MANILA, Philippines - Chris Algieri’s trainer just made a bold prediction that his ward can knock out Manny Pacquiao.
A confident Tim Lane, Algieri’s chief trainer, told Victor Salazar of The Boxing Voice that a knockout victory for the New Yorker isn’t out of the question.
This is despite Algieri being known more for his boxing skills than his power. Of his 20 wins, only eight came by way of knockout.
But Lane is upbeat on Algieri’s chances of stopping Pacquiao, saying their fight in Macau next month won’t even go to the scorecards.
“Chris gets warm mid fight and picks up the pace. Chris Algieri will beat Manny Pacquiao November 22nd. He most certainly has a chance of stopping Pacquiao. I don’t expect it to go the distance,” Lane said.
Algieri is the current WBO light welterweight (140 lbs) champion but will meet Pacquiao at a catchweight of 144 pounds at the insistence of the Filipino’s camp. According to Lane, it is something that will work to Algieri’s advantage.
“He’s (Algieri) a huge 140 pounder. His best weight is at 144 so right in between 140 and 147, which is where we’re going to meet, which is Chris’ best weight. I don’t know who chose this weight but they chose it perfectly for Chris. The catch weight played into our hands for sure,” the trainer continued.
Algieri will be entering the fight as a huge underdog, the same state he was in before his breakthrough win over Ruslan Provodnikov in June. Both he and his trainer believe he can duplicate the feat against Pacquiao.
“Welcome to the Chris Algieri Show. He went from 0-100 and he’s ready for Pacquiao,” said Lane.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao braces for “thinking fight” against Chris Algieri, an opponent he considers as a “challenging puzzle” when they square off in Macau.
“Chris Algieri poses many puzzles for me to solve,” Pacquiao said in an interview transcript published by ESPN.com.
At 5-foot-10, the undefeated Algieri towers over Pacquiao by four inches and enjoys a five-inch reach advantage (72” to 67”). The New Yorker complements this with a stiff jab and solid all-around boxing skills that make the older Pacquiao wary.
“In terms of his height and reach, only Antonio Margarito surpasses him in the scope of opponents I have faced. Algieri is also the most scientific, fluid and fittest fighter I have ever opposed,” the fighting congressman said.
“All of those factors, plus he is five years younger than me, make him the most dangerous opponent of my career,” he added.
Pacman went on to say that boxing is also a thinking game especially against a rival like Algieri.
“To me, boxing is a lot like chess. You don’t just move a piece and wait for your opponent to respond; you have to see the board and think 10 to 12 moves ahead and anticipate the variables your opponent may counter with. Algieri does that and he does that very well,” he continued.
The WBO welterweight champion will be entering the fight as a huge favorite, but he’s well aware of Algieri’s propensity to buck the odds. In his last outing, the American pulled off a shocker against the heavily favored Provodnikov to crown himself the WBO light welterweight champion.
In that fight, Algieri came back from two first-round knockdowns to outbox the heavy-handed Provodnikov en route to the upset win that later earned him the ticket to face Pacquiao.
“If you look at his recent fights – against Mike Arnaoutis, Emanuel Taylor and Ruslan Provodnikov – each victory for him was considered an upset,” Pacquiao recounted.
“Yet Algieri never considered himself an underdog, he went into each fight confident and with the right game plan and no matter what happened in the ring, he was disciplined enough to stay with that game plan. And it worked. He outfought them and out-thought them.”