Former Manny Pacquiao opponent Chris Algieri offered his take on Pacquiao’s history-making effort to win a world championship in the welterweight division at the age of 46.
Algeiri says the first round will be a good time to assess what direction the fight is headed in.
“Power is the last thing to go, but so much of Pacquiao’s power was generated via footwork,” said Algeri in an interview with KO on SI, “I want to see if his feet are underneath him and if it looks better on his feet than he did in the exhibition.”
Algieri is more than an interested observer for the Pacquiao fight. He will be co-hosting PPV.COM’s exclusive viewer chat during the fight, allowing fight fans to discuss his upcoming bout with Pacquiao.
“If he looks like he did, it’s going to be a long, hard night for Pacquiao, his balance was all over the place,” said the former WBO junior welterweight champion regarding Pacquiao’s performance in a December 2022 charity exhibition match with combat sports influencer DK Yoo. Pacquaio gave up 13 pounds to his Korean opponent in that fight.
In a video posted on social media, Algieri broke down the reasons he thinks taking on his tallest opponent ever, who is 17 years younger, is a tall order for Pacquiao. He said there has been nothing to change his mind since posting the video.
“I haven’t seen anything to change my mind..I want to see Manny on the scales,”
Algieri is a nutritionist, and this isn’t his first time covering a Pacquiao fight as a nutritionist.
“I was there for the Lucas Matthysse fight, and I had the fighter meeting with Pacquiao while he was eating. I had heard he eats simple food, and I saw that he was just eating beef, rice, and a banana for dessert – so simple. Pacquaio doesn’t drink or smoke, and he doesn’t get super heavy between fights, so his body in someway is a lot younger than 46.”
