Pacquiao dismisses US foe as merely an ‘OK’ fighter

WBO Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, left, and WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri of United States pose for photographers during a news conference in Macau, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014. The boxers are scheduled to battle in WBO welterweight title match at The Venetian Macao on Nov. 23 in Macau. AP PHOTO/VINCENT YU

MACAU—Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao on Monday dismissed his next opponent, undefeated American Chris Algieri, as merely an “OK” fighter as the buildup began to their upcoming contest.

Pacquiao (56-5-2) will put his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title on the line against 30-year-old former kickboxer Algieri (20-0) on Nov. 23 when the Filipino icon returns for his second fight in the southern Chinese gambling haven of Macau.

Algieri seized the WBO light welterweight title in a big upset against the tough Russian Ruslan Provodnikov in a controversial split decision in June.

But Pacquiao clearly does not feel his opponent can cause another shock.

“I saw his fight with Ruslan,” Pacquiao told reporters at a press conference announcing the November card. “He took a lot of bad punches from Ruslan but he’s tough.”

“He can box. I’m not saying he’s really good but he’s not bad. He’s OK,” Pacquiao added.

Pacquiao and Algieri were in Macau for the first stop in a whirlwind six-city promotional tour that will move on to Shanghai, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.

Algieri, who is of Italian and Argentinian origin, comes from a middle-class family. A former world kickboxing champion who began kickboxing at 16, he has a bachelor’s degree in healthcare science and a master’s degree in clinical nutrition.

Biggest problem

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said he had concerns about Algieri’s height and reach—he is 1.77 meters (5 feet 10 inches) compared to Pacquiao’s diminutive 1.71 meters (5 feet 6 inches)—but about little else, believing that Provodnikov had beaten the New Yorker in June.

“It surprised me because I actually think Ruslan won that fight. (Algieri) got beat up a little bit,” Roach said.

“Algieri has a good reach advantage and we’re going to have to get past that and his jab. That will be our biggest problem. We have ways to do that,” he added.

Tall order for Pacquiao

Pacquiao admitted the lithe, athletic Algieri would be a different prospect to the slower but durable Brandon Rios, whom Pacman comprehensively outpointed in the same Cotai Arena venue in November last year.

“The biggest challenge for me is to fight another tall guy. I have to use my speed and footwork for this fight,” Pacquiao said.

Algieri admitted he blundered in getting caught early in the fight against the Russian, but said he would learn from it.

“First round, I made a mistake,” the New Yorker said. “Paid for it for the next 11-and-a-half rounds. Got a little too aggressive too early against a very dangerous guy.”

Many distractions

Roach seemed a little worried by Pacquiao’s many distractions out of the ring—he is a politician and a congressman, and is also embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Philippine taxman.

And now the latest extracurricular activity is becoming player-coach for expansion team Kia Motors in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

On Sunday, the 35-year-old Pacquiao became the oldest player to be drafted in the PBA, when Kia picked him in 11th spot.

Always busy

Roach said he just had to accept the situation. But when it came to the serious end of training for the next fight, he had made a deal with the hoops-mad Pacquiao.

“We came to an agreement that four weeks before a fight he will stop playing because of injuries. We negotiated that deal a long time ago,” Roach said.

“He’s always busy. I don’t think it’s a problem,” he said.

Big step

Double Olympic gold medallist Zou Shiming will take a big step along the path to becoming China’s first professional boxing world champion when he fights a final eliminator for the WBO flyweight title on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Algieri fight, promoter Bob Arum announced on Monday.

Zou (5-0) will fight over 12 rounds for the first time against Thailand’s Kwanpichit 13 Rien Express (27-0-2), with the winner earning a February world title shot.

Also on the Nov. 23 program will be Ukraine’s WBO featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO) whose first defense of his title will be against another Thai, the highly rated Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, who has lost only once in a 53-fight professional career.

Originally posted: 1:45 pm | Monday, August 25th, 2014

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