I deliberately lost to Manny Pacquiao – Joshua Clottey

Former IBF champion Joshua Clottey has admitted that he tricked his manager and purposefully lost his bout against Manny Pacquiao in 2010.

Thirteen (13) years ago, the Ghanaian boxer battled Pacquiao in one of the biggest battles of his career.

Clottey eventually lost the fight by unanimous decision after employing a defensive strategy and failed to entertain the audience.

Many conspiracy theories dominated the aftermath of the fight, with some even saying the 45-year-old ruined the battle.

Clottey has now said that he purposefully “blew up” the fight versus Pacquiao because his manager tricked him and forced him to earn less money from the fight.

“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.”

“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,”

Clottey has a 47-fight record, with five losses and 41 victories, 24 of which were by knockout.