Boxing: Pacquiao wins unanimous decision over Clottey

Manny Pacquiao dominated a strangely passive Joshua Clottey from the opening bell today to retain his WBO welterweight title.

With 50,994 fans - the biggest fight crowd in the US in 17 years - cheering him on at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Pacquiao made sure the result was never in doubt.

One ringside judge gave Pacquiao every round, while the two others gave him all but one. The Associated Press gave every round to the Filipino.

It wasn't as flashy as his knockout of Ricky Hatton or as savage as the beating he gave Oscar De La Hoya, but there was no doubt Pacquiao was in command the entire way against Clottey, who kept his gloves up high in front of his face, rarely risking a flurry. The Ghanaian's strategy got him to the final bell, but he was never competitive in the biggest fight of his career.

"He's a very tough opponent," Pacquiao said. "He was looking for a big shot."

Pacquiao was supposed to have been fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. instead of Clottey, but the megafight between two claimants on the title of world's best pound-for-pound fighter fell apart over a dispute over blood testing.

"I want that fight, the world wants that fight, but it's up to him," Pacquiao said.

That time won't come soon. Mayweather is fighting Shane Mosley on May 1, and the earliest the two could get together would be in the northern autumn and only if Mayweather backs off his demands for blood testing.

The fight this night was more of an event than a real competition, bringing in the biggest crowd in the US for a fight since Julio Cesar Chavez fought Pernell Whitaker at the Alamodome in 1993. It paid off handsomely for Pacquiao, though, who earned at least $US12 million.

Promoters not only sold out the 45,000 seats available for the bout, but added thousands more standing room passes for fans who could get a glimpse of the action and see every drop of sweat on the huge overhead screens.

"It's one of the most incredible stories not just in boxing but anywhere," promoter Bob Arum said. "Fourteen years ago he was sleeping in a cardboard shack in the Philippines and tonight he puts 51,000 people in this palace in Dallas."

The tone of the bout was set early, with Pacquiao advancing against his taller opponent and throwing punches with both hands from all angles. It was the same style that gave him spectacular wins in his past three fights and, though Clottey was clearly the bigger fighter, he rarely sought to use his reach advantage.

"Everything's working now," trainer Freddie Roach told Pacquiao after the third round. "It's easy."

Clottey's corner was urging him late in the fight to take some risks, but even in the final round when he needed a knockout to win, the Ghanaian only sparingly dropped his guard.

"You gotta take a chance," Clottey