Promoter Bob Arum speaks during the final news conference Wednesday for the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The massive JumboTron can be seen from the side. Photo / Chris Farina-Top Rank


DALLAS – Manny Pacquiao doesn’t have much to say. Joshua Clottey probably says less than Pacquiao. The thing that spoke the loudest at the final news conference for their fight on Saturday was the venue, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

As you approach it by car, watching it get bigger and bigger and bigger than you ever imagined as you get closer, your mouth falls open. And the striking ultra-modern design adds a futuristic element that screams out “cutting edge.” To me, an Angeleno, it was Staples Center on an overdose of steroids.

Then you walk inside and see the cavernous space, brightly lit through the glass roof, and the legendary high-definition JumboTron and you can’t help but think, “Wow!” The screen is 53 yards wide, or more than half the football field on which the Cowboys play, reportedly the biggest in the world.

They say everything is big in Texas … but this is ridiculous. The fighters on the screen will be more than 10 times bigger than the genuine articles.

“When these fighters are punching each other, when these guys are sweating and strategizing in the middle of the ring, they’ll be 72-feet tall … just like our Cowboys players,” said Cowboys and stadium owner Jerry Jones, who obviously is tickled to have a fight card at his $1.2 billion playground.

This isn’t the first non-NFL event at the stadium. The NBA staged its all-star game on Feb. 14 before a mind-boggling 108,713 spectators.

Jones said it was an amazing night, even better than he imagined. A relatively sparse 45,000 are expected to attend the fight card on Saturday but Jones, as positive as any person you’ll meet, believes it will be just as exciting as the basketball event.

“This has a very similar feel to the all-star game,” said Jones, referring to the lead-up to the fight. “First of all, it’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s fun to have you curious about it, the media. That’s important for the stadium. The goal is for the stadium to be recognized all over the country and internationally as a place that’s important. You put someone like Manny Pacquiao in a venue and you accomplish that.

“I think I have a sense of what it’ll be like (on Saturday). I thought I did for the all-star game and the atmosphere, the energy was even better than I thought. I think the energy will be even better for this.”

Jones didn’t want to discuss the future of boxing at the stadium in detail but made it clear that this won’t be the last card in Arlington.

“I think you’ll see that these new stadiums can’t survive on only their main attraction,” said Carl Moretti, vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank. “Especially football stadiums, where they have eight games a year, a couple of exhibitions and hope to get into the playoffs. They need other events to fill them.

“… And there were a thousand reasons to have the fight here – Jerry Jones, the TV screen, the history in this market, just the stadium itself. It clearly is the greatest stadium in the world right now.”

No one at the news conference would question that.

Weighty issues: Roach said Pacquiao weighed 144 pounds on Tuesday, three pounds under the 147-pound welterweight limit. However, the fighter will eat two meals before the weigh-in and will come in at 147 on the scale on Friday, Roach said. He’ll then weigh about 150 on fight night.

Cotto presumably also will make the 147-pound limit, his weight for most of his fights over the last 14 years. On fight night, he could be as heavy as 165, or 15 more than Pacquiao. There’s an even bigger gap in fighters’ natural walking-around weight, about 145 for Pacquiao and almost 170 for Clottey.

That might seem like a huge edge in Clottey’s favor but Roach thinks otherwise.

“If he comes in at 165, it’s too much,” he said. “It’ll slow him down. It has to.”

Clottey probably wouldn’t be fighting as a welterweight if he weren’t fighting Pacquiao. He can make 147 – or he wouldn’t have taken the fight – but he must work extremely hard and sacrifice to do it.

As a result, he said, his power has suffered. He no longer knocks out his opponents at the same rate he once did. He has 20 knockouts but only one in his last 10 fights, a fifth-round TKO over Jose Luis Cruz at the 154-pound limit in 2008.

“I feel I’m unstoppable (at 154),” Clottey said. “Against Jose Luis Cruiz, I was unstoppable. He couldn’t take my power.”

That doesn’t mean much for Saturday.

Dillusional? Clottey said he expects Pacquiao to throw about 1,000 punches over 12 rounds, if the fight lasts the long. And he believes that will be part of the Filipino’s undoing.

Clottey said all human beings have their limits, including his seemingly unbeatable opponent.

“Throwing a thousand punches and moving around like he does … he can’t do that for 12 rounds,” Clottey said. “He’s not a machine. He’ll definitely stay there at times. And when he stays there, that’s when I’ll land my punches.”

The obvious question is this: What makes Clottey believe Pacquiao isn’t a machine?

Albie Espinola is a fashion artist from London who also happens to be lifelong boxing fan.

Today, RingTV.com presents Espinola's painting of Manny Pacquiao -- who fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium -- and a time-lapse video (below) of him painting it.

