Robert Garcia: Algieri will have it difficult against Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 08/26/2014 - Comments

algieri79999By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Robert Garcia thinks that Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) is going to have a very difficult time trying to figure out how to beat WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) on November 22nd in their fight in Macao, China.

Garcia has a lot of respect for the talent of Pacquiao, and he feels that he still has a lot left in the tank at age 35. Garcia acknowledges that Pacquiao has something from his game from when he was at his peak in 2009, but he feels that he was so far above everyone else that he’s still exceptionally good.

“I like Chris Algieri and I wish him all the best, and I hope he does something good to pull it off,” Garcia said to esnewsreporting.com. “But it’s going to be very hard. But, hey, just the fact that he got that opportunity, and is making that kind of money.”

Algieri will be getting a reported $1.5 million purse for the fight, and he’ll likely be getting a little more from the pay-per-view upside, depending on his contract and how well the fight does on PPV. It’s not a fight card that is expected to bring in a lot of PPV buys. But the fight should bring at least 500,000 PPV buys at the minimum.

Algieri can help himself if he drops the nice guy persona and plays the villain for the build-up to the fight, because right now he’s just coming across as a good guy. That’s not going to sell, because Pacquiao is always the good guy too. Someone needs to be the villain for the fight to get the attention of boxing fans, and that’s not happening. Algieri is playing it nice and so is Pacquiao. If they both stay like this all the way up to the fight, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fight brings in only 400,000 PPV buys.

“Pacquiao is just unbelievably talented, strong and fast,” Garcia said. “Even though a lot of people say he’s not the same, he’s not the same as he was four years ago. But four years ago he was above all limits, but now he’s still great. He’s still fast.”

Pacquiao does seem to have lost a lot from his game in terms of hand speed, but it might not matter because he’s not facing a top fighter at 147. Algieri is moving up in weight from the light welterweight division to fight him at 144 pound catch-weight. If Pacquiao was fighting a good welterweight like Keith Thurman, then this could be a problem for him. The area where Pacquiao seems to be vulnerable is taking head shots. Tim Bradley, a light puncher, staggered Pacquiao last April. In 2012, Pacquiao was knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez. I believe that Pacquiao’s punch resistance has deteriorated recently, but Algieri probably doesn’t have the power to bring that out.



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