MANILA, Philippines – Little-known Chris Algieri has positioned himself as a possible opponent for Manny Pacquiao after upsetting Ruslan Provodnikov over the weekend to snatch the WBO light welterweight title.
Algieri, a 30-year-old undefeated fighter from New York, bucked a first round knockdown to outpoint the heavily favored Provodnikov for a split decision victory at the Barclays Center on Saturday.
Top Rank chief Bob Arum has earlier stated that the winner of the Provodnikov-Algieri bout will probably get the chance to face Pacquiao, who is set to fight again in Macau this November.
Algieri declared he wants the big names now, and that includes the Filipino icon.
"I only want the big fights. We want them as big as we can get them. Ruslan Provodnikov is one of the most feared fighters in the game," he said in a report by ringtv.com’s Lem Satterfield.
"I just want fought the most dangerous guy around for very cheap, and now, it's time for the biggest fight that I can get, and maybe that's Manny Pacquiao," Algieri (20-0, with 8 knockouts) added.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, for his part, is still not sold on Algieri.
“Algieri is a real nice. I never heard of him before this fight. He made a good statement with this fight. I don't know if he's quite that big yet [to face Pacquiao],†the bespectacled trainer said in a boxingscene.com article penned by Bille Emes.
“He's still a 140-pounder moving up 147 to fight Pacquiao. Pacquiao is thinking about moving down to 140. We'll kick that around a bit,†added Roach, who worked Provodnikov’s corner against Algieri.
But could Algieri be a perfect match for Pacquiao?
“Possibly. He's pretty tall, rangy. I have no problem getting Pacquiao ready to beat him,†Roach explained.