Espinola was born in London to Filipino parents. His father often spoke of the great Flash Elorde and other top fights from the Phillipines and he became of fan of such British fighters as Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, whose war in 1990 got him hooked on the sport.

The Londoner boxed briefly as an amateur but decided to focus on his art. He began to paint portraits of top models, becoming a prominent presence on the fashion scenes in Paris, London and New York. USA Today dubbed him the “fashion artist.”

However, he never lost his love of boxing. He taught the sweet science at a London gym while he worked in fashion public relations and produced fashion shows. And he has followed the sport religiously.

His favorite fighters today are Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., both of whom have been subjects of his paintings. The Pacquiao painting is presented here. Mayweather will come later.

Enjoy.

Junior featherweight prospect Roberto Marroquin (right) catches Anthony Napunyi with a right hook en route to a third-round stoppage of the tough journeyman last November. Photo by Chris Cozzone / Fightwireimages.com


Vital Statistics:

Age: 20
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Weight class: junior featherweight
Height / reach: 5-7 / 70
Amateur record: 165-15 (reported)
Turned pro: January 18, 2008
Pro record: 12-0, 9 knockouts
Trainer: Raul Martinez
Manager: Lou Mesorana
Promoter: Top Rank

Best night of pro career: Stopped young journeyman Julio Valadez with a single punch in the fourth round of their bout that took place in Las Vegas, Nev., last May. Valadez was able to duck under Marroquin’s potent right hook during the first three rounds so the teenage southpaw faked a hook and turned it into an uppercut that laid the normally durable opponent out cold.

Worst night of pro career: Tried too hard to knockout wily 44-fight veteran Jose Garcia Bernal and was occasionally counter-punched by the seasoned journeyman en route to a one-sided six-round decision last October. Marroquin dropped Bernal in the fifth round but wasn’t focused or settled enough to finish the vet.

Next fight: Takes on fellow Dallas native Samuel Sanchez (4-1-1) in a scheduled eight-round bout on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday..

Why he’s a prospect: Marroquin was an amateur standout who made it to the finals of the 2007 U.S. Olympic Trials where he lost to Gary Russell Jr. Marroquin has an amateur victory over Russell (now 8-0 as a pro) and as well as other former amateur stars who are now considered pro prospects, including Mexican standout Carlos Cuadras (14-0, 13 KOs), Ronny Rios (9-0, 4 KOs), Sammy DiPace (7-0, 4 KOs), Victor Valenzuela (7-0, 1 KO) and Derrick Wilson (5-1-1, 2 KOs). Marroquin is an aggressive southpaw boxer-puncher with solid technique and good instincts.

Why he’s a suspect: Like most young fighters gifted with power, he needs to improve his defense as he sometimes looks too hard for the knockout and gets into exchanges he shouldn’t.

Story lines: Marroquin’s a good-looking young man with a solid family and educational background. His promotional company, Top Rank, believes he can be developed into a bona fide attraction in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and eventually into a world titleholder. Ten fights into his career, Marroquin drew high praise from Top Rank’s hall-of-fame mantchmaker, Bruce Trampler, who likened him to a mini-Oscar De La Hoya.

“He's a kid who can box and who can hit,” Trampler said. “He’s bilingual and has a great attitude and a good education. He’s the complete package. We hope we have the same boxer as De La Hoya.”

While it’s doubtful Marroquin will come close to accomplishing all that De La Hoya has in and out of the ring, there’s one thing he might do that the Golden Boy never did -- get a college degree. Marroquin, who still lives at home with his parents, is a sophomore at Northland College in Dallas where he’s majoring in accounting with a minor in economics.

Lou Mesorana, Marroquin’s manager, says it’s not uncommon for the young man to be studying in his dressing room less than an hour before he enters the ring.

Fight-by-fight record

2008
Jan. 18 Genaro Castorena RTD 2
Feb. 29 Luis Angel Paneto TKO 2
July 11 Roberto Perez RTD 2
Sept. 5 Gino Escamilla UD 6
Dec. 6 Isaac Hidalgo TKO 1

2009
May 1 Julio Valadez KO 4
May 16 Robert DaLuz UD 6
June 19 Jose Garcia TKO 3
Aug. 29 Steven Johnson TKO 2
Oct. 17 Jose Bernal UD 6
Nov. 13 Anthony Napunyi TKO 3

2010
Feb. 6 Robert Guillen TKO 1

DALLAS -- Freddie Roach was bitter when his boxing career ended. The fearless brawler from the Boston area had worked tirelessly for much of his life to realize one goal –- win a world championship -– but, limited in natural talent, he came up short.

He was left with nothing when it was over, or so he thought. He worked as a telemarketer and by his own admission, “stayed drunk for about a year.” He had no intention of remaining in boxing in any capacity.

