By Steve Silverman
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It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for Chris Algieri when he steps into the ring Saturday night against Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight Championship at the Cotai Arena in Macau.
Algieri (20-0-0) earned his shot to get into the ring with Pacquiao (56-5-2) when he earned a gutsy split-decision victory over Ruslan Provodnikov at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in June.
In that fight, Algieri took a ton of punishment in the first round, but he refused to back down despite a badly swollen left eye that looked like a small purple rodent by the time the event had reached its conclusion.
It’s one thing for the Huntington, N.Y. native to beat Provodnikov, but it’s quite another to beat Pacquiao. Algieri is an 8-1 underdog to Pac-Man because he doesn’t have the background, experience or skill of his rival.
But Algieri understands that he has an opportunity, and even though most of the boxing world doesn’t think he has a chance, he believes he does. Or at least he says he does.
Algieri will appear to have the advantage when the two men enter the ring. Pacquiao has a typical welterweight’s height at 5-foot-6 1/2, but Algieri stands a towering 5-foot-10. Algieri also has a five-inch reach advantage.
So all Algieri has to do is keep Pac-Man at arm’s length and jab away for 12 rounds, and he will come away with the victory and the welterweight title.
There’s only one problem with that scenario: Pacquiao is simply the better fighter, and he’s been through every war imaginable and come out on top in most of them. His quickness is going to allow him to hit Algieri from multiple angles and do it with multiple shots. Algieri had never fought a headline fighter until he stepped into the ring with Provodnikov. Now he is fighting one of the best fighters in the world, and a fighter who will be remembered for years after he retires.
Algieri will have to be almost perfect if he truly hopes to come away with the victory. Since he’s taller than Pac-Man, he has to keep that at the top of his mind throughout the fight. He can’t stoop over, bend down or dip his shoulders in order to get closer. Algieri has done that in the past, and all that would do is make him a better target for Pacquiao.
One of the other big keys for Algieri is his ability to move in the ring. He is a fantastic athlete who uses sports science and nutrition to make sure he is in peak condition every time he enters the ring. He appears to be in the best form of his life for this fight.
In order to have a chance here, he has to move as much as possible. He has to stay on the run and get Pacquiao to chase him. If Pacquiao doesn’t have to move to hit Algieri, he will dominate the fight. But if the bigger man is moving constantly, he will upset Pacquiao’s timing and rhythm.
At a certain point in the fight, there’s little doubt that Pacquiao will catch up to him and get Algieri to exchange heavy punches. While this is to Pacquiao’s advantage, Algieri can handle these flurries from time to time. However, he doesn’t want to make it a pattern in this fight.
He wants to stick and move as much as possible, because that will keep him in the fight longer.
Algieri has speed, an excellent jab a long reach and he is very intelligent. But what he doesn’t have is the experience in big fights.
Algieri can visualize himself being successful by following the proper stick-and-move strategy, but what happens if he gets busted in the mouth by a hard combination in the second round? Does he remember his strategy and stick to his plan, or does he lose control and end up fighting Pacquiao’s fight?
He will not know the answer to this until he steps in the ring Saturday night. Even if he does everything right, Algieri has little more than an outside chance of stunning the boxing world. He is stepping up in class against one of the greatest in the sport.
If he lasts more than six rounds in this scheduled 12-rounder, he has every right to feel good about himself. But it would take a near-miracle for Algieri to get the upset.
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