Former IBF champion Joshua Clottey has revealed that he deliberately lost his fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2010 after being cheated by his manager.
Thirteen (13) years ago, the Ghanaian boxer was involved in one of the biggest fights of his career when he faced Pacquiao.
Clottey ultimately lost the bout by unanimous decision after deploying a defensive tactic and failing to give the fans a show.
The aftermath of the fight was predictably dominated by many conspiracy theories, with some even claiming the 45-year-old tanked the contest.
Well, Clottey has now disclosed that he deliberately “blew up” the fight against Pacquiao because his manager cheated him and made him earn less money from the bout.
“I regret signing with that manager, I regret listening to the trainer but it made me strong not to allow anyone negotiate on my behalf. I was supposed to make more money,” he said on Joy News’ Prime Take.
“I was not happy about the Pacquiao fight because I had three years on my contract with my manager so I decided to blow it up. I even went to his office to negotiate for him to take 25 per cent so I take eight per cent but he said no.”
According to him, “the manager had already accepted $1 million as payment, and I came in to negotiate for $1.350 million. It was a fight I was supposed to get $2m as the pay.
“The pay-per-view was $100 for each viewer but he negotiated for $3 on my behalf out of the $100. Even with the $3, I could only earn my share after 300,000 buyers. So if 300,001 people buy I will earn only $3.
“I tried negotiating but they claimed if I can’t I should leave so I had to take the fight. Meanwhile, the manager was making 33 per cent profit from each pay-per-view income, including the fight money,” he added.
Clottey’s record stands at 47 fights – with five losses and 41 wins, 24 of which came by way of knockout.
Source: Pulse Ghana