Despite a November 22 bout with Chris Algieri fast approaching, Manny Pacquiao appears more concerned with a potential Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight down the line.
"Hopefully that fight will happen by next year," Pacquiao said. "I'm crossing my fingers that that fight will happen but right now my mind is already set to focus on my next fight with Algieri. I think the time to talk about that issue is after the fight."
Despite some signs to the contrary, such as frequently discussing Mayweather and playing pro basketball in the Philippines during training camp, Pacquiao insists he isn't taking Algieri for granted. Algieri is the WBO junior welterweight champion, and despite big height and reach advantages has never fought above 140 pounds.
"We are not taking him lightly for this fight and we are training hard for this fight because of what he proved in the Ruslan [Provodnikov] fight," Pacquiao said on a conference call.
Later in the chat Pacquiao said he won't focus on getting a knockout, despite Algieri coming up in weight. Pacquiao hasn't scored a knockout victory since 2009, and may need to be impressive to earn a fight with Mayweather in 2015.
"We cannot go into the fight thinking about the knockout. A knockout will not change the result of the fight as long as we get the win. What we are trying to do right now is to get the focus in training and for the fight that people want to see. Chris Algieri is a very dangerous fighter and we are taking nothing for granted in this training camp," Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao's discussion of a Mayweather fight runs contrary to comments made by his trainer Freddie Roach, who said Pacquiao may move to junior welterweight following the Algieri bout. Roach also said they imposed the 144-pound catchweight on this bout to test Pacquiao's effectiveness at a lighter weight.
Danny Garcia's name has been thrown out by Roach, and he's the biggest name at the 140-pound division. Mayweather has titles at welterweight and junior middleweight, so a 140-pound clash seems unlikely.
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