Manny Pacquiao's Blueprint to Knocking Out Chris Algieri in Main Event Fight
Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri is a very interesting and dangerous fight for Pac-Man. Facing a relatively unknown but undefeated and skilled world champion is the epitome of high risk and low reward for Pacquiao.
If Pacquiao wins and dominates, few in the masses of the boxing community will give him much praise. If he struggles or even loses, a potential mega-payday with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is all but done. In fact, Pacquiao would probably be urged to retire should he lose.
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If he does beat Algieri, it's more likely the victory comes by decision. Pacquiao hasn't scored a stoppage win since 2009. That said, he may very well be pushing for an impressive performance to help establish some momentum heading into 2015.
If Pacquiao is to stop Algieri, here's what he has to do.
Be Patient, But Persistent
Algieri's best attributes are his movement, stamina, intelligence and length. He's very difficult to get a bead on. That is especially the case later in fights. In the three fights I've seen him in, he starts slow, but establishes a rhythm as the fight goes on.
He did that after being floored in the first round by Ruslan Provodnikov in his last fight. He looked like a man in over his head, but he didn't panic. Algieri systematically dismantled Provodnikov with movement, accurate punching and great conditioning.
After scoring the early knockdown, Provodnikov was eager to put Algieri down again. The overaggression worked right into Algieri's hands. Provodnikov's plodding style and pressure simply supplied Algieri angles to move and land his jabs and combinations.
Pacquiao must be careful not to allow himself to become overaggressive. That said, he must still keep the pressure on Algieri so as to not give away rounds early in the bout. Touching him when he can without lunging and overcommitting is Pacquiao's best approach.
Go to the Body
This might be the biggest key to softening up Algieri for a potential KO. The only way to slow down a mover's legs is to hit him in the body with regularity.
This approach takes commitment and faith that the strategy will pay off in the long run. Over his career, patience hasn't been a word used to describe Pacquiao's fighting style.
He'll need it against Algieri if he hopes to allow an assault on his opponent's midsection to run its course.
Cut Off the Ring
We all know Algieri will move a lot. Even Pacquiao has said he knows he'll have to press the fight. Per Joaquin Henson of The Philippine Star, Pacquiao said:
"I’m not predicting a knockout only that I want to win convincingly. I expect him to run. I have to stop him from running. I know what I have to do. If I throw 1-2-3-4 combinations, I don’t think he’ll just stand to get hit. I’ll chase him down, maybe attack the body so he loses his quickness. But if he’s quick, I think I’m quicker.
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Chasing will not be the best approach. The greatest sluggers in the sport understand how to cut off the ring. Joe Louis was an expert at this underrated skill in his day. Hence the ever-popular quote from the legend: "He can run, but he can't hide."
In today's landscape, Gennady Golovkin is the best at taking running lanes away from mobile fighters. To do this, Pacquiao must employ more lateral movement than vertical pursuit.
In employing this strategy, he'll not only conserve energy, but he'll also force Algieri to expend more to elude Pacquiao's attack. Lateral movement will also give Algieri a tougher target to potshot with his jab.
If Pacquiao can do all of these things, he'll significantly increase his chances to score a KO.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
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