Manny Pacquiao's next fight against Chris Algieri raised eyebrows when it was made, since Algieri is moving up a weight class and is a relative unknown outside his loud Long Island fan base. Randall Bailey, a former two-division champ, added his voice to the chorus of people believing the bout is a mismatch.
"It's just a fight for Pacquiao. The guy has limited skills," Bailey said. "He's not in the same level and does not belong in the same ring."
Algieri won the biggest fight of his career in June, when he upset WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan "The Siberian Rocky" Provodnikov at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He was knocked down twice in the first round, but rallied to a split decision victory by darting in and out of danger while landing clean, quick shots. Provodnikov landed the harder blows, but Algieri's output and ring generalship carried the day.
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While Pacquiao's slowed down a bit-he hasn't scored a knockout since 2009-Bailey thinks he has plenty left to beat Algieri on November 22.
"He's been in a lot of tough fights. It's just a matter of time before his body wears down from all the training, press cons and build ups. Algieri is no Antonio Margarito nor Timothy Bradley. The fight is made for Pacquiao."
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Algieri disagrees however, pointing out that despite moving up in weight he is one of the larger foes Pacquiao will have fought.
"I said before the Ruslan fight that he's never fought someone like me -- someone who's long, tall, strong and athletic with good boxing skills," Algieri told media in Long Island. "Neither has Manny."
He continued, mentioning Pacquiao's advancing age. "Manny has a lot of fights and a lot of experience, but the string of guys he's fought over the last five, six, seven, eight years are all the same kind of guys," Algieri said.
"I do believe my style is a problem for him. And he'll be 36 [in December]. It's tough to learn a new style or to deal with something you're not accustomed to, which I wholeheartedly will bring to the table."
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