Pacquiao vs. Algieri Fight: Moneylines and Odds for Undercard and Title Bout
If Chris Algieri (20-0-0, 8 KOs) is to upset the legendary Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 33 KOs) in their highly anticipated welterweight clash on Saturday night at The Venetian Macao in Macau, China, he is going to need 12 solid rounds of smart, assured defensive boxing.
That's simply the best way to deal with an (probably) aggressive and quick-handed Pacquiao. He's not much of a power puncher, so a clear victory on points is the ideal outcome for this Long Island native.
In short, he needs the actual boxing match to be much more straightforward than the weigh in that preceded it.
Algieri—fighting to take away Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title—has earned his boldest stripes in boxing fighting with catchweights lower than the 144-pound limit imposed on Saturday's contest. He is the holder of the WBO light welterweight title, which he won at 140 pounds. Prior to that, Algieri dominated Emmanuel Taylor in a 10-round bout at 142 pounds, per BoxRec.com.
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With that recent bit of history in mind, it might have been a surprise to some when he stepped onto the scales in Macau and turned out to be a bit over the limit.
According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Pacquiao had no trouble making weight and tipped the scales at 143.8 pounds. Things weren't so simple for Algieri, via Rafael:
"Junior welterweight titlist Algieri, who works as a nutritionist as a side job and was moving up in weight, surprisingly failed to make the catch weight contract limit of 144 pounds on his first try. He was slightly over at 144.2 pounds, even after stripping nude.
Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) had two hours to lose the weight, but used only about an hour before coming back to the scale and making weight at 143.6 pounds.
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It's not the best start to the weekend for Algieri. He will have to box at his best to ensure the weigh-in drama ends up a minor footnote to a shocking upset win rather than a sign of a fighter plying his trade out of his depth.
Here are the moneylines and odds (when available) for the matches scheduled for Saturday night in Macau, followed by a quick preview of the top fights on the undercard.
Note: Undercard via TopRank.com, odds courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 a.m. ET.
| Welterweight | Manny Pacquiao (-700) | Chris Algieri (+450) | Pacquiao 2/15, Algieri 11/2 |
| Flyweight | Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym (+1000) | Zou Shiming (-2500) | Shiming 1/25, Onesongchaigym 10/1 |
| Featherweight | Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (+1600) | Vasyl Lomachenko (-10000) | Lomachenko 1/100, Priyapino 16/1 |
| Super Lightweight | Antonio DeMarco (+230) | Jessie Vargas (-300) | DeMarco 23/10, Vargas 1/3 |
| Super Flyweight | Fadhili Majiha | Jerwin Ancajas | |
| Super Flyweight | Espinos Sabu | Rex Tso | |
| Super Welterweight | Stephen Attard | Kuok Kun Ng | |
| Light Heavyweight | Andrew Robinson | Qu Peng |
Preview for Top Bouts on Undercard
Let's start off with a fun fact: of the 16 boxers set to step in the ring at CotaiArena, Pacquiao is tied with Fadhili Majiha for the most career losses, with five.
Of course, if you pitted a weight class-appropriate version of Pacquiao against any one of these boxers, it stands to reason that our hypothetical Pacquiao would come away with a victory, considering his class, experience and skill.
Luckily for the eight undefeated fighters on the card, only one (Algieri) has to risk their perfect line against Pacquiao, who considers it an honor to face unbeaten opponents, per Top Rank Boxing:
Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym, who will be facing undefeated home-country hero Zou Shiming (5-0-0, 1 KO) in a 12-round flyweight bout on Saturday, also has a penchant for taking on opponents who have not yet felt the sting of defeat.
OnesongchaiGym has faced 15 boxers with undefeated records in his career. However, there's a catch. Of those 15 boxers, 13 had unblemished tallies because they were making their professional debuts, per BoxRec.com.
Shiming, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, will hopefully galvanize the Macau crowd by defeating OnesongchaiGym. He wasn't polished upon his debut as a pro but has developed into a more well-rounded practitioner of the sweet science under the command of trainer Freddie Roach, who also instructs Pacquiao.
“Right now, he’s a good fighter,” Roach told Joe DePaolo of The New York Times. “His offense is very good. We’ve lost a little bit of his defense in changing him into a more offensive fighter. So we have to work on that a little bit more."
OnesongchaiGym stands just 5'2", but he shouldn't be overlooked due to his wealth of experience at the pro level relative to Shiming. Still, the Chinese hopeful should be able to come away with a victory on decision by combining a strong offense with ingrained defensive tactics.
Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1-0, 1 KO) isn't one of the undefeated boxers working the canvas on Saturday (or Sunday morning if you're in Macau), but don't let the slim professional-bout sample size fool you. Lomachenko is legit. Just ask Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, via Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:
He is the rare boxer who's entered the professional ranks as a fully formed and developed competitor. According to Lomachenko, the toughest part of adjusting to his new status in the world of boxing has nothing to do with what takes place between the ropes.
"The most difficult thing about professional fighting is to answer the same questions to media people,” he said via an interpreter on Thursday, per the Los Angeles Times' Lance Pugmire. “As an amateur, I didn’t do that.”
The Ukrainian star took just three professional matches to capture the vacant WBO World featherweight title, which is on the line against opponent Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (52-1-0, 33 KOs).
Lomachenko is a powerful boxer, and although Piriyapinyo's record is impressive, it's not a resume filled with high-profile wins. The 26-year-old Lomachenko is heavily favored in this contest and should come away with a decisive victory, quite possibly via knockout.
In what should be another entertaining bout, Jessie Vargas will put his WBA World light welterweight title on the line against the heavy-handed Antonio DeMarco (31-3-1, 23 KOs). Vargas is concentrating on defeating DeMarco but admits he has his eye on one day challenging Pacquiao.
“I know there can’t be one without the other,” Vargas said, via Las Vegas Review-Journal's Steve Carp. “First things first—take care of DeMarco—then try to make the fight with Manny."
The aggressive, wild-styled DeMarco has three losses in his career, but they've come against top-tier opposition. His most recent defeat came against Adrien Broner, a TKO loss that saw DeMarco relinquish his WBC World lightweight title after two successful defenses.
Since then, the 28-year-old Mexican has returned to form and should prove to be a dangerous opponent, although Vargas should take this one on points.
Indeed, it could be a career-making night for several fighters in Macau, but none more so than Algieri. The former kickboxer is well educated—he holds a master's degree in nutrition—handsome and hails from the Empire State, just outside of New York City, the nation's largest media market.
Pacquiao can snuff out his meteoric rise through the ranks of boxing in a hurry with a decisive win, but a surprise upset from Algieri could grab the attentions of casual fans looking for new, fresh-faced heroes to emerge from the boxing ranks.
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