The upcoming fight between Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquaio and WBO light welterweight champion Chris Algieri could turn out a bit like a replay of the Pacquiao-Margarito fight in 2010 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Algieri (20-0, 8KOs) and Margarito stands the same at 5’11” with almost the same reach (73″ for Margarito and 72″ for Algieri). The only visible difference is their contrasting speed and power. While Margarito is a slow-foot fighter and remains almost stationary in the ring, Algieri is active and mobile. In fact he moves in the ring like Pacquiao in many of his fights but his sequence of power shots are a bit slower compared to Pacquiao’s rapid punches. Algieri, who was an unbeaten kickboxer before turning to real boxing, has 5″ height advantage over Pacquiao, who stands 5’6″ with a 5″ edge in reach.
Their physical profile will show that Algieri has the advantage both in height and reach. Also he has bigger body frame than Pacquiao aside from being younger at 30. Pacquiao is nearly reaching his prime at 35. Despite the many pluses going in favor of Algieri, neutral fans and boxing analysts would likely pick Pacquiao over the good looking and highly educated Italian-American boxer from Huntington, New York. Algieri has not fought a power puncher and a speedy fighter like Pacquiao, who pulverized Margarito to submission despite their physical inequities. To view Pacquiao-Margarito fight, click here. The last three fights where Algieri won on points were against slow-foot fighters who were easy targets with his Pacquiao-like rapid punches. He has not met someone who can throw punches more than he can. In February last year, Algieri struggled against Jose Peralta Alejo of New Jersey in 10-rounder fight in New York although he got unanimous verdict. Alejo is a slow moving target of Algieri but he stunned the New Yorker several times with unobstructed shots. The Alejo fight shows that Algieri has a lot more work to do in order to improve on his defenses.
