It wasn’t pretty, this Corrales first step up adventure into the den of welterweights - and the mega mistake was the selected opponent - Joshua Clottey, a transplant from Accra, Ghana was simply too big and strong for the gallant veteran of too many wars gone by.

The action was ongoing from start to finish - most of it waged up close and personal on the inside, with Clottey surprisingly the quicker getting off power hooks to the body, coupled with inside uppercuts and right hands.

Diego showed the usual heart as he’d fire back time and again with power punches as they exchanged combinations - but the damage would eventually take its toll on Corrales come the deep water.

Maybe Corrales claims numbers four and seven, but the rest belonged to Clottey who’d answer each two-punch combo, with three and four punch barrages of his own - round eight the handwriting showed on the wall with Corrales wobbled late in the stanza.

Then number nine and Corrales down and badly hurt - and clearly far behind in the scoring, the smart move would have been for referee Mike England to end what was no longer a competitive battle - but what we hear is "You wanna continue?"

Then the final candle, and Clottey teeing off with both hands - and a wearied, bloodied and swollen faced Corrales once again down - and instead of a stoppage, it’s idiot England in charge, with a point deduction to Corrales for spitting out the mouthpiece.

Then the bell, and no surprise in hearing Clottey the unanimous winner by scores of  100-87, 98-89, 97-90 - my unofficial agreed with Clottey 98-89 in points and 8-2 under round by round method.

Passing thoughts: My only prior peek at Clottey was back in December 2006 - a Antonio Margarito donnybrook - and I came away with a feeling this rock-solid chinned strong man from Ghana would be a tough chaw for any foe at welterweight.

With that in mind, I ask, was the Corrales brain trust out to lunch when agreeing to a Clottey fight for the maiden voyage - one that had dead end scribbled over it.

While we’re at it, where was the thinking, when failing to intervene and pull the plug between stanzas nine and ten, after seeing the yokel in charge missing all the vital signs.

Closing comments: This Mike England needs serious help on priorities when next successfully lobbying for the third man in charge role - a no-brainer that Corrales had zero chances of pulling off a closing stanza "Hail Mary" - not a prayer! The punching power gone … the jaw hinted of possible need for wiring … and the look in the eyes shouted for help. Trust me, he would have welcomed a TKO loss.

Commentator dept: Karyn Bryant is a sweet thing - but somebody needs whispering to the lady to shrink the questioning to a precious few - went on and on and on while saying nothing. Delaying Corrales who needed medical evaluation with repetitive game of musical chairs served no purpose.
                                   Normally, I enjoy the Albert-Bernstein duo at work - compatible - but Albert’s "de-ja vu all over again" was stale and not exactly on target when hinting the point deduction was good call. The swollen jaw, cut eye, and scoring not remotely close, the mouthpiece dislodging caper was more about survival than rules violation. The Bernstein comment Clottey looking for the KO in final round was bad one since Corrales still had puncher’s chance ala the Castillo fight, was out in left field somewhere.

GEL