Former IBF World Champion, Joshua Clottey, has admitted that his defeat to Manny Pacquiao was deliberate.
In 2010, the Ghanaian was beaten by the Filipino boxer at the Cowboys Stadium in the USA at a time when he seemed to be in the best time of his career.
Clottey was unlucky to have been on the losing end of the bout through a unanimous decision from the officials in the big-money fight.
The performance on the night was far from what boxing fans had seen from Clottey with many criticising his performance despite not suffering a knockout against Pacquiao, who had also been on the scene.
Speaking exclusively on Prime Take, which airs on Joy News, the Ghanaian revealed negotiations in the build-up to the fight with his manager led to him deliberately losing to his opponent.
“The manager [Vincent Scolpino] had already accepted $1 million as payment. I came in and negotiated $1.350 million. It was a fight I was supposed to get $2 million as the pay,” he told Muftawu Nabila Abdulai.
“The Pay-per-view was $100 for each viewer but he negotiated $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 fight I should leave so I had to take the fight. Meanwhile, the manager was making 33% profit from each pay-per-view income including the fight money.”
Adding to his earlier submission, the 45-year-old detailed his disappointment in not utilising the fight to make more money and expressed regret over his decision to heed the advice of his trainer for Scolpino to negotiate for him.
“I regret signing with that manager. I regret listening to the trainer but it made me strong not to allow anyone to negotiate on my behalf. I was supposed to make more money,” he continued.
“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% so I take 8% but he said no.”