Manny Pacquiao is a heavy favorite against Chris Algieri, the WBO light welterweight champion who is moving up to 147 lbs. to fight for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight belt. Pacquiao's most recent comments about Algieri indicate he feels the big odds are justified.
"I saw his fight with Ruslan," Pacquiao said. "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."
Algieri believes his power is being underestimated
Algieri was knocked down twice in Round 1 of a June 14 fight against Ruslan Provodnikov, one of the hardest punchers in the 140-lb. division. While Algieri had nothing close to Provodnikov's power, and his eye was swollen shut from about the fourth round on, Algieri used footwork and a jab to box his way to victory.
Algieri believes he has advantages over Pacquiao that are being overlooked. "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 said. "Neither has Manny.
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"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. 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."
Pacquiao seems to believe Algieri's height will be the main factor that could pose a problem. "The biggest challenge for me is to fight another tall guy. I have to use my speed and footwork for this fight," said Pacquiao.
His trainer Freddie Roach, who also trained Provodnikov, thinks that the jab will be Algieri's best friend.
"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."
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