Pacquiao focused on Clottey

Pacquiao: Looking ahead to Clottey bout

Clottey, he is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus

Manny Pacquiao
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World champion Manny Pacquiao is putting failed talks with Floyd Mayweather behind him to concentrate on his upcoming bout with Joshua Clottey.

The Filipino, 50-3 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, has begun promoting his WBO welterweight title defence against Ghana's Clottey which will take place on the March 13, the same date Pacquiao was scheduled to face unbeaten American Mayweather.

The clash will headline the first fight card at America's $1.2billion Cowboys Stadium, home of the famous Dallas football team.

Focus

"It's going to be a good fight," said Pacquiao.

"Clottey, he is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."

Negotiations fell through with Mayweather when the US star requested unprecedented random blood testing which Paquiao's camp rejected, denying boxing fans a much-anticipated showdown.

However, Clottey is determined to prove himself as more than a stand-in for Mayweather when he meets his Filipino rival.

"This is going to be a hell of a fight," said Clottey, 35-3 with 21 KOs.

"I love Manny Pacquiao. If you throw (punches) at him, he will throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."

Bad feeling

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has made no secret of the fact that bad feeling remains against Mayweather after he failed to agree a compromise of no blood test within two weeks of the fight.

"(Pacquiao) is disappointed the fight is not here," Roach told ESPN.

"Life goes on without Mayweather. He wouldn't agree to (a limit of) 14 days before the fight. We did our best to appease him but he wouldn't go along with it. It was a smoke screen for him to say no."

Pacquiao refused the blood tests on the grounds that it weakens him ahead of a fight and Roach has dismissed suggestions his fighter had something to hide.

He added: "There are always doubters out there but Manny Pacquiao is clean. He has passed every drug test in the world."