By Chris Williams: Unbeaten Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) has dominated Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) in the four sports they completed in while on their press tour. Algieri sees their November 22nd fight this month as being more of a continuation of that, as he feels he’s a better athlete than Pacquiao.
Algieri beat Pacquiao in basketball, bowing, pool and batting practice. Being a better fighter than Pacquiao in four separate sports says a lot about Algieri. It tells you that he’s the better athlete and it also suggests that he has the better IQ, because it takes intelligence to beat your opponent in so many different sports. Whether Algieri’s superior talent in those sports will transfer over to boxing is the big question.
Pacquiao’s number 1 sport has always been boxing, and he’s not considered a great player at basketball.
“We played pool; we bowled, then we had batting practice, then we went to ESPN Deportes,” Algieri said via RingTV.com.”They had a basketball shooting game, ‘Pop-a-Shot,’” said Algieri. “I did, yes,” he said when asked if he beaten Pacquiao in all four sports.
Getting the better of Pacquiao in so many different sports could have the effect on unnerving him for his fight against Algieri on November 22. If Pacquiao is already so accustomed to getting whipped by Algieri in so many different sports, we could see him mentally fold once the going gets tough in their fight in Macau, China.
Algieri isn’t going to be standing there making it easy for Pacquiao like his last two opponents Brandon Rios and Tim Bradley did. Algieri is going to be boxing, moving, jabbing and using his superior size advantage over the 5’6” Pacquiao.
“I think I bring a lot of energy and combinations and punches every single round. Even when I’m not throwing, I am moving my upper body. I’m moving my feet,” Algieri said. “I’m moving my head; I am changing levels – all those things are important and they count and they are a part of boxing.”
Algieri believes his activity level will give Pacquiao a lot of problems, because he’s going to make the 35-year-old Filipino fighter use his short legs for three minutes of every round in order to tire him out. We’ve seen Pacquiao suffer leg cramps in the past when forced to use his legs a lot, and we could see the same thing in this fight.
Comments are closed.