Pacquiao outclasses rival in title bout

Chris Algieri of the US sits on the canvas after being knocked down by Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines during their World Boxing Organization welterweight title bout at the Cotai Arena in Macau on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014. AFP PHOTO/XAUME OLLEROS

MACAU—There was no knockout, only an abundance of knockdowns for Manny Pacquiao.

Though he sent Chris Algieri to the canvas six times, Pacquiao was unable to finish off the New Yorker and settled for a lopsided unanimous decision to keep his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown at the packed Cotai Arena of The Venetian Macao on Sunday.

Exhibiting a boxing clinic before 13,202 fans—about 90 percent of them Filipinos—Pacquiao peppered Algieri with stinging punches and combinations from start to finish en route to his 57th win against six losses and two draws.

After the final bell, however, a louder sound reverberated: Pacquiao called on Floyd Mayweather Jr. to sign up and fight him.

“It’s time to step up and say ‘yes,’” Pacquiao said during the post-fight conference. “The fans deserve that fight…. I am ready to fight him next year.”

‘I want that fight’

In outclassing Algieri, Pacquiao might have boosted his stock enough to entice Mayweather into the ring finally.

“I really want that fight,” Pacquiao said.

The Filipino superstar first felled a retreating Algieri in the second round with a 1-2-3 flurry capped by a right. The second and third knockdowns came in the sixth, again through combinations that pierced Algieri’s defense.

In the ninth round, Pacquiao caught Algieri with a left cross to put the American down again. Moving in for the kill, Pacquiao unleashed body blows that brought the American to his knees.

He was trying to finish off his outclassed foe when the bell rang.

A left uppercut sent Algieri tumbling in the 10th round, but true to his reputation as a gutsy fighter, the erstwhile unbeaten former kickboxer was back on his feet in no time.

‘Great fighter’

In the last two rounds, Pacquiao tried to nail Algieri for good. Shaken and slightly bruised, Algieri survived the onslaughts, enabling him to keep his WBO light welterweight title.

But his 20-win unbeaten run had ended.

“I lost to a great fighter,” Algieri said. “It wasn’t just the hand speed but the way he put together the punches. He has that unique style that he has perfected.”

“He hurt me once when he buzzed me with a left hook,” Algieri also said. “But that was the only time.”

American judge Michael Pernick gave Pacquiao a shutout, 120-102, while Patrick Morley and Levi Martinez, also both Americans, gave Algieri a round each for 119-103 counts.

It was Pacquiao’s second straight win at this gambling haven. Last year, the fighting congressman from Sarangani province pounded out a one-sided victory over another American, Brandon Rios.

Pacquiao, who predicted a quick victory over Algieri on the eve of the fight, tried hard to score his first knockout in five years.

Showing enhanced punching power after concentrating more on the heavy bag during training, he made Algieri duck and cringe whenever he rushed in to attack.

Algieri’s five-inch reach advantage was never a factor as Pacquiao proved too fast and elusive for his opponent’s stiff jabs.

In and out

Those jabs were effective against Ruslan Provodnikov but hardly worked against Pacquiao, who darted in and out, moving side to side, while endlessly searching for openings.

Algieri, who is of Italian and Argentine descent, was frustrated that he could not disrupt Pacquiao’s rhythm. The Filipino superstar, who was four inches shorter, dictated the course of the fight.

With the outcome beyond doubt, Algieri went to Pacquiao as soon as the 12-round bout had ended.

Pacquiao then approached Tim Lane and Keith Trimble, Algieri’s trainers, to shake their hands.

Dream fight

As the curtains lowered on the “Clash in Cotai II,” boxing pundits said it was time for Pacquiao and his promoter, Top Rank chief Bob Arum, to pursue the dream fight with Mayweather.

Arum echoed Pacquiao’s challenge to Mayweather.

“The fight has to happen. No excuses. I’m holding my phone, Manny is holding his phone,” Arum said.

The attendance surpassed the 13,101 fans who watched the Pacquiao-Rios fight and seemed to indicate that pay-per-view (PPV) hits would top 500,000.

Knowing that Algieri had encountered a problem making the weight—he weighed 68 kilograms (148 pounds) on Friday over the catchweight for the fight of 65.3 kgs (144 pounds)—Pacquiao concentrated on body blows that took the snap and bounce on Algieri’s legs.

Algieri, whose eyes were reduced to slits in the Provodnikov fight, was lucky to escape with bruised cheeks this time.

Compubox statitistics showed Pacquiao unloaded 669 punches, landing 229 for a conversion rate of 34 percent. The usually accurate Algieri fired 469 shots, but connected only 108 for 29 percent.

The difference was even more glaring in power punches as Pacquiao made 187 of 410 for a hefty 46 percent conversion against Algieri’s 80 of 212 (38 percent).

Before the bout, Pacquiao was visited in his dressing room by Sylvester Stallone of the “Rocky” and “Rambo” series movie fame and Arnold Schwarzengger, star of the “Terminator” films.

Pacquiao prayed in his corner while waiting for the decision. But it was Algieri who never had a prayer.

Could run but not hide

Pacquiao chased Algieri from the opening bell. About the only thing he didn’t get was his first knockout in five years.

He went into the fight saying he needed a power win to entice Mayweather to fight him. He vowed to put on a performance like some of his earlier fights and did, never letting Algieri get close.

Some of the sold-out crowd may have wondered whether Algieri deserved this fight, as he spent more time trying to stay away from the Filipino than trading punches.

But while Algieri could run, he couldn’t hide. Pacquiao caught him repeatedly with power punches.

“The master boxer was given a master class by professor Pacquiao tonight,” trainer Freddie Roach said. “I was disappointed in Algieri’s performance tonight. All he did was run.”

By the end of the fourth round, Pacquiao had already thrown more than 100 more punches than Algieri. And Algieri rarely stopped to set his feet to punch, and kept trying to run away from the champion’s punching power.

Unfortunately for Algieri, things went from bad to worse.

“I’m satisfied with the result,” said Pacquiao. “I did my best. I was trying for a knockout but he was fast and keeps moving.”

The victory will inevitably heighten calls for him to face the unbeaten Mayweather in what could be the first billion-dollar fight in history.–With wires

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