Pacquiao says Algieri is his most dangerous opponent

By Raj Parmar - 08/25/2014 - Comments

algieri52By Raj Parmar: On November 22, Manny Pacquiao (58-5-2, 38 KO’s) will defend his WBO welterweight title against Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KO’s) at the Venetian Resort Hotel in Macao China. Algieri came off the canvas to defeat Ruslan Provodnikov for the WBO light welterweight title in his last fight and will be moving up in weight to try to achieve a world title in a second weight class.

A pre-fight media tour was kicked off today in Macao to promote the fight and there were many praises for the undefeated American from Pacquiao as well as promoter Bob Arum. Manny feels that Algieri presents a great risk to his championship status and that he will need to work extremely hard to remain a world champion on November 22.

“Chris Algieri fought an exceptional fight in June to win the world title from Ruslan Provodnikov. I am impressed and intrigued by his scientific approach to training and boxing. He may be the smartest and the fittest athlete I have ever faced and that makes him the most dangerous,” Pacquiao stated at the press conference via toprank.com, “I worked hard to reclaim my welterweight title and I will work harder to make sure I keep it on November 22.”

Algieri may indeed be one of the most book-smart fighters in the sport, as he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Management and a Masters Degree in Clinical Nutrition. Credentials like these are not very common among world class fighters and it will be interesting to see if his in-depth knowledge on how the body functions will enable him to unseat an eight-division world champion and one of the most dominating figures the sport has seen in recent times.

For his part, promoter Bob Arum is very confident Algieri can hold his own against Manny. The Filipino champion obviously presents a very unique combination of speed and power inside the ring however Arum feel Algieri’s quick accurate punches can make life very difficult for Pacquiao.

“The battle between the two world champions will be a fantastic fight. Manny’s non-stop attack style will be challenged by Algieri’s laser-like punching,” Arum stated.

The one person not very impressed with Algieri is Manny’s trainer Freddie Roach, who trained Provodnikov when Algieri took the title. Roach admits he underestimated Algieri however he feels Algieri runs too much and that Pacquiao will no doubt at one point in the fight find and hurt him.

“I underestimated Algieri when he faced Ruslan Provodnikov in June but I won’t make that mistake again. I hope he understands that this is a fight and not a marathon,” Roach said, “Algieri is going to face the best of Manny Pacquiao because Manny is going to have his toughest training camp ever. I am looking forward to a great fight and Manny’s finest hour on November 22.”



Comments are closed.