By Chris Williams: Undefeated Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) isn’t known for his punching power. He’s only knocked out two opponent in his last 7 fights. However, Algieri believes he’s got the punching power to KO the 35-year-old Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) in their fight next month on November 22nd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, in Macao S.A.R., China.
Algieri thinks he’s got the power to send Pacquiao down. He’s not saying that he’s absolutely going to KO Pacquiao, but rather he has the power to knock him out if he lands with the right shot.
“If you can hit a man, you can hurt him. If you can hurt him, you can stop him,” Algieri said to the media. “I’ve had that mentality my entire career. I don’t care who I’m fighting. I think guys are underestimating my speed a little bit, but I don’t necessarily have to beat his speed or match his speed because timing beats speed. The reach difference. Manny has to start from farther away to hit me. I can hit him before he hits me.”
Algieri is right about Pacquiao having to start from farther away to land his shots. Pacquiao, 5’6”, is four inches shorter than the 5’10” Algieri, and he’s giving up 5 inches in reach.
That’s a significant reach advantage. We’re talking about a half foot in reach Pacquiao is giving up in this fight against a guy who is an expert at using his reach to his advantage.
This is fight where I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pacquiao’s face swollen up badly by Algieri’s jabs. Pacquiao won’t be able to stay on the outside, because he’s going to be running into Algieri’s jabs all night long. But when Pacquiao does attack, he’s going to be leaving himself open for a lot of shots while he’s lunging around.
Pacquiao likes to change angles constantly when he attacks, but against a tall guy like Algieri, Pacquiao will be seen from a mile away with his movements. By the time Pacquiao is in punching distance, he’ll have already been hit two or three times by Algieri. By then, Algieri will be gone and will have moved away.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pacquiao gets stopped on cuts in this fight rather than by getting outright stopped by a big shot from Algieri. I don’t think Algieri cares how he stops Pacquiao. He’ll be quite happy in stopping him on cuts just as much as he would if he knocked him out with a big right hand the way Juan Manuel Marquez did.
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