And then came that twist of fate that changes history. Virgil Hill, a stablemate at the gym of legendary trainer Eddie Futch in Las Vegas, asked Roach to work with him because Futch was too busy with Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and other big-name fighters.

About a year later, Hill won a world title with Roach in his corner and the career of one of the most-successful trainers ever was underway. Today, Roach can claim he’s trained an astounding 27 major titleholders, including his prize pupil -– Manny Pacquiao, who fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium.

“I found out I could be a better trainer than a fighter,” Roach said before Pacquiao worked out for the media in the trainer’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif. “I have Virgil Hill and Eddie Futch to thank for that. Eddie taught me the ropes and Virgil asked me to help him. It’s been a good ride ever since.”

Roach had extensive amateur experience and a good eight-year professional career under Futch, fighting on the fringes of the world rankings and facing such big-name foes as Bobby Chacon, Greg Haugen and Hector Camacho. He thrilled crowds with his reckless style and was successful, finishing with a record of 39-13 (15 knockouts).

His God-given talent didn’t quite equal his ferocity and impeccable conditioning, though. Thus, he never won that one big fight that might’ve led to a shot at a title. The result was a heart-breaking void that would never be completely filled.

Roach no longer feels the sting of that disappointment. He has too much for which to be grateful these days to live in the past. It still nags at him a bit, though.

“I’m a little bit bitter,” he said. “I put my whole life into something and didn’t get a shot at (a title). I don’t really dwell on that anymore. Helping fighters win world championships has replaced that for me a little bit. That helped a lot. I’m sure if I weren’t involved in boxing, it would bother me a little bit more.

“Only a few people can be world champions. I know that.”

Roach had to begin thinking about life after boxing even before he lost five of his final six fights for one reason: He was broke. He made $5,000 for his last fight but had borrowed $3,000 beforehand just to survive. He never made more than $7,500 for one night’s work, meaning he “lived fight by fight.”

He was a 26-year-old about-to-be-former boxer who and had no idea what he would do the rest of his life, which was a frightening thought.

“That’s probably why I was drinking so much,” he said. “The thing was that all the people who said, ‘When you retire, come and get a job with me,’ they were gone. They all said, ‘Well, things are kind of slow now.’ I learned that the old saying ‘you’re only as good as your last fight’ was the truest statement in the world. I thought maybe I’d end up dealing cards in Vegas or something like that, something I really didn’t want to do.

“I really didn’t know where I was headed.”

Roach actually thought of becoming an arborist, someone who manages the health of trees and plants. That’s what his father did and he had some training in the field. However, he decided for the time being to go a simpler route.

He began working shortly before the end of boxing career for his brother Joey, who owned a telemarketing firm in Las Vegas. He sat in an office with about 100 other telemarketers selling promotional items -– pens, key tags, coffee mugs, etc. -– to companies over the phone in four-hour shifts. At least that was the goal. He wasn’t very good at it, he admits.

Roach likes to quote Joey, who passed away last year: “He always said, ‘I could sell an ice box to an Eskimo but you couldn’t sell a tire to a guy with three flats.’”

It didn’t really matter. Roach had some fun as a telemarketer -- he said he got a kick out of the chaotic energy in the office –- but he knew this wasn’t his future, whatever it might be.

Then, in 1986, Hill approached him. The former silver medalist from the 1984 Olympics came from his hometown of Williston, N.D., to Las Vegas for the same reason Roach did, to work with Futch. But the great trainer had his hands full with other big-name fighters, the biggest being heavyweights Holmes and Spinks, and Hill wasn’t getting the attention he felt he needed.

Hill knew who to turn to. He had watched Roach train, watched him push himself to his limits to learn as much as possible and reach peak condition for every fight. Roach was always fully prepared, an attribute all his pupils now share.

“I used to run with Freddie back in the day, around the dunes in Las Vegas,” said Hill, who runs his own gym in New Jersey. “I saw how hard and how smart he trained. And I knew that he’d actually done it, he’d actually been in the ring and battled. That was important to me.

“I had all the confidence in the world in him. I’d seen him do everything he said.”

Roach had never trained another fighter but obviously absorbed the vast wisdom of Futch and assistant Thel Torrance, worked extremely hard and took naturally to teaching.

From the beginning, Hill said, Roach had the calm confidence of a veteran trainer -- even if he had some doubts in the beginning.

“When Virgil asked me, the first thing I said was, ‘I don’t know how to train people,” Roach said with a laugh. “Virgil had to give me lessons on how to catch punches. He learned as an amateur when he fought in Cuba. The Cubans do that well; they were ahead of us on that. Eddie used to have us hit the mitts but only one punch at a time, just for technique.

