Photo By Chris Farina/Top Rank
Chris Algieri isn’t supposed to be here. Certainly, that wasn’t the plan anyway. The plan was to feed Algieri’s bones to Ruslan Provodnikov so that he could properly feast on a guy freshly graduated from ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. It was a stay busy fight for Provo, one that would set him up for a shot at his sparring partner, Manny Pacquiao.
It did not go as planned.
Algieri was not well known before that fight, but his skills were discernible–he was a rangy fighter who threw a lot of punches, albeit with limited effect–he went into the fight sporting a 19-0 record, but with 8 knockouts.
Provodnikov came out and tried to steamroll him–as he does with every fighter he faces. It’s not like Provo goes into a fight with three sets of gameplans. His gameplan is to grin menacingly while throwing missiles with both hands. If you happen to punch him back, the grin widens.
The consensus pick for the fight was Provodnikov by fifth-round homicide, and it looked like Algieri wouldn’t survive past the first round. I won’t rehash the fight, but give the guy credit–he got up. And not only that, but he boxed circles around Ruslan while looking like the elephant man with that hideous bulge on his right eye.
With a wrench firmly tossed in the Pacquiao vs. Provodnikov plans, and with Juan Manuel Marquez asking for $897 million dollars and a new pony to fight Manny for the fifth time, Algieri’s name entered the equation.
The announcement and subsequent buildup for this fight has been one of the weirdest in recent memories. The fighters have acted more like super best pals than warriors ready to do battle. Pacquiao felt it necessary to play some hoops, while Algieri surrounded himself with women and smiled a lot.
Of course, Freddie Roach has announced that this has been Manny’s best camp in forever, and that they’re taking Algieri super seriously, blah blah blah. I find that difficult to believe, for a couple of reasons.
First, it appears that Bob Arum’s main strategy for selling this fight has been dangling an imaginary matchup with Floyd Mayweather in front of us. What better way to effectively humiliate Algieri? When Arum talks about Floyd, he’s essentially saying “look, we know this matchup blows, but when it’s over, we might possibly, maybe, hopefully, one day, fight Mayweather!”
Of course, when Mayweather himself refutes the claim, it hurts your credibility somewhat. Pacquiao played the game as well, perhaps sensing that the hype for this fight was somewhat muted compared to previous battles. Algieri is more than content to play the underdog, a role he wears as snugly as some of those weird spandex workout clothes he enjoys. In fact, it’s probably his only ticket to a victory against Manny. Provodnikov fell victim to this–he didn’t seem all that excited about the fight to begin with, and became less enthused once Algieri started bouncing around the ring and punching him back.
It’s hard to imagine that Pacquiao is completely geeked up for this fight. It’s been a struggle for Roach to get him to dedicate himself fully to boxing when facing lethal fighters like Marquez, let alone a guy like Algieri. If he’s been lackadaisical in training, he might find himself struggling Saturday night.
Pacquiao is saying all the right things, but nobody really goes into a fight saying that training camp has been dreadful and that they’ve been snacking on booze and Cheetos in preparation for the bout. Chavez Jr., maybe.
Algieri will attempt to move and keep Pacquiao at bay with his jab and straight right hand, while Pacquiao will of course throw punches from every angle in an attempt to overwhelm his foe.
If he has trained properly, Pac Man should absolutely steamroll Algieri, who just doesn’t have the power to keep Pacquiao off of him for 12 rounds. And if Manny Pacquiao gets outboxed and defeated by Chris Algieri, a guy with 20 professional fights and zero experience against an elite fighter, height difference or not, it’s time for him to hang ’em up.
The feeling here is that Pacquiao is simply too much for the hungry Algieri, who is nowhere near Pacquiao’s level as a fighter. Pacquiao may even get his first knockout win in five years, if he pushes for it.
The fight isn’t exactly scintillating, and the buildup has been far from compelling. Hopefully, the fight itself makes up for it. Let’s hope Algieri is an elite fighter in waiting, and that Pacquiao is as ferocious as he’s ever been.
Maybe Algieri will earn our respect, and maybe Pacquiao will give us one more explosive performance. We’ll find out quickly if Algieri has earned the shot he’s been given.
For the money, we deserve a great fight. Certainly, we’ve earned it.
Some Random Notes From Around The Boxing World:
Holy hell, Wladimir Klitschko’s fight was actually enjoyable to watch. Gone was the hesitant, terrified-to-be-hit champion who fired off 700 jabs and the occasional right hand. This dude was all business, from ring entrance to the final punch. He was a bad ass willing to take a punch to land one.
Credit Kubrat Pulev for bringing out the animal in Klitschko. Perhaps it was his cocky demeanor. Perhaps it was his utter willingness to engage. Or perhaps it was the 475 rabbit punches he landed. Either way, it was a fun heavyweight fight that ended the way they all should–with somebody on their back with a broken face.
Speaking of those rabbit punches, referee Tony Weeks joined an ever growing list of refs who have simply butchered fights this year. Pulev should have been sternly warned by the end of the first round and disqualified by the third. Those punches are dangerous, and save for a few meek utterances, Weeks let him have at it. Klitschko, to his credit, realized that Weeks wasn’t going to do a damn thing and took matters into his own hands. Hideous job.
How enjoyable was it to see Vitali’s wife screaming at Shannon Briggs?
And how the hell did Briggs get to Germany?
Zurdo Ramirez is certainly worth watching. He’s enormous, throws every punch well, and loves to engage. It was amazing that Fulgencio Zuniga lasted as long as he did, given that he looked like he had been concussed on his way to the ring, staggering every time he was touched.
I’m through talking smack about Rod Salka. His fight with Monty Meza Clay was fantastic, and he went through hell to get the win. You know you’re watching a good fight when the ref ends up with more blood on him than the antagonist of a Rob Zombie movie.
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