Chris Algieri is so confident that he’s going to beat Manny Pacquiao in their November fight that he’s trying to pinpoint his next opponent.
Many believe that Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) will pummel Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) but the Long Island boxer is confident in his abilities and would like to face Floyd Mayweather if he succeeds in taking down “Pacman.”
“We’re looking at Mayweather,” Algieri recently told RingTV, referring to the fight after the November fight.
Algieri wasn’t even considered a candidate for the Pacquiao bout until he surprised Ruslan Provodnikov, winning the WBO junior welterweight title.
If Algieri, 30, beats Pacquiao, 35, then he gets the WBO welterweight. That’s when he wants a unification fight with Mayweather.
Algieri told Newsday that he believes his style will present problems for Pacquiao.
“I said before the Ruslan fight that he’s never fought someone like me -- someone who’s long, tall, strong and athletic with good boxing skills,” Algieri said. “Neither has Manny.”
(Twitter)
“Manny has a lot of fights and a lot of experience, but the string of guys he’s fought over the last five, six, seven, eight years are all the same kind of guys. I do believe my style is a problem for him. And he'll be 36 [in December]. It’s tough to learn a new style or to deal with something you’re not accustomed to, which I wholeheartedly will bring to the table.”
Algieri (5‘10“ and a 72-inch reach) will be the second biggest opponent that Pacquiao has ever fought, behind Antonio Margarito (5’11”, 73-inch reach). Pacquiao won in a unanimous decision in that November 2010 fight.
“Margarito was a large guy, but not an athletic guy,” Algieri said. “Not a guy who’s going to be moving, pushing, pulling, using his jab, reaching. He’s a straightforward slugger there to be hit. Manny kills those guys. Guys who move, guys who have angles, guys who are stylish boxers, he has trouble with. I don’t think there are a lot of guys who do it better than me in the world right now.”
