The Pacquiao that carved through 8 weight divisions leaving wakes of destruction piled up behind him is back. Last night Manny Pacquiao systematically destroyed New Yorker Chris Algieri. Pacquiao came out with a kill mentality right from the starting bell of round 1 all the way to the end of the fight. His speed was vastly superior and his power punches were more devastating than anything that Algieri could muster up. It didn’t take long for the world to see that Manny Pacquiao was going to be way too much for Chris Algieri to handle.
I give a lot of credit to Freddie Roach and Justine Fortune. Pacquiao has always clicked better working with both men together. Roach, being one of best boxing trainers of all time has a father and son relationship with Pacquiao. He always has. Fortune, one of the top conditioning coaches in the world mixed with Freddie Roach equals a devastating killing machine called Manny Pacquiao. There’s a chemistry that lines up all of the stars and planets when these three get together. I don’t see anyone defeating Manny Pacquiao as long as Roach and Fortune work his corner. Anyone except….. Well that’s a debate for another time. That said, if Floyd wants to be considered the best of all time then he needs to get it figured out with Arum and Al Haymon and step up. Until then, he’ll forever have an asterisk by his name as the guy that never fought Manny Pacquiao, the guy that avoided the one fighter on the planet that can beat him.
What the fans saw last night in Pacquiao was blistering speed and freight train power. Ask Algieri if Pacqiao can still punch. He was dropped 6 times in the fight, and truth be told, in my opinion the referee should have stopped the fight. In fact, now that I’m talking about the referee, he did a terrible job last night. Speaking of terrible, let’s throw the entire Algieri corner into that category. I’m not sure who lies worse, Algieri’s trainer or US Politicians.
It was a very impressive win for Pacquiao last night. Yes his opponent was over matched but no matter who faced him he still showed blistering speed and one punch knockdown power. He came into the fight in top physical condition. Manny could have boxed 30 rounds last night if he wanted to. He’s a machine.
So what’s next? Once again as in most post Pacquiao fights the calls for Mayweather are once again yelling out. Who else really matters at this point? Both Mayweather and Pacquiao have fought everyone that’s anyone in their perspective divisions. The only real fight that matters for both guys at this point is Pacquiao and Mayweather.
There are so many theories and excuses as to why this fight hasn’t happened it’s hard to really tell what the real truth is. Of course Manny’s fans think Floyd is just scared to fight. Mayweather fans counter by saying that Floyd offered a 40 million dollar guarantee and Manny declined it. Pacquiao initially refused blood tests, then he agreed to blood tests. Mayweather throws ridiculous demands at the Pacquiao side, and the list just goes on and on. I’ve never in my life (almost 50 years old now) seen two people try so hard NOT to make up to 50 million dollars.
I’m not sure who Pacquiao will fight next but the list of credible opponents is growing shorter. There’s credible opponents, but he’s fought them already. The fans are growing tired of waiting for the real fight to happen. Father Time is losing patience as well. Let me add one last thing. Chris Algieri was outclassed last night, but his heart and passion for the sport should be recognized here. The kid has the heart of a lion and I’m glad he got a nice payday. It’s good to see good people get nice paydays in a sport that can be brutally unforgiving.
