Veteran contender Joshua Clottey earned another world title shot with a unanimous twelve round decision over Shamone Alvarez Thursday night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The win makes Clottey the mandatory challenger for Kermit Cintron’s IBF welterweight title.

It was another workmanlike performance by the 30-year-old Ghanaian. Clottey pressed the action against the previously unbeaten southpaw, forsaking his jab in favor of power shots. The veteran made good use of his right hand lead, using it to close the distance before following up with hooks or body punches.

“I knew I was winning because my right hand was going in,” Clottey said.

Alvarez was able to out-hustle Clottey in spots, landing some clean body shots as Clottey’s high guard absorbed most of the punches upstairs. As the bout wore on, Clottey seized greater control, landing more effectively with the right. Official scores were 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113. Clottey, who won his third straight since losing a decision to Antonio Margarito last December, improves to 33-2(20) with 1 NC. Alvarez is now 19-1(11).

Clottey praised Alvarez as a “good fighter” who can “punch a little bit”. He also said he’d be willing to face Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, or Cintron in the future.

In the co-feature, heavyweight prospect Tye “Big Sky” Fields needed only 43 seconds to dispose of an overmatched Chris Koval in a scheduled ten rounder. The 6 foot 8 Fields came out pawing with the right jab before digging some lefts to the flabby Koval’s midsection. A left upstairs scored the bout’s first knockdown, before a pair of lefts to the body and head finished Koval off. Koval was wincing in pain from the final body shot. Fields is now 39-1(35), while Koval slips to 24-4(18).

UNDERCARD

Vanes Martirosyan KO1 Dan Wallace…Martirosyan, a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic squad, stayed busy with a one-punch stoppage of the previously 9-3 Wallace. A beauty of a right hand decked Wallace, who gamely beat the count before falling into referee Russell Mora. Official time was 1:34. Martirosyan improves to 17-0(12) with the victory.

Donnie Orr W6 Enrique Gallegos…Orr upped his record to 10-0(5) with a unanimous decision over the tough Gallegos. Official scores were 59-55, 60-54, and 59-54. Gallegos slips to 6-3(1).


Alex Mercado KO2 Frank Gutierrez...Local Alex Mercado upped his record to 3-0(3) with an exciting second round stoppage of Frank Gutierrez in the opener. The junior featherweight bout was scheduled for four. Mercado had a strong first round, mixing his combinations well to the body and head of Gutierrez, a southpaw out of Fontana, California. Moments after getting stunned by a Gutierrez left in the second, Mercado came back with a right that knocked Gutierrez flat on his back. Referee Russell Mora waved off the bout at the 2:21 mark. Gutierrez slips to 1-2-1(1).

Two other bouts rounded out the Top Rank card. Diego Magdaleno out-pointed Francisco Palacios in a four round lightweight bout. In a lightweight six rounder, Geoffrey Spruiel won a unanimous six round decision over Angel Flores.

The Clottey and Field bouts as well as some of the under card were televised on the Versus Network. Top Rank is scheduled to return to the Hard Rock on February 7, 2008.