By Jermill Pennington – In an uncharacteristic response Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) seemed to totally dismiss the accomplishments of his soon to be opponent Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) saying “so what if he has a master’s degree”. Judging this statement and its defensive nature the first thought that came to mind was if I didn’t know prior to reading the article and just read the statement, I would have bet the house that the statement was made by Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao, usually the perfect gentlemen to my recollection has never been one to engage in any type of trash talking. Then to be so dismissive of Algieri’s educational pursuit seemed to be a bit heavy handed to say the least. So why, why now are we seeing this side of Manny Pacquiao that we have never seen before.
During the fights promotional tour fans were able to see the interaction with the two fighters. When posing for pictures the two seemed to have fun with the height difference, even went as far as to mock the situation with Pacquiao standing on chairs.
We then learned later that during the tour the two had become real friends spending time together aside from the promotional obligations. Trainer Freddie Roach expressed his dislike of the budding friendship saying that he prefer Manny keep his distance. During HBO’S October 18th telecast featuring Gennady Golovkin Jim Lampley interviewed Chris Algieri in typical fashion to promote the upcoming ppv. Lampley asked Algieri about the seemingly friendly relationship he had developed with Pacquiao. Algieri went on to express how he and Pacquiao were both very competitive at many things outside the ring. Algieri talked about how he and Pacquiao had played one on one in a game of basketball and how he had dominated Pacquiao. He then went on to talk about all the other recreations that he had beaten Pacquiao in such as pool, ping-pong and darts. Algieri’s tone at the time to me was not one that made you feel like him saying he beat Pacquiao at these games meant nothing to him. Rather I got the impression that Algieri had gained confidence from these experiences. Could that have been the reason Roach preferred that Manny keep his distance?
As a man I think most men can agree the most fragile thing that we have is our ego. I like to fancy myself a decent ping-pong player. I always had a notion in mind that I would say to self “if you give a few chances I can figure out how to beat just about anyone”. Weeks later we got a ping-pong table at work for exercise. I started playing this guy who had brought his own paddles from home; there I knew I was in trouble. Long story short we played for over an hour a day for about two months and I never beat the guy once. To be totally honest it messed with my head. I would look over at him when we would be in office and think “why can’t I beat this guy”. Then an ill thought crept into mind “is he just better than me”. I remember it because it was a first, and I didn’t like the feeling.
That said when a man is younger than you, taller, better looking and more educated is it going too far to say that Chris Algieri may have gotten in the head of the great Manny Pacquiao? Pacquiao went as far as to bring up his honorary degree he had received; if that isn’t a reach I don’t know what is. May Pacquiao be getting the sense that this Algeri person just may be the guy that Arum wouldn’t mind replacing him with? Who knows, but one thing is sure, the ego of an adored man is fragile. What we heard from Pacquiao was out of character, will be interesting to see how this plays out.
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