PACQUIAO vs. ALGIERI
** In-Depth Preview and Analysis **
By: Tony Penecale
After a
disastrous 2012, Manny Pacquiao has seemed to right his ship. He rebounded from back-to-back losses, one
controversial to Timothy Bradley and the other devastating to Juan Manuel
Marquez. First, he took Brandon Rios to
school, dishing out a 12 round beating.
Then, he avenged the loss to Bradley, dominating him again and this time
getting the decision.
Until June
2014, Chris Algieri was virtually unknown.
He began his professional career in 2008 and had only 19 professional
bouts under his resume when he signed to take on “The Siberian Rocky” Ruslan
Provodnikov. Despite his opponent’s
nickname, it was Algieri that turned in a Rocky-esque performance, climbing off
the canvas twice in the first round and fighting through a grotesquely swollen
eye on his way winning a huge upset via unanimous decision.
Now
Algieri gets his shot at one of the most famous boxers of this generation, a
multiple-time world champion and icon in his native Philippines. Pacquiao is looking for an impressive
performance to intensify the long-overdue Mayweather talks, or sure
money-making showdowns with Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin. Algieri is looking to prove that he is the real
deal and vault himself as a true prime-time player.
When the
dust settles in Macao China, who will be the one with Money Mayweather in his
sights?
AGE, RECORD, AND
STATS
Pacquiao:
Age: 35 years old
Record: 56-5-2 (38 Knockouts)
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 145 ** Weight for last bout (04-12-14)
Reach: 67”
Algieri:
Age: 30 years old
Record: 20-0 (8 Knockouts)
Height:
5’10”
Weight: 140 *
* Weight for last bout (06-14-14)
Reach: 72”
RING
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Pacquiao:
WBC Flyweight Champion (’98-‘99)
IBF Super
Bantamweight Champion (’01-’03)
WBC Super
Featherweight Champion (’08)
WBC
Lightweight Champion (‘08)
IBO Junior Welterweight Champion
(’09)
WBO Welterweight Champion (’09-‘12)
WBO Welterweight Champion
(’14-Pres)
Ring Magazine Pound-4-Pound #1 Boxer (’08-‘12)
Ring
Magazine Pound-4-Pound #4 Boxer (Pres)
Algieri:
WBO Junior
Welterweight Champion (’14-Pres)
STYLE
Pacquiao:
Pacquiao
boxes from a southpaw stance, moving forward bobbing and feinting his way
in. Once in close, he uses his right
hand to find the range and then unleashes his powerful left, either straight or
looping, and will often double and triple it to the body and head. Uses quick head shifts to slip punches while
moving forward. Has soundly developed
under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, developing a decent right hook, either as
a lead punch or thrown behind the left.
Uses quick head shifts to slip punches while moving forward. Is no
longer the feared finisher he once was earlier in his career.
Algieri:
Algieri
is a tall, lanky boxer with long arms.
He is a pure boxer, utilizing his physical advantages. He is most comfortable controlling the range
and tempo, boxing from a distance, jabbing and setting up his combinations. He rarely sits down on his punches and
doesn’t generate much power. What he
lacks in power, he makes up in skill, discipline, and timing. His jab is his most consistent weapon,
followed by a long straight right hand.
He keeps his guard consistently high and uses his arms for his
defense. As with other tall fighters, he
is not great with head movement.
STRENGTHS
Pacquiao:
*
Unorthodox Style – Pacquiao is very unorthodox, even for a southpaw. He moves straight in but is hard to time with
his bobbing and head feints. Before most
opponents can time his onrushes, he is throwing whirlwind punches from a
variety of angles.
*
Speed – Pacquiao is fleet of foot and the owner of very fast hands, especially
for a boxer with such considerable power.
He quickly moves into position and fires rapid one-two combinations and
has expanded his arsenal to include blinding combinations of hooks, uppercuts,
and double or triple left hands.
*
Stamina – Pacquiao is always in tremendous shape and fights just as hard in the
last round as he does in the beginning.
He applies a lot of pressure and is constantly punching, wearing
opponents down in the process.
Algieri:
*
Heart – Don’t let his smile and youthful appearance fool you. Algieri has an abundance of heart and grit
and has shown the ability to fight back in difficult situations.
*
Boxing Ability – Algieri is a talented boxer who is well-schooled. He uses footwork and angles, boxing behind
his long jab. He is well versed in
controlling the tempo of the action and neutralizing his opponents.
*
Physical Advantages – Algieri’s physical advantages seem more than his 4”
height and 5” reach advantages. He uses
his long arm to keep opponents at bay.
WEAKNESSES
Pacquiao:
* Killer Instinct – Pacquiao was once regarded
as a ruthless buzzsaw, cutting through opponents until they succumbed. He has since lost that edge, failing to win a
fight by stoppage since 2009. More of a
concern is on several occasions, he eased up on outclassed opponents, allowing
them to survive the last few rounds.
*
Invincibility Gone – The controversial loss to Bradley did not deflate
Pacquiao’s aura of invincibility.
However, his crushing knockout loss to rival Marquez was a devastating
blow to Pacquiao’s mystique. Even with
his rematch victory over Bradley, he was seriously wobbled early in the bout.
*
Age – Pacquiao is no longer the phenom he was in his 20s. He is now in his mid-30s. As he has physically aged, he has also taken
on a super human schedule with political aspirations in his home country,
numerous personal appearances, and several difficult bouts.
Algieri:
*
Inexperience – Algieri has only been boxing professionally for six years with
only 20 fights under his belt. Only two
of his opponents have amassed more than 20 professional victories. He is taking a huge step in class in tangling
against Pacquiao who has been on a championship level for over a decade.
