What you perceive is not necessarily what you believe. The only thing that separates perception from reality is doubt; and because this is true, our notions about something – or someone, can prove to be false.
According to public perception, Chris Algieri is nothing more than a hapless grifter who was cherry picked to be placed on top of Manny Pacquiao’s ice cream cone. He’s almost as if a guy who’s been lured into a life of crime by choice rather than circumstance. Why would a guy from a well-to-do family in Long Island, NY pursue a trade as arduous as boxing?
Perception, in more ways than one, would lead us to believe he fit the profile of someone who would star in an odd film noir. Its a cynical mystery that accompanies these films, along with a misty attitude and sensual motivation.
In attendance of a press event for this fight, I focused primarily on Algieri to get some sort of realistic perception of him and what it might mean at the sound of the bell. Clad in all black opposite the Filipino icon and surrounded by Chinese models in sexy Top Rank gear, he went from leading man to brainy geek in nano-seconds as soon as he opened his mouth.
It’s perplexing – but that just may be the point.
He really cannot be distracted, is preternaturally focused, and seems to apply a scientific formula to everything that he does – including merely standing for a f*cking photo op. I know that’s gratuitous but jeeeeez. Then again, that’s what could make him foil material in Bob Arum’s new “Chinatown” of Macau. I look at the city and its spectacular skyline with its array of lights, yet still all I can see is this fight in black and white. As colorful as his up coming fight with Manny Pacquiao will be on November 22, its going to have a grainy element of a prizefight from the from the 1950’s.
re: Pacquiao/Algieri: “On The Run” [Vol.I]: Legend Killer
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PACQUIAO VS ALGIERI: THE PHYSICAL INTANGIBLES WILL DECIDE THE OUTCOME
“A lot of fans don’t really realize that Algieri is not used to losing,” said former WBO welterweight champ Timothy Bradley, in an interview with On The Ropes Radio. “The guy was a kickboxing champion, a world champion kickboxer, and 20-0. This guy is not used to losing.”
Although he is not an authority on this, Bradley was asked what Algieri needed to do to keep his undefeated record in tact.
“We all know that movement frustrates Manny Pacquiao,” said Bradley, who suffered the first “official” loss of his career at the hands of Pacquiao.
“If (Algieri) stands in there, he’s gonna get obliterated,” he warned. “If he moves on Manny Pacquiao and makes Pacquiao pick up his feet and chase him around, then he has a better chance of winning the fight.”
This is what Bradley did with the opponent he and Chris have the most in common with – Ruslan Provodnikov. In a steady of contrasts and an example of why styles make fights, I think Pacquiao will do to Algieri what Provodnikov did to Bradley: he’s going to hit him at will.
Bradley would beat Algieri via UD if they were to fight because he knows how to fight coming forward and is adept at slipping the jab. He’s an elite conditioned, very good technical boxer with penchant for being aggressive, and he would out work Algieri. He didn’t have the mentality to strictly box a fighter who was coming at him in such a manly fashion [if you will]. Chris does – as he showed against Provodnikov, but he cannot do what Bradley did against Pacquiao.
The reason why he cannot do this boils down to something Algieri should understand well: science.
Physiologically and genetically, he’s no where close to what Bradley is in dimensions and flexibility. In so many ways, his height and his reach will work against him, as Pacquiao and Roach are working on a gameplan for a boxing version – get this – Antonio Margarito. Before you laugh, you have to understand how Freddie Roach thinks going into this fight.
