that the last time these teams met, Dallas went to MSG and annihilated the Knicks by 50 … Bill Walker led New York with 23 points (5 threes) off the bench, while Wilson Chandler scored 22, Tony Douglas added 21 and 8 assists, and Al Harrington had 20 points. The Knicks met zero resistance driving to the cup, and were constantly left open to knock down threes (16-30 3PA) as Rick Carlisle spent most of the night looking like he’d eaten a bad chimichanga. Nobody on the Mavs admitted it afterward, but they clearly overlooked this team, while the Knicks freely admitted they were driven by revenge from the earlier blowout … The Nets were at least competitive, but Luis Scola was just a rampaging beast on ‘em. On his way to 44 points (20-25 FG) and 12 boards, Scola dominated the offensive glass, was automatic with that mid-range jumper, and somehow the Nets kept losing track of him as he got a ton of easy layups right at the rim … J.R. Smith dominated the fourth quarter of Nuggets/Grizzlies, scoring 16 of his 30 points as Denver turned a tied game after three quarters into a rout. Smith (7-12 3PA) got it going when he put Sam Young‘s hand on the ground and stuck a three over him in the final seconds of the third quarter, then in the fourth he made a few more of those quick-release treys. By then he was just running heat checks, taking step-back fadeaways and pulling in transition … Other stat lines from Saturday: Joe Johnson scored 26 points in Atlanta’s win over Detroit; Dwight Howard had 28 points and 15 rebounds as Orlando beat Washington to push their win streak to eight; and George Hill had 14 points and 11 dimes to lead San Antonio past the Clippers … If you recorded the Pacquiao/Clottey fight and you don’t want to know the results yet, consider this your SPOILER ALERT … It wasn’t a particularly good fight, or a close fight, but it went the distance and Pac-Man (who ended up with a shiner under his right eye) never got close to hurting his opponent. How’s that work? Clottey basically went into a turtle shell for 12 rounds. Using his arms and gloves to block every incoming bomb, Clottey never let Pacquiao get a clean shot, nor did he ever let his hands go despite showing he could tag Pac-Man with some punches. The punches-thrown differential was something like 1,200-350 for Pacquiao. We’re assuming the strategy for Clottey was to not get knocked out, and hope Pac would make a mistake or punch himself out, becoming vulnerable for a late knockout. Either way, Clottery didn’t fight to win, he fought not to lose, and he lost … Maybe the Raptors could have taken a page from Clottey’s playbook. They played zero defense and tried to trade haymakers with the Warriors, and they got put on their back. Stephen Curry posted 35 points and 10 assists, and Monta Ellis dropped 31 points as G-State finished with 124 for the night and hit 16 threes … Chris Bosh was not pleased with the effort. “It’s like if you look at the schedule right now and see Toronto, I’m sure people are checking something in the win box,” Bosh (24 pts, 11 rebs) said post-game. “I can understand if we lose the game going down fighting but we’re not fighting at all.” Bosh added, “Act like you care. I’m going down playing offense on (G-State’s) side of the court and their bench is louder than we are. That doesn’t make any sense. They’re not playing for anything.” Not true. The Warriors have a lot on the line in the Derrick Favors sweepstakes. Assuming the braintrust isn’t totally insane and they realize they need a big man in the worst way … We’re out like an exciting fight …
-->
March 14th, 2010 at 5:28 am
jay says:
i think pacman hurt clottey numerous during the fight.. it’s just that clottey is just so tough..
March 14th, 2010 at 5:57 am
BRUCE says:
Send that oversize Ghanian back to Africa! The African didn’t want to trade blows with the little rice-eater. Dude you are bigger than him.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:03 am
jackie moon says:
steph curry put on a show on those raps. pull-up Js, high-off-the-glass runners, dagger treys, dimes…
that kid is filthy crafty.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:11 am
jackie moon says:
@bruce, clottey had no chance. he forgot to bring his balls to the ring versus your so-called little rice eater.
cotto ran away against pacman. hatton went straight up then got flattened. clottey just made sure he’s enjoying his pay-check after the fight.
March 14th, 2010 at 7:33 am
rangerjohn says:
50k people watched the fight, 108k went to the nba all-star game, is it just me or is boxing dieing fast.
how bad are the clippers, tim duncan played 13 min, manu played 18, and the spurs 30pieced the clips. did you guys see cedric “who?” jackson block baron davis? i think sean elliot creamed a little, just a little because he doesnt know jackson yet lol.
March 14th, 2010 at 7:37 am
Khalvin says:
*sigh*
My Raptors aren’t doing it big like I hoped, nothing good to say
*Link of the day*
www i am too depressed to find one . com
March 14th, 2010 at 7:42 am
mavs all the way says:
that was clottey’s game plan – stay until 12, don’t get KO’d, and not really win the fight. I’d say a good plan, but why play if you’re not intending to win? oh ok, i get it, it’s MONEY pacquiao.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:16 am
jzsmoove says:
i feel like a douche for dropping Scola off my fantasy squad bout 2 weeks. and he does shit like this to rub with a grain of salt. ouch.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Willie says:
@rangerjohn 50k was passed the set capacity of 45k and how is it dying fast if that’s the 3rd biggest attendance in the history of boxing?
