Pacquiao-Algieri has makings of a classic

Saying what he saw, Freddie Roach stated: “Chris Algieri has got a jab, that’s it.”

Going by the prefight script, Roach should be coming up with a loftier assessment of Algieri, who challenges for Manny Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight crown in Macau on Nov. 23.

That putdown by the Hall of Fame trainer, who has guided Pacquiao to supreme superstardom, will not in any way help sell the Pacquiao-Algieri fight, which at first blast was called a grave mistake on the part of Top Rank Inc., promotional agency handling the Macau championship.

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On the other hand, Tim Lane, who handles the unbeaten Algieri, reigning WBO junior welterweight titlist, spoke about Pacquiao in great awe.

Lane claimed that, after what had been said about Pacquiao slowing down or being perennially distracted, they still expect the best Pacquiao to report for the Macau showdown.

“He’s the best there is, so the best we can do is also be at our very best,” Lane said.

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So far, there has been no significant movement over the sportsbook windows since it was reported nearly two weeks ago that Algieri was an awful 14-1 underdog.

Top Rank big boss Bob Arum, unfazed,  seemed confident, however, they could readily go over the hump.

He’s in fact promised a full-scale sales offensive in key cities of the United States and Asia.

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It’s actually too early to predict how the WBO  welterweight title fight between Pacquiao, 35, and Algieri, 30, would shape up.

But a closer second look would bare that the Pacquiao-Algieri match, first thought of to be a budding mismatch, also has the makings of a classic.

No kidding. It could be a colorful and thrilling contest out there in Macau on Nov. 23.

This early assessment is anchored on the fact that the protagonists possess two distinctly different styles and upbringing.

Then, there’s an intriguing storyline based on this contrast which Top Rank hopes to exploit.

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Next: Why the possible classic

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(HE’S STILL HERE: Aris Bautista, movie actor and director, former Asian and national karate champion, turns 70 today. Aris says he’s coming up with a simple “coming out” party this afternoon if just to show friends who had forgotten him that he’s very much around. By his own account, Aris says he “bested favored opponents from Korea and Japan to bring honors to the Philippines, and to be later honored by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (1966-67) among the country’s top athletes together with Flash Elorde and Anthony Villanueva.” Keep punchin’, Direk.)