Algieri willing to battle Pacquiao at 140 or 147
CHRIS Algieri is so fired up to fight Manny Pacquiao that he doesn’t care if it’s going to be at 140 or 147 pounds.
“I could go either way. I could go at 140 or 147,” Algieri told Ring TV.com Wednesday. “Making 140 was not a problem. That didn’t hinder me. I can make the weight. I’m 30 years old and I’m not going to outgrow the weight class.”
Algieri weathered two first round knockdowns and nearly shut eyes to snatch the World Boxing Organization light welterweight (140 lb) crown from Ruslan Provodnikov recently.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, regained his WBO welterweight (147) title from Timothy Bradley on April 12.
“At the same time, I think that I have the height and reach at 147 and I’ve got a significant height and reach advantage on Manny anyway. So, at 147 or at 140, catchweight, it doesn’t make a difference.”
The New York-based Algieri, of Italian-Argentine descent, stands 5-foot-11 and has a reach of 72 inches while Pacquiao is 5-6 1/2 and has a 67-inch wingspan.
Even Algieri’s promoter, Joe De Guardia, is agog with the idea of his ward taking on Pacquiao on Nov. 23, the date reserved by Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, who underwent a right knee operation on Tuesday, in Macau.
“I’ve already begun conversations with Top Rank (Arum) about Pacquiao, and we’ll see where that leads. I think that when all is said and done, marketability-wise, Chris Algieri has proven himself to be a tremendously marketable fighter,” Guardia told RingTV.com in another interview. Roy Luarca
