Diego Morilla breaks down a few hidden facts and questions about the upcoming Pacquiao-Algieri fight in China this Saturday, November 22nd.
As the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri catchweight PPV fight draws near and the buzz starts to pick up (not nearly as high as in any other Pacquiao fight in the past couple of years, but still up there), all analysis seem to favor the Pac-Man in what everyone expects to be a pointless, stay-busy fight for him while he waits to face Floyd Mayweather for what has been called ?the largest collection of marbles ever assembled in the history of pugilism? (and yes, that is a trademarked, registered and copyrighted sentence brought to you by Diego Morilla Enterprises).
Now, while at least certain parts of the preceding paragraph may be less than accurate (OK, Diego Morilla Enterprises doesn?t exist yet), there may be a few things to keep an eye on during and after the Saturday, November 22nd bout. Here are a few of them to keep in mind:
Algieri is no slouch ? Sure, you?ve been hearing a lot about how Chris Algieri is lucky to be here, how he is a glorified clubfighter who got a lucky break against a true champ in Ruslan Provodnikov in his last fight, and how Pacquiao has had absolutely no problem with taller, rangier guys before. And while some of this may be true, it doesn?t really affect the fact that Algieri has the range (and the ability to make it count) and the level of activity to put Pacquiao in a lot of trouble. Sure, Oscar and Margarito (among others) were much taller than Pacquiao and were soundly beaten anyway. Algieri is certainly not going to make their same mistakes, and even though it?s going to be hard for him to win as the ?aggressor in retreat? that he was forced to become in the Provodnikov bout due to his grueling eye swelling, he may try that strategy during generous portions of the fight and gain a good measure of success in doing so. Not exactly a winning strategy or a reason to bet your rent money on him, but it will be interesting to see how both men will react going into the final stretch with a very close decision on the line. If Algieri chooses to outbox Pacquiao from a distance, things may get interesting.
It?s the PPV numbers, stupid ? A potentially more entertaining fight may be brewing in the accounting department of the PPV company in charge during and immediately after the fight. Unless you?ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you know that every single action in both Pacquiao?s and Floyd Mayweather?s life is immediately interpreted as a possible sign towards the realization or lack thereof of their possible mega-bout. Floyd starts making unrealistic monetary demands? That means he is already making excuses to not fight Pacquiao next. Manny shoots a shoe commercial with a cryptic message embedded in it? That means he is willing to negotiate again. Floyd buys a new car? Well, nobody knows if there is a hidden meaning behind it, but somebody somewhere will come up with a crazy explanation about this being a sign about his intentions to fight Manny. But PPV numbers are always the starting point of any negotiation, failed or not, related to their fight. If Pacquiao?s PPV numbers continue falling (and some people believe they can be catastrophically low in this particular fight), then The Fight is in danger again because Mayweather will increase his already unrealistic purse splits in his favor. Or maybe Pacquiao will realize he?s losing his value too fast and he?ll be willing to take the fight for whatever is on the table. In any case, the PPV numbers will tell whether this will be a real win for Pacquiao or rather a Pyrrhic victory for him.
Energy level ? Pacquiao has been the Energizer bunny of boxing ever since he exploded in the American scene a dozen of years ago. Nobody has the level of athleticism and work rate of the current congressman of the Philippines, and it is not unrealistic to assert that he will be remembered, among many other things, for a boxing style that can be described by one word only: relentlessness. He is a bulldozer with a Ferrari engine, and his recovery time after getting hurt or appearing momentarily tired is truly insane. But lately, and quite understandably for a guy who has received the amount of punishing that he has, Pacquiao has been notoriously slower and less explosive than during his best fights. He still manages to outwork his opponents and make them look static in comparison, but it is clear that his overall energy level could finally be losing steam. Whether he ?gets old in a hurry? (as it has happened in many boxing careers) during this particular fight, remains to be seen. But some count of biological countdown has certainly begun, and every fight will have to be observed closely for clues about Pacquiao?s ability to sustain his already legendary pace in the ring. And yes, this may also affect his ability to pimp a fight against Mayweather in the near future. Or maybe it will encourage Mayweather further and therefore enhance the chances of actually making that fight. Or maybe not. Who knows?