*
Skin Tissue – Algieri not only has a facial resemblance to Arturo Gatti, he
also seems to have the same paper mache skin tissue. The first few punches from Provodnikov caused
Algieri’s right eye to swell completely shut.
*
Power – Despite competing mostly against a lower level of opposition, Algieri
has only compiled knockouts in less than half of his victories. Only 8 of Algieri’s 20 opponents have failed
to see the final bell.
PREVIOUS BOUT
Pacquiao:
(04-12-12)
Pacquiao avenged his controversial 2012 split-decision loss against Timothy
Bradley. The bout was close early and Bradley
had moments of success but Pacquiao dominated the final six rounds, winning a
non-controversial unanimous decision.
Algieri:
(10-12-13)
Algieri rebounded from two 1st round knockdowns and a badly swollen
eye to outhustle and outpoint the favored Ruslan Provodnikov. While the Siberian fighter landed the harder
punches, it was Algieri’s superior skills and workrate the carried the tempo
and won him the
3 BEST PERFORMANCES
Pacquiao:
*
Oscar De la Hoya (12/06/08) – It’s hard to imagine now but the consensus at the
time was that De la Hoya would destroy the smaller Pacquiao in a
landslide. It was a landslide but it was
Pacquiao dishing out the beating, ripping De la Hoya apart with both
hands. After eight one-sided and brutal
rounds, a swollen and bloodied De la Hoya was beaten into permanent retirement.
*
Miguel Cotto (11/14/09) – Pacquiao impressively dismantled the larger and
physically imposing Cotto. Pacquiao
dropped the Puerto Rican superstar twice early and from the 6th round on, had
him in a defensive shell, battering him until the referee stopped the bout in
the 12th round.
*
Ricky Hatton (05/02/09) – Pacquio ran through Hatton in fast and destructive
fashion. Hatton, while still an
underdog, was expected to provide a challenge with his strength and mauling
tactics. Pacquiao unveiled an improved
right hook and had Hatton down twice in the 1st round before crushing him with
a devastating knockout in the 2nd.
Bradley:
*
Ruslan Provodnikov (10/12/13) – Algieri came into this bout as a heavy
underdog. After going down twice in the
opening round and having his eye closely resemble a spoiled grapefruit, it
looked like the oddsmakers were right.
But Algieri refused to cooperate and boxed his way back into the
bout. He boxed, moved, used angles, and
gradually took over, winning a split decision.
*
Emmanuel Taylor (02/14/14) – The ESPN2 victory over the once-beaten Taylor has
since become more impressive with Taylor’s spirited losing performance against Adrien
Broner. Algieri never let Taylor get
untracked and won a clear unanimous decision.
*
Mike Aranoutis (07/20/13) – Despite being on the downside of his career,
Aranoutis was a veteran of 34 fights and once a ranked contender. Algieri dominated the action winning nearly
every round on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
QUESTIONS
Pacquiao:
*
Can he regain the killer instinct of his prime?
*
Is he overlooking his opponent?
*
Will he struggle against Algieri’s boxing ability?
Algieri:
*
How will he react in the biggest moment of his career?
*
What will do if he falls behind on the cards?
*
Does he have the power to discourage Pacquiao?
PENECALE PREDICTION
The
crowd in Macao China will firmly be behind Pacquaio as the fighters are
introduced and Algieri will look tight and nervous during the final
instructions. Pacquiao will come out
quickly at the opening bell, moving his feet and feinting an attack. Algieri will stay on the outside but will
continually react to each feint. Pacquiao will step to his right behind a hook
and land a good left hand. Algieri will
counter with a double jab. Pacquaio will
move in, feint a right jab, before landing a left hand flush, knocking Algieri
to the seat of his pants. Algieri will
rise at the count of 4 and dance away, allowing the round to end without taking
any more punishment.
Algieri
will look to set the distance in the 2nd round, moving to his left,
and trying to establish his long jab.
Pacquiao will continue to advance, mostly behind his feints, hoping that
Algieri bites on one and lowers his guard.
Algieri will have some success until late in the round when he finds
himself against the ropes. As he tries
to move out to his left, he will be met with a right hook from Pacquaio and a
big left hand that will send him back sprawling to the mat. He will get up, looking dazed, and with a
nasty abrasion under his left eye.
Pacquiao will pounce and land a few more shots, causing Algieri to hold
on and survive until the round ends.
Pacquiao
will be out quickly to start the 3rd round and Algieri will
desperately try to curb his momentum.
Algieri will move laterally, not allowing Pacquiao to set his feet, and
he will hold each time his shorter adversary gets close. Without a stationary target in front of him,
Pacquiao will be forced to cut the ring off and throw single punches at
long-range.
Rounds 4-6
will offer more of the same. Algieri
simply does not have the firepower to keep Pacquiao at bay and his limited
experience in big-fight moments will cause him to wilt in the face of the
continuing pressure. By the end of the 6th
round, Algieri will be sporting severe swelling around his right eye, marked
abrasions around his left, and a constant flow of blood from his nose.
Like a
shark sensing blood, Pacquiao will attack with the sense of ferocity he last
showed against Miguel Cotto. He’ll
quickly pin Algieri to the ropes and unleash a two-fisted attack. Algieri will land a good right hand off the
ropes but it won’t have any affect in thwarting the relentless attack. Pacquiao will dig a left to the body that
causes Algieri to wince, followed by a left uppercut and another looping left
to the head. That will be enough for
referee Genaro Rodriguez, who will jump in and stop the fight at 1:15 of the 7th
round.
The winner
by TKO is Manny Pacquiao!!!!!
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