On June 14th of this year undefeated Jr. Welterweight
contender Chris Algieri, a fighter who was unbeaten in nineteen professional
fights entered the ring at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to
challenge WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov for Provodnikov’s
world championship. Despite coming into the fight unbeaten, Algieri was a
relative unknown outside of New York where he has garnered a significant
following.
It was no surprise to some that Algieri was considered an
underdog against Provodnikov, who was considered one of the sport’s hottest
rising stars. For those who considered Algieri a non-threat were nearly proven
right as Provodnikov knocked Algieri down twice in the first round and caused
severe swelling of Algieri’s right eye. Despite two knockdowns going against
him and an eye that would eventually swell shut as the fight progressed,
Algieri implemented his strategy using lateral movement to be an elusive target
for the champion and was consistently able to beat Provodnikov to the punch
throughout the fight.
Although Provodnikov landed the harder punches, it was
Algieri’s tactical strategy and overall greater activity that resulted in him
winning the fight via twelve round split decision to win his first world title
as a boxer. Even though Algieri was unknown to many prior to the Provodnikov
fight, the win over Provodnikov allowed Algieri to become a two sport world
champion after previously winning world titles in the Welterweight and Jr.
Middleweight divisions in Kickboxing.
With twenty wins and his first world title in professional
Boxing there was little doubt after his win over Provodnikov that Chris Algieri
had established himself as a force to be reckoned with. Algieri’s performance
in that fight has secured him the opportunity to challenge multi-division world
champion Manny Pacquiao in a fight for Pacquiao’s WBO Welterweight world title
on Saturday night in Macau, China.
Following Algieri’s win over Provodnikov I stated that
Algieri had gone from an underdog to a world champion and his ability to not
only overcome adversity, but his impressive performance against Provodnikov
would likely establish him as a rising star in the sport. For the recently
crowned Jr. Welterweight world champion however, he is once again cast in the
role of underdog.
It is after all understandable why many are considering
Manny Pacquiao a heavy favorite in this fight. Pacquiao has been on the sport’s
marquee stage for much of the last decade, has arguably been Boxing’s biggest
star, and sharing that status with multi-division world champion Floyd
Mayweather. There continues to be much debate as to whom is the best pound for
pound fighter in the world. Between the two however, Floyd Mayweather remains
undefeated.
This however, has changed somewhat as Pacquiao has gone 3-2
in his last five fights, after dropping a highly controversial split decision
to Timothy Bradley in June 2012 and suffering a brutal sixth round knockout
loss at the hands of archrival Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012. Pacquiao
was able to rebound fighting twice since the loss to Marquez in scoring a
convincing twelve round unanimous decisions over Brandon Rios in November of
last year, and regaining the WBO Welterweight world championship by defeating
Timothy Bradley in April of this year. Although Pacquiao’s status among the
sport’s mythical pound for pound ratings is likely a subject of much debate,
Pacquiao’s status as a superstar of the sport is still very apparent. Pacquiao
now prepares to defend his title against Algieri.
The key to this fight in my eyes will be whether or not
Algieri will be able to neutralize the speed and lateral movement of Manny
Pacquiao. Even though Algieri is a slick boxer and has good lateral movement
and quick hands, Manny Pacquiao is a fighter that has the ability to throw
punches from every conceivable angle and also has shown that he can throw
punches in anticipation of where his opponent will move. This along with his
speed and quickness has made Pacquiao an extremely difficult opponent.
It is important to remember however, that as overwhelming
and difficult to combat as Pacquiao has been throughout much of his career, he
has also been hit. This was demonstrated in Pacquiao’s fourth fight with Juan
Manuel Marquez. In a fight where Pacquiao seemed to have Marquez in trouble, it
was Marquez who brought the fight to a sudden and dramatic conclusion in
closing seconds of the sixth round. Pacquiao appeared to be potentially going
in for the finish only to be stopped by a sudden and flush right hand by
Marquez knocking him out cold on the canvas. While some may have the opinion
that Marquez hit Pacquiao with a “Lucky” punch, it was in actuality a perfectly
timed punch by a highly skilled boxer who simply was able to capitalize on an
opening that his opponent left him.
Although Algieri has only eight knockouts in his twenty
wins, he is a world-class boxer. It will be interesting to see if he takes the
role of counterpuncher in this fight and looks to capitalize on openings that
Pacquiao might leave him before letting his hands go, or if Algieri will use
his 5’10 height and seventy-two inch reach and attempt to keep the 5’6 1/2
Pacquiao who has a sixty-seven inch reach on the outside. This has proven to be
a difficult task to accomplish for previous Pacquiao opponents who were
naturally bigger and had longer reach.
It will however, be of equal interest to see whether
Pacquiao, who has not scored a knockout since stopping current WBC Middleweight
world champion Miguel Cotto for his first WBO Welterweight world championship
in 2009 will be looking to end this fight quickly. Pacquiao may be thinking that
Algieri having only stopped eight of his twenty previous opponents does not
have the power to hurt him. One must always remember that anything can happen
and Pacquiao should not take unnecessary chances.
What may be of more interest than either fighter’s
respective fight plans for this fight could be the potential of a fight with
Floyd Mayweather for Pacquiao should he retain his title on Saturday night.
Although there may be renewed interest in the potential clash between
Mayweather and Pacquiao, which has been speculated for several years, the
fighter who will stand across the ring from Pacquiao on Saturday night in Chris
Algieri is a fighter who has never lost a fight in either Kickboxing or Boxing
and who has a combined record of 40-0.
Despite the opinion of many that Chris Algieri is an
underdog heading into this fight, it is not a position that he is unfamiliar
being in. With the seemingly renewed interest in a Mayweather-Pacquiao clash
and with some treating this fight as a mere afterthought, all Chris Algieri has
to focus on is this fight and if Pacquiao and those around him have somehow
underestimated him, it could have severe consequences as to any potential fight
with Floyd Mayweather as well as the financial incentives that would come with
a fight of that magnitude.
The eyes of the Boxing world now turn to Macau, China where
Pacquiao will defend his WBO Welterweight world championship against WBO Jr.
Welterweight world champion Chris Algieri. We will see what happens on Saturday
night.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison
All Rights Reserved.
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