"I got the key to beating Manny Pacquiao...I don't need to watch any tapes," stated Joshua Clottey's new trainer, Lenny DeJesus, as he shared his thoughts on this weekend's upcoming fight with Manny Pacquiao. No stranger to Pacquiao, DeJesus served as the Filipino superstar's cutman from 2003-2005, during some of his biggest bouts, including Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez. That being said, 2005 was a long time ago. Although a lot has changed, in both style and size, for Manny Paquiao, DeJesus seems to believe that he's still the same fighter.
"I already have Manny in my mind how he fights," he commented during an interview for the HBO documentary Road To Dallas: Pacquiao vs. Clottey. "I mean, Freddie Roach maybe put a little knowledge and stuff like that, a little techniques, but he's the same guy that I saw five years ago. Never changed!"
Say WHAT? Really? The same guy that he saw five years ago? I don't know where DeJesus has been for the past couple of years, but the Manny Pacquiao who dominated Miguel Cotto, wrecked Ricky Hatton and battered Oscar De La Hoya into retirement is NOT the same fighter that stepped into the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera several years ago.
Clottey may be big and strong, but Pacquiao has already proven that size doesn't matter, so if he has any hope of coming out victorious in this fight, he and his team better be looking for as many flaws as possible that they can exploit. Hopefully, those comments were just a ploy by DeJesus to downplay just how much work they've been doing to study each and every detail of the most dynamic and exciting fighter in the world. If not and DeJesus was serious in his remarks, then this Saturday, March 13th, is going to look a lot like Saturday, November 14th, 2009.
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