If Not Mayweather, Maybe Marquez?

By Michael Vena - 11/26/2014 - Comments

Yannis Mihanos: Last Saturday night we saw a very skilful display of boxing by Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao came to this fight with a lot to prove, some of his critics had previously refered to him as a tired veteran, but all these rumours got silenced during the fight.

Pacman was in sparkling form, crisp, sharp in his movements and athletic as always… aggressive enough to knock Algieri out many times. I do believe that the old Pacquiao would have stopped Algieri right after the 9th round but it is the new more humble side of Pacquiao that didn’t let him to finish what he started and let Algieri instead regroup and continue until the end of the fight.

Don’t get me wrong, Pacquiao for most of the fight meant business, he was aggressive and absolutely deserved to win. He delivered. Algieri on the other hand was clearly in deep water for this fight, becoming a title holder and challenge a living legend wasn’t to be an easy task for him. I was also stunned listening to his coach during each break encouraging to go along with the plan. Which fight was Lane watching anyway?

Algieri and his team had watched Pacquiao ‘s previous defeat over the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez. That fight was brutally stopped after a devastating punch by Marquez. Did the coach expect from Algieri to do the same? Maybe… it was easier said than done. Algieri had not enough punching power to produce anything like that, not even close…I must though take my hat off to Algieri for his fighting spirit, willing to continue when there was no hope left. So now that Algieri is out of the picture I hope Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions will better make some serious choices for the next time.

I think the next choice apart the obvious (Mayweather) is another obvious: Pacquiao to fight Marquez. A fifth fight with him next March or April is what most of fight fans want to watch and has all the ingredients to be a commercial success.



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