1. Locale. Even. Pacquiao will definitely have the huge Cowboys Stadium crowd behind him because he’s the main attraction of this event. However, in Cowboys Stadium, only Tony Romo and his teammates can really call this place home.
2. Hand Speed. Advantage Pacquiao. This is perhaps the biggest advantage that Pacquiao will have in the fight. It’s often his biggest advantage in most fights. When I stated earlier that Clottey "ain’t never seen anything like the Pac Man," hand speed is what I was referring to.
3. Ring Generalship. Advantage Pacquiao. Under the watchful eye of his excellent trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has improved leaps and bounds since his lighter (weight) days. He can fight at various speeds, fighting off the back foot or off the front foot. Clottey on the other hand is, at best, methodical, and at worst, plodding.
4. Competition. Advantage Pacquiao. Clottey’s resume of Carlos Baldomir (loss), Diego Corrales (win), Miguel Cotto (loss), Zab Judah (win) and Antonio Margarito (loss) is nothing to sneeze at. But Pacquiao’s victim list of Marco Antonio Barrera (twice), Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Erik Morales (twice) and Juan Manuel Marquez is the stuff legends are made of.
5. Power. Advantage Pacquiao. The biggest thing that has astounded me about Pacquiao is the fact that his power has been maintained as he’s moved up in weight. That will be put to the ultimate test against Clottey, who has never really been seriously hurt in the ring. We know that Pacquiao hits harder but what happens when he sees that he can’t hurt Clottey?
6. Conditioning. Advantage Pacquiao. Both men are always in tip-top shape. However, Clottey has shown a tendency to punch less down the home stretch of his biggest fights. Whether it be mental or physical, he gets fatigued somewhere.
7. Chin. Advantage Clottey. Not only does Clottey have a cast-iron chin but his "ear-muff" defense makes it hard to reach. If Clottey is seriously hurt by Pacquiao, I’d honestly be pretty surprised. I’m hyped to see how this sub-plot unfolds come fight night.
8. Footwork. Advantage Pacquiao. Clottey fights big. By that, I mean that he fights very deliberate behind a heavy, albeit under-utilized jab, and strong overhand right. Pacquiao bounces in and out, throwing powerful combinations from weird angles and positions. What stays solid is his foundation. 
9. Size/Strength. Advantage Clottey. When looking at Clottey’s chiseled frame, you wonder if he’s the one folks should be asking to undergo a battery of additional blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs. I’m kidding. However, Pacquiao better take the naturally bigger and stronger Clottey very seriously in two weeks.
10. Defense. Advantage Clottey. Defense wins championships, and Clottey has the edge in this all-important area. However, it can be a gift and a curse. As we have seen a few times before, Clottey often spends so much time in his shell that a turtle would be jealous. Not hitting and not being hit will not bring the title back to Ghana. You got that?

According to the Boxing Fight Predictor, all signs point towards a Manny Pacquiao rout of Joshua Clottey. I believe that Pacquiao will win but will be forced to go the distance against the always-tough Ghanaian. Clottey will have a few moments, but he simply does not punch enough to pull off the upset.

Manny Pacquiao should coast to a unanimous decision victory on March 13. Tell me what you think.

Here’s why.

Clottey recently lost to Miguel Cotto. The same Miguel Cotto who got beat down by Pacquiao last year. I know that it’s silly to compare how two fighters fared against a common opponent but Clottey’s performance against Cotto simply does not match up well with Pacquiao’s.

Clottey also has shown a reluctance to pull the trigger in his biggest fights. Maybe it’s an issue of physical fatigue. Or maybe it’s simply mental. Whatever it is, this gun-shy nature, especially late in his two fights against Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto, cost him a chance at victory in both fights. If he commits the same sin against Pac Man, he may not last 12 rounds for the first time in his career.

Yes, it appears that Clottey has no chance. But looks can be deceiving.

The Case for Joshua Clottey: Physical Strength

For the first time, Manny Pacquiao will be facing off against a full-blown, welterweight. Not a blown-up Ricky Hatton coming off a knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather. Not a weight-drained Oscar De La Hoya fighting at 147 for the first time in years.

In Clottey, Pacquiao will be facing the strongest boxer in his career. Talented, yet naturally smaller boxers like Diego Corrales and Zab Judah were unable to hold up against Clottey. Will Clottey’s strength have a similar impact on the Pac Man?

