Chris Algieri enters the big time when he challenges Manny Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title on Sunday.
Nine months ago, the 30-year-old American was fighting in a venue holding fewer than 2 000 spectators. Now, in a 15 000-seat arena, with millions of television viewers watching him, he challenges a man who has held ?world? titles in eight divisions.
They meet in Macau on Sunday in a tournament to be broadcast live on SuperSport 7 from 4am (SA, CAT, GMT+2) to 8.30.
Presented as ?the real-life Rocky?, Algieri is not overawed.”Yeah, it’s cool, but it doesn’t faze me,” he told reporters in Macau this week ahead of the bout in the former Portuguese colony.
“I’ve seen this in my mind for a long time. And now it’s here, it isn’t ?I made it?; it’s ?this is where I’m supposed to be?.”
Algieri earned his title shot the hard way. Nine months ago, he fopught Emanuel Taylor in the main bout at a 1 555-seat venue in his hometown of Huntington, New York. He won by unanimous decision and the victory gave him an opportunity against Russia’s WBO light-welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov in June.
Despite suffering two first-round knockdowns and having to fight with a swollen right eye, Algieri won on points, improving his record to 20-0, with 8 knockouts.
Pacquiao, whose record stands at 56-5, with two draws and 38 wins inside the distance, realises that Algieri could see their fight as a potential springboard, in much the same way his own victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 helped transform him into a global name.
“I will not let that happen,” the 35-year-old Pacquiao said this week. “My time is not over yet. I’m not predicting a knockout, but I’m looking for a good fight; to prove I can still fight.”
That is about as close to ?trash talking? as Pacquiao will allow himself, but his trainer, Freddie Roach, is far more willing to dismiss Algieri’s chances. ?He’s in way over his head this time,” Roach said.
“Manny’s on top of his game right now and he’s looking really good. He can’t wait to get in the ring with this guy and show the world he’s a better fighter.
“They’re trying to make out like Algieri is the next Rocky,” Roach said. “But this isn’t a movie.”
Undaunted, Algieri insisted he had the ability to beat Pacquiao. “We’re not worried about what Manny’s going to do, we’re focused on what I’m going to do. If I fight my fight, I win.”
