WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri may still be fighting for respect in the ring, but it’s hard not to respect the person he is out of the ring
MANILA, Philippines – A minute into his first world championship bout, Chris Algieri found himself on his back at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Ruslan Provodnikov, revered as one of the sport?s heaviest hitting tough guys in the sport, was the man who put him there.
Most had expected something similar to happen anyways, and there was little shock in HBO Boxing commentator Jim Lampley?s voice when Algieri was counted for another knockdown moments later in the round.
What few had anticipated is what would play out over the remaining 11 rounds; Algieri fighting through a grotesquely swollen right eye to outbox and outpoint Provodnikov to a split-decision victory to win the WBO junior welterweight title.
Character is paramount in the sport of boxing, where the strongest and fastest aren?t always the ones with their hands raised in the end. Algieri showed he has it in abundance, but it?s the character he shows once the gloves are off that separates him from the majority of his peers.
If you’re looking for an obnoxious, boisterous persona who shouts threats at his opponents, keep looking. Chris Algieri doesn’t have time for that.
Algieri, who will challenge WBO welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao on November 23 at the Venetian Resort in Macau, China, is a gentleman?s champion; more Gene Tunney than Jack Dempsey; more Vitali Klitschko than Mike Tyson.
Instead of appearing on TMZ for out-of-the-ring scuffles, Algieri appears on Fox Business to discuss financial planning. He?s a different kind of fighter, one who holds a pre-med undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University and a masters degree from New York Institute of Technology.
In many ways, he?s still the champion next door. He still lives in his parents? home (albeit in a private basement apartment) and drives his Honda Accord to and from the gym each morning. At time of print, he has just 7,255 followers on Twitter.
When he meets face-to-face with Pacquiao later this month for a two continent press tour, don?t expect tension and posturing. Expect mutual respect from two of the classiest fighters in a sport that often finds headlines of the dubious variety.
“It?s kind of awkward to have two guys stare each other and we don?t have any animosity towards each other yet; it?s almost comical,? the 30-year-old Algieri (20-0, 8 knockouts) opines to Rappler.
?That?s also a reason why I?m excited to fight Manny with the press tour because he?s a very humble champion, and from what I understand he?s a very good man. It?ll be great to have two champions across from the dais from each other who are very respectful and are not going to at each other back and forth and be nasty. That isn?t always good for the sport.
?I think that the sport deserves the best out of their champions and people to carry themselves with character and be morally just people.?
Beginnings
Much of who Algieri is today stems from his upbringing. He grew up about an hour?s drive from Downtown New York City in suburban Huntington, N.Y. His mother worked for a local church but now works as a hospital secretary, while his father was a laborer for the highway department and now drives a truck.
?I had a lot of influence from my grandparents. Both my mother?s parents lived with us and [my grandfather] was from Argentina. He was a very stern and respectful man so I spent a lot of time around him learning how to act and learning how to be a man,? said Algieri.
?My father?s father was similar in that respect. He was a humble guy, he was very respectful, they made that something that was important as a youth growing up, to be respectful and to be concerned about yourself and also about others.?
