Top 5 welterweight contender Joshua Clottey will take on rugged Mexican Jose Luis Cruz in 10-round co-main event on Versus network Thursday night at 9PM ET. The Ghana native Clottey, 33-2 (19), now fights out of the Bronx, NY and will be making a home stand of sorts with this fight being held in Brooklyn.

Cruz, 34-3-2 (27), is an accomplished and durable fighter that has held his own against good fighters such as Shane Mosley, Sharmba Mitchell and Shamone Alvarez but was outboxed throughly by all three. Clottey’s last opponent was Shamone Alvarez whom he easily dominated for a 10-round decision win 3 months ago on Versus network. Clottey is a strong, fast and skillful boxer that has a wicked left hook. The 31-year old Josh Clottey is a boxer\puncher with great stamina, tight defense and a tremendous work ethic. Clottey is usually a good bet because he still is not a household name, yet he is consistent and  durable. Clottey’s only weakness is his susceptibility to hand injuries.

31-year old Jose Luis Cruz is a Mexican pressure fighter with a strong body attack and a great chin. Cruz however, is slow, hittable and really has no plan B if plan A is not working. Cruz has never been stopped in his 39 fight career but he has been increasing difficult making the 147 Lb. limit that this fight is scheduled at so he could be weakened come fight time. Both of these fighters are strong punchers with good chins so there should be some exciting exchanges for fight fans to appreciate leading up to the main event between Yuri Foreman vs Saul Roman. BodogLife.com. has Joshua Clottey as a -350 boxing betting favorite in Joshua Clottey vs Jose Luis Cruz

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