Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday Nov 15, 2024
Tuesday, 26 August 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
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 23 November 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 to announce 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 okay,” 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.
Pacquiao’s Trainer Freddie Roach said he had concerns about Algieri’s height and reach - he is 5ft 10in (1.77m) compared to Pacquiao’s diminutive 5ft 6in - 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,” said Roach.
“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.” Pacquiao admitted the lithe, athletic Algieri would be a different prospect to the slower but durable Brandon Rios, whom ‘Pac-Man’ comprehensively outpointed in the same Cotai Arena venue last November.
“The biggest challenge for me is to fight another tall guy. I have to use my speed and footwork for this fight,” said Pacquiao.
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,” said the New Yorker. “Paid for it for the next 11-and-a-half rounds. Got a little too aggressive too early against a very dangerous guy.” Meanwhile Roach seemed a little worried by Pacquiao’s many distractions out of the ring -- he is a politician and congressman, and is also embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Philippine taxman.
And now the latest extra-curricular activity is becoming player-coach for expansion team Kia Motors in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
On Sunday Pacquiao, at 35, became the oldest player to be drafted in the PBA, when Kia picked him in 11th spot.
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.
“He’s always busy. I don’t think it’s a problem.” 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 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 23 November programme will be Ukraine’s WBO featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO) whose first defence of his title will be against another Thai, the highly-rated Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo who has only lost once in a 53-fight professional career.