“Anyway, he talked me into it and I started working with him. A year later, when I was only 27, we won a world title. I really liked that. Since that point, my goal has been to make as many world champions as possible.”

Hill won a light heavyweight title –- a first for both fighter and trainer -– by stopping Leslie Stewart in four rounds on Sept. 5, 1987. Hill would go on to make 10 successful defenses of his belt and win four more belts in a career that undoubtedly will land him in the International Hall of Fame.

Roach went on to help build 26 more major titleholders and become the most-respected trainer in the world. He no longer has to borrow money to survive. And, even though he never realized his dream of winning a championship, he too will end up in the Hall of Fame.

The courageous battler has come a long way from telemarketing.

“It’s crazy,” said Roach, referring to his success. “I’ve had 27 world champions. My trainer, Eddie Futch, had something like 24. Eddie is the greatest trainer in the world. I never thought I’d come close to someone like that.

“It’s funny how things work out. First, Virgil asks me to help him when I wasn’t expecting it. Then, after I help develop these fighters, I build this gym and someone like Manny Pacquiao walks through the door looking for a trainer. Is it part luck? It sure is.

“I’ve been in the right place at the right time. Timing is everything in life.”


Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Devon Alexander’s eighth-round stoppage of Juan Urango was sensational enough to vault the 23-year-old St. Louis native from No. 4 to No. 2 in THE RING’s junior welterweight ratings.

Alexander (20-0, 13 knockouts) unified two 140-pound titles by beating the always dangerous Urango (22-3-1, 17 KOs), THE RING’s No. 6-rated junior welterweight going into Saturday’s fight that took place in Uncasville, Conn., and leapfrogged former champ Ricky Hatton and current beltholder Amir Khan in the magazine’s junior welterweight ratings.

“After Alexander handed Urango his first kayo loss, the only tough decision was whether he should be ranked No. 3 or bump Amir Khan out of the No. 2 position,” said Nigel Collins, Editor-in-Chief of THE RING magazine. “After comparing their records and reading the emails from THE RING Ratings Panel, we decided that Alexander’s emphatic victory over such a rugged contender was enough for him to edge out Khan, at least for the time being.”

Obviously, THE RING’s ratings committee is more impressed with Alexander’s TKO of Urango and his stoppage of former titleholder Junior Witter in his previous bout than Khan’s dominant decision over beltholder Andreas Kotelnik and his one-round blowout of unheralded Dmitriy Salita, and most fans would agree with that opinion.

Most fans would also agree that the best 140-pound fight that can be made right now is a showdown between Alexander and THE RING’s No. 1-rated junior welterweight Timothy Bradley.

If that fascinating matchup can be made this year most would assume THE RING’s junior welterweight title would be on the line, however, the magazine’s 140-pound championship is still held by Manny Pacquiao, who also holds a 147-pound belt, which he will attempt to defend against Joshua Clottey on Saturday.

Given that Pacquiao hasn’t defended the junior welterweight championship since he won it by knocking out Ricky Hatton last May, and most expect him to beat Clottey and stay at welterweight to face the winner of the Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather showdown, Collins recently asked the Filipino icon’s manager Mike Koncz if the fighter was considering vacating THE RING belt.

Koncz told that Collins that Pacquiao wanted to hold onto the 140-pound title because he “intended to defend it following his March 13 bout” with Clottey.

THE RING granted Pacquiao’s request to hold onto the title until after the Clottey fight but informed Koncz that if the two-division threat’s next fight was not a defense of THE RING junior welterweight title it would tantamount to relinquishing the belt.

Who knows what the future holds? Mosley and Mayweather could be tied up with a rematch of their first fight later in the year, which would leave Pacquiao without a welterweight dance partner and open the possibility of the pound-for-pound king’s return to the junior welterweight division.

The winner of a Bradley-Alexander fight would be the most worthy opponent for Pacquiao and among the champ’s most attractive 140-pound options along with a showdown with lightweight KO artist Edwin Valero.

But if Pacquiao doesn’t return to the 140-pound division and a Bradley-Alexander fight can be made there’s a good chance that THE RING’s Nos. 1 and 2-rated junior welterweight contenders will be fighting for the magazine’s title, which is the way it should be.

RING RATINS UPDATE

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHTS:

Alexander (No. 4 last week) jumps to No. 2 on the strength of his kayo of Urango (No. 6 last week), who falls to No. 7. Alexander’s advancement also pushes down Khan (No. 2 last week) and Hatton (No. 3 last week) one spot each, respectively. Marcos Maidana (No. 7 last week) replaces Urgano at No. 6.

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHTS:

Bernard Dunne (No. 5 last week) has retired and is, therefore, removed from the ratings. All 122-pounders rated below Dunne last week climb up one rung each, while Kohei Oba debuts at No. 10.