Chris Algieri wants to shock the world for a second time when he meets Manny Pacquiao Nov. 22 at The Venetian Macao and do so in convincing fashion.
Algieri, who beat the heavily favored Ruslan Provodnikov in June to earn his shot at Pacman, wants says he plans to win every round against Pacquiao, in order to ensure a possible decision goes his way.
Sure, being able to rely on his traditional boxing style worked against Provodnikov, a fighter who’s overly reliant on his knockout power, but against an elite-level boxer like Pacquiao it won’t be as easy for the Huntington, New York native.
Algieri will have to deal with Pacquiao, a crafty veteran, who can counter his technically sound boxing and will at times frustrate him.
Seeing how Algieri reacts when he is frustrated will be key to this fight, as if he lets it affect his mental state during the fight, he might change up his game plan, which would bode well for Pacquiao. Such a scenario could present multiple chances for Pacman to catch Algieri off guard and possibly end the fight early.
Algieri is an intelligent guy, in and out of the ring, so it would be surprising to see him knocked off his fight plan. Despite that, we’ve seen some good fighters do uncharacteristic moves when they’re involved in their first large-scale pay-per-view event, so Algieri must stay focused no matter what takes place during the fight to give him any chance of winning.
