One-dimensional? Pacquiao a 'good technician,' says ex-champ

So who says Manny Pacquiao is just a one-dimensional fighter? Certainly not former International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-featherweight champion Stevie Forbes, who himself has sparred with the Pacman.

“He [Pacquiao] is a lot better technically than people would give him credit for," said Forbes on his final day in training camp at the famed Wild Card gym in Los Angeles. “I mean he’s been demolishing guys so it’s hard to gauge. You always saw him as a brawler, but he’s not. He’s a technician. A good, skilled technician that gets better each time out," said Forbes of the current pound-for-pound king, who boasts of a ring record of 50-3, with 38 KOs. Forbes, a finalist in the popular ESPN reality show The Contender, Season 2, is one of six sparring partners brought in by Freddie Roach to get Pacquiao in shape for his March 13 face-off with Clottey at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Other than him, also sparring with Pacquiao for a total of 142 rounds in training camp were Dave Rodela, Ray Beltran, Shawn Porter, Jose Benavidez and Clottey’s countryman Abdullay Amidu. Forbes (34-7, 10 KOs) won the IBF super-featherweight belt with an eighth-round technical knockout of John Brown 10 years ago. After making a successful title defense against Brown in a rematch, he eventually lost the crown when he failed to make the weight in his bout against David Santos. 'Golden Boy' opponent Forbes would get his biggest break in 2008 during his the post-Contender stint when he fought ring legend Oscar De La Hoya and lost a one-sided unanimous decision. De La Hoya used that fight against Forbes as tuneup for his December 2008 showdown with Pacquiao. When asked about the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, Forbes didn’t think twice whom he thinks will emerge victorious. “Clottey is a tough guy, but I just see him being overwhelmed by too many punches, too many angles, too much speed and placement of punches," he said. One thing is going for the challenger from Ghana, though. “He’ll be going to be noted in this fight as being super-tough, with the number of shots he’ll be taking, because I just see Manny overwhelming him with activity, speed, punching power and precision," Forbes added. - GMANews.TV