The Case for Joshua Clottey: El Dinamita

In case you didn’t know, "El Dinamita" is Juan Manuel Marquez’s fighting nickname. Simply put, Clottey better be studying film of Pacquiao’s epic wars with Marquez like an undergrad cramming for Sweet Science 101: A Lesson in Counter-Punching by Juan Manuel Marquez.

Clottey is a natural counter-puncher. Watching tapes of Marquez-Pacquiao may give him the clues that he needs to pass the considerable test that is the Pac Man.

The Case for Joshua Clottey: Manny Pacquiao

Will thoughts of his political career after boxing or of a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. later in the year cause Pacquiao to overlook Clottey? It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the Pac Man is looking past Clottey.

He’s accomplished just about everything in his career. What does a win against Joshua Clottey mean? If what I say is true, the always-in-shape Clottey may be primed for an upset.

What do you think?

Next week, I will state the case for Manny Pacquiao. Stay tuned.

Logic would dictate that the battle-tested and undefeated Abraham would have the advantage against the younger Dirrell, who is coming off the first loss of his career last year against Carl "the Cobra" Froch.

However, my gut tells me otherwise.

As you can see in the Boxing Fight Predictor snapshot above, I only give Dirrell clear advantages in the areas of hand speed, footwork and fight location.

But therein lies the rub.

I believe these three Dirrell advantages, especially fighting in front of a partisan American crowd, will be enough to trump anything that Abraham will bring to Rancho Village, California on March 6. In American football, the home team is always given three points before any odds are dropped. I’m giving Dirrell three points (speed, legs and location) before any punches are thrown.

Is Andre Dirrell fit to wear "King" Arthur Abraham’s crown in three weeks? It will take 12 awkward rounds to do it, but look for Andre Dirrell to escape via a close, unanimous decision.

But that’s the wrong opponent for the Pac Man if you ask me. As a matter of fact, the perfect opponent for Pacquiao is eerily similar to him in terms of power, reach, speed, stance and stature. And it may not be who you think.

Enter Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KOs)

Like the Pac Man, Valero has a high knockout percentage, has a "69-inch reach (actually two inches longer than Pacquiao’s), has extremely fast hands, is a southpaw, and stands close to 5′7." In many ways, he’s Pacquiao’s Venezuelan boxing twin. Therein lie the similarities.

However, the gulf that separates the two from meeting in the ring (i.e. in the United States) is as wide as the one surrounding Mexico. And that’s not just a geographical play on words. In fact, Valero is not even cleared to fight north of the border.

Valero has been denied a U.S. visa because of a drunk-driving charge in Texas. He also had a severe motorcycle accident in February 2001 that left him with a fractured skull and required surgery to remove a blood clot. He was later indefinitely banned from fighting in the United States after failing a physical in New York.

If you think making the Mayweather fight was difficult, how hard do you think it would be to make a Pacquiao fight against a fighter who is banned from fighting in the U.S., has hardly been seen on television by casual and die-hard fans alike, and is more dangerous than a power line falling into a lake? However, if Antonio Marga-cheato is re-licensed soon, I guess anything is possible.

Ironically, Edwin Valero’s nickname is Dinamita (which translates to dynamite in English), just like Manny Pacquiao’s arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez. Before he calls it quits, Pacquiao has to fight a Dinamita again, preferably the one we haven’t seen him against (Valero).  Pacquiao versus Valero would be the perfect antidote for a super fight gone awry.

Who would win between Manny Pacquiao and Edwin Valero?

– Lyrics from "Old Man River," performed by Paul Robeson 

The first verse of this classic African-American spiritual embodies the career of Glencoffe "The Road Warrior" Johnson (49-13-2, 33 KOs). This Road Warrior is nowhere near as popular as Mel Gibson’s Mad Max persona, but he’s been nearly as resilient over his 17-year career. And don’t let the 13 losses fool you. Probably only a handful were legitimate.

This Friday, the "41-years young" Johnson faces off against the much younger, 30-year old Yusaf Mack (28-2-2, 17 KOs) in an IBF title eliminator. But as Bernard Hopkins has proven, getting old in the 175 pound division is not necessarily a bad thing. Ironically, Mack, like Hopkins, is a tough Philadelphia fighter. And like Hopkins did nearly 13 years ago, Mack will be looking to lay a "not-so-Brotherly Love" beat-down on Johnson.

Mack has a problem though. He’s not Bernard Hopkins circa ‘97. Even worse, he’s facing Glen Johnson 2.0, an upgrade on its previous installation. Look for the "new Johnson" to use his familiar tactics of pressure and powerful right hands to wear Mack down on the way to a 10th round stoppage.

He keeps on rollin’ along … like old man river.