QUALITY REPEAT Manny Pacquiao from the Philippines (R) defends against the punches of Joshua Clottey of Ghana (L) during their World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas on March 13, 2010. Filipino superstar Pacquiao easily defeated Clottey by unanimous 12-round decision to retain his WBO welterweight title. AFP PHOTO/Chris Cozzone (Photo by Chris Cozzone / AFP)

Joshua Clottey in his entire career has about 47 professional fights, winning 25 of them via kayos.

The Ghanaian boxer, who is revered for his blistering career, says 45 of those fights were not worth it.

“I fought only two fights to make money; Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao,” Clottey said on a Prime Take on the Joy News Channel with Muftawu Nabila Abdulai.

“The other fights,” he said, “was like $15,000, $20,000 and $30,000 and they will take 33 percent for the manager, 10 percent for the trainer and also take tax, you’ll pay the second trainer, you’ll pay cut man, so almost 50 percent of my money was taken by others so I ended up with nothing,” he revealed.

Clottey finally had a breakthrough after a fight with Richard Gutierez that lined him up against Miguel Cotto, a bout that earned him more than half a million dollars.

“[Miguel] Cotto fight was $750,000 and Pacquiao fight was $1.350 million and a pay-per-view.”

He claimed if not for those fights, he would have ended his career with nothing, but he was able to build and buy houses in East Legon and other parts of Accra.