March 14th, 2010 at 10:59 am
sh!tfaced says:
Gotta feel for the Mavs, just like them, gave up their 13-game streak, and for us our $50 ppv, for a sleepy ass show like that…
Joshua “Grandmaster” Clottey – now we know how he got that nick, he’s as boring as a chess player and he takes forever to make a damn move.
Clottey was so dominant that he made the world’s most exciting boxer into just another lame puncher.
The only one knockdown that was gonna happen was from drinking too much beer watching the match…
Pacman was so sure and frustrated Clottey wasn’t gonna punch that he even threw his left and right at the same time which most of us didn’t know illegal until then…
March 14th, 2010 at 11:01 am
K Dizzle says:
1) U can’t drop Scola. He’s literally had 3 bad games all year
2) It’s games like that by the Mavs that make me shake my head
3) Embarrassing fight by Clottey. U gettin the money win or lose, how you don’t go out and try to win?
4) In the span of one month, Raptors went from the 2nd hottest team in the l and 95% Bosh stayin to a squad about to get bounced outta the playoffs and Bosh 95% gone. Dude needs more mvp votes cuz he got hurt and that team disintegrated….
March 14th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
JR says:
50k for boxing is huuuuuuge! Boxing is alive and well, thanks to the little rice eater!
March 14th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
rangerjohn says:
@ #9,
that was the 3rd largest in the usa, the largest ever was in 1993, mexico city, 132+k.
the largest in the usa, ali at the superdome, and that fight was pretty much a sell out, not enough room for more people to be able to watch. i mean pacman cant even get half the total capacity? in their defense, with the declining attendance of boxing, they didnt go nuts and even try to fill it.
March 14th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
zephyr says:
racism in america sucks.
March 14th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
stroker says:
@ 8
Any fantasy league shallow enough to drop someone like Scola at this point of the season is not a real league. That’s like some WNBA shit, man.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
weng santos says:
@ rangerjohn
The way the Cowboys Stadium was set up for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, there were only something like 50,000 available seats. The tickets they were selling a couple days before the fight were standing room only tickets already. The fight was sold out as it is.
I know, I don’t get it either, seeing as a basketball court eats up more space than a boxing ring, so theoretically there should be more seats available for the fight than the all-star game. But that’s the way it was, Cowboys stadium was filled to capacity already.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
RC says:
Chris Bosh it’s time to get out of Toronto. Even if I’m Toronto I just don’t feel any sympathy for this pathetic team. No effort at all. Makes me wanna puke watching them.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
the cynic says:
that was an craptacular fight last night, hopefully Mosley/Mayweather will be better
March 14th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Jason says:
@rangerjohn:
They’ve been saying for years that boxing is dying. Where’s your proof? It’s not fair to compare the attendance for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight with that of the NBA All-Star game. The disparity in ticket prices for the 2 events would only begin to explain some of the difference.
Dallas Stadium was set up to seat 45k, which is more than double the capacity of any Las Vegas fight venue. Pacquiao sold out the show on the strength of his name alone. They were able to sell an additional 6k SRO tickets on very short notice.
If you actually followed boxing, you would know that it’s far from dying. I’d be more worried about all the NBA teams that are hemorrhaging money, and the impending lockout when the CBA has to be renegotiated.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:35 am
EN FUEGO says:
Clottey fought like some girl who was forced to whore herself for the money. She just took it and laid her pussy to be fucked over but covered everything else – as long as she got paid – she didn’t want to be kissed, necked and get her tits mashed.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:36 am
EN FUEGO says:
A fight nobody would want to see is a Clottey-Mayweather match. All defense, all boring, turtle vs hare sleepfest.
It’ll be boxing’s version of the NBA’s uglyball years in the mid-90′s, ie the 1994 Finals – Pat Riley’s Knicks vs Rockets.
Guess that’s the difference between Pac and Money. Manny wins by taking risks while Floyd wins playing it smart and safe.
March 15th, 2010 at 8:28 am
JAY says:
@rangerjohn
In all boxing history, only 2 fights had a drew a bigger attendance on US soil. The biggest draw was Ali-Spinks. Boxing is not dead.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:05 am
AdvancedMind says:
So i guess boxing should change its rules, maybe they should stand in a box and punch each other until one guy falls down… Clotey did what he always does, block and wait for his counter oppurtunity. Problem was that Pacman threw almost 1300 punches in the fight, which didnt give Clotey the chances he needed to have any chance of winning. All this, him being scared and he ran is completely false, his problem is he didnt take any chances outside of his know style of fighting. Im impressed with the stamina of Pac, 1300 punches in a fight is crazy, but if you saw his eye you would realize that he can be hit so “punches in bunches” will get you sat on your back pocket against a good fighter like FLOYD.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Jason says:
@AdvancedMind:
Yeah, Pacquiao can be hit. But, if you think he would employ a similar game plan against Mayweather is ridiculous. Take a close look at his last 5 fights and you’ll see his game plan has been different for each fighter.
And, do you really think Floyd could knock down Manny?! Manny ate hard, clean shots from Cotto and Clottey and wasn’t even fazed. If you think Floyd has better punching power than those 2 guys, then you need to go watch some more tape. He couldn’t even take out JMM who was fighting 2 weight divisions above what he’s EVER fought at, and Floyd came in over the catchweight!
Only a Floyd nuthugger would think that Floyd could put Manny on his ass.