Manny Pacquiao Will KO Chris Algieri In Round 1 Says Freddie Roach; Undefeated American Not Intimidated By Trainer’s Trash Talk
Chris Algieri is apparently not listening, or at least ignoring, to Freddie Roach’s recent tirades that undermine his skills as a world champion. To gain utmost focus in the biggest fight of his boxing career, the undefeated American is zoned in with one thing: beat Manny Pacquiao come Nov. 23 in Macau.
Roach, Pacquiao’s world-renowned trainer, has had his share of “trash talk” weeks before the championship bout stating, among other things, that his ward’s sparring partners are better than Algieri and that the American won’t last five or six rounds.
Like a seasoned pro, Algieri is taking Roach’s pronouncements and predictions in stride. Algieri is considered a late bloomer in boxing with a total of just 20 professional boxing bouts at the age of 30. To compare, Manny Pacquiao has a total of 63 bouts since turning pro in 1995.
“For one, he is wasting his time because I don’t even read those reports. So that’s the first thing. Secondly, I hear about them from other people around me and it doesn’t make a difference to me. It seems kind of odd for him to be coming out so much and saying so many different things and every day it’s a new thing,” Algieri stated in the most recent conference call for boxing scribes. “But like I said, I don’t read them and I don’t care about them and it doesn’t make a difference come fight night. I would imagine it is some kind of strategy, a kind of mental game or whatnot. Freddie’s been around a long time and maybe this has worked for him in the past but it’s not going to work on me.”
Algieri also emphasised that it is not his style to trade barbs with his opponent or his opponent’s camp; in this case just focusing on the task at hand of beating Manny Pacquiao and not indulge Pacquiao’s trainer in a word war.
“I am not going to change just to promote a fight. My stance is to not go back-and-forth and I am not fighting Freddie. That’s not the man I have to box with so I am not going to go back-and-forth firing darts at each other,” Algieri added in the same Q-and-A with the media. “You don’t see Pacquiao doing that. That’s Freddie’s prerogative and that’s what he likes to do. That’s not me, even if it helps the promotion of the fight, that’s not my style. It is what it is. If he wants to say that, that’s fine by me. What matters is fight night and myself and Pacquiao.”
Algieri holds an immaculate record of 20 wins with no losses with eight victories coming by way of knockouts. The 5-foot-10 fighter is a former kickboxing champion and also undefeated at 20 fights in his previous sport. Algieri won over the highly-favoured Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia in his last bout and gained the opportunity for an even bigger fight against the eight-division champion in Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs).
As recent as Thursday, Nov. 13, Roach even had the gall to change his prediction; Manny Pacquiao will not in round five or six but in the opening round.
"I hope Manny gets him in one," Roach declared via Philippine Star, a local daily in the country.
Algieri might not be listening but the Pacquiao camp is sending a strong message to the American challenger: we’re going for the kill and it’s going to come early. Clash in Cotai 2: Pacquiao vs. Algieri will be for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) World welterweight championship and will be held at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort in Macau.
