By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) says he has no concerns about the big height and reach advantage of his 5’10” opponent Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) going into their fight in two months from now on November 22nd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
Pacquiao, 5’6,” will be giving up 4” in height and close to 6” in reach to Algieri. If that’s not a huge disadvantage for the 35-year-old Pacquiao than I don’t what is.
Pacquiao says he’s fought taller fighters in the past, but it’s been a long, long time since that happened and that was when he was fighting a short Antonio Margarito and shot Oscar De La Hoya.
Algieri isn’t shot, and Pacquiao isn’t the young fighter that defeat Margarito and De La Hoya.
“Algieri’s bigger and taller than me, and he’s a champion and with an unbeaten record,” Pacquiao said to Steve Kim of UCN. “I know what I’m going to do in training and in the fight. It’s not the first time I’m fighting a taller fighter,” Pacquiao said.
It might not be the first time that Pacquiao has fought a taller fighter, but it’s the first time that he’s fought a taller fighter while at the age of 35 and with a questionable chin after his knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
You’ve got to throw out Pacquiao’s wins over tall fighters in the past because that was a whole different reality. Pacquiao was younger then, much younger, and he hadn’t been knocked out viciously before those fights took place. Besides that, Pacquiao had those guys at the very end of their careers. Pacquiao didn’t fight the De La Hoya that beat Julio Cesar Chavez Sr twice or the Margarito that stopped Miguel Cotto in the 11th round in 2008.
When asked if he’s interested in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr, Pacquiao said “I think that question is for Floyd. As I said, my phone is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if he wants to fight me.”
If Pacquiao keeps winning his fights then there’s a possibility that he could fight Mayweather in the future, but it’s still too early to tell right now whether that fight will ever happen. Pacquiao needs to avenge his loss to Marquez and pick up some solid wins over Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to increase his chances of getting a Mayweather fight.
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