Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank
On Wednesday, September 3, 2014, Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) and Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) held a press conference at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California to promote their November 22 Welterweight fight.
The fight will be held at the Venetian Resort in Macao, China, and is promoted by Top Rank Promotions, Star Boxing Promotions, and Banner Promotions.
The Los Angeles stop of the tour was the penultimate stop in a 12-day media tour that began in Macao, China, and which also included stops in Shanghai, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.
The tour will make its final stop tomorrow in New York before both fighters begin their respective training camps.
Pacquiao, who rebounded from his stunning knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez with wins over Brandon Rios last November and over Timothy Bradley in April, will defend his WBO Weltwerweight title in what will be his 18th pay-per-view event with HBO Boxing.
Algieri, on the other hand, will seek to shock the world again after upsetting Ruslan Provodnikov in a split-decision win in June to win the WBO Light Welterweight title.
Algieri was the heavy underdog in his fight with Provodnikov but, after surviving a near first-round knockout, rose to the occasion and gradually acclimated to Provodnikov’s pressure to outbox him in the middle and later rounds.
“It’s going to be a tremendous fight. You’ve got two champions fighting each other. It’s not something we see very often, especially nowadays you see a lot of guys trying to hold on to their records and hold on to their titles. You’ve got two champions who aren’t afraid to fight the best,” said Algieri.
Algieri touted Pacquiao’s ability to take risks in the ring and admires his ability to conduct business outside of the ring, a fact he grew aware of as he traveled to several cities with his opponent to promote their fight.
Algieri even handed Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, a positivity necklace, for the advice and help given to him by the Hall of Fame trainer.
Indeed, the press conference seemed more like a gathering of friends or an award ceremony than a platform for two opponents to argue why the other will lose.
Pacquiao, of course, is not new to the media spotlight as he comfortably directed himself and Algieri in poses for photographers and spoke to media members with the language of a priest in church.
Pacquiao mentioned that Algieri fought well and demonstrated his toughness in his fight against Provodnikov, but that he has been working hard to bring the “killer instinct” that fans of his have been waiting to see for quite some time.
“I will train hard so that we can give a good fight and entertain people, especially those who will watch the fight live in Macao,” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao says it will be a “historic” fight, but one can only wonder how competitive it will be once the fighters meet in the ring.
