Chris Algieri's Lack of Big-Fight Experience Shows in Loss to Manny Pacquiao

Chris Algieri's (20-1, 8 KOs) undefeated streak was brought to its end in Macau on Saturday evening after a unanimous-decision defeat to Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) saw The King of New York dethroned in convincing fashion.

The 30-year-old lost his chance to claim the WBO welterweight title in what proved to be a one-sided affair far past what many might have envisioned. Boxing Insider provided the final scores from the judges:

Prior to Saturday's bout, Algieri was expected to give the title defender a serious run for his money in what was easily the biggest bout of his career to date. However, Pacquiao succeeded in producing a revitalised version of himself, dominating from bell to bell.

Pac-Man will now surely target Floyd Mayweather Jr. once again:

As for Algieri, ESPN's Skip Bayless noted the challenger's resilience and ability to last so long in the face of such adversity:

Algieri was knocked down six times before the final bell was rung, giving referee Gino Rodriguez a busy night on the canvas. The challenger showed bravery by the bucket, but that won't help him convince anybody he's worthy of another shot at the big time in the future.

Some were left to argue that Algieri shouldn't have been allowed to continue as long as he did. Haroon Khan, younger brother of welterweight Amir, agreed this should not have gone the distance:

Amir, set to go up against Devon Alexander in Las Vegas next month, disagreed with those backing Algieri and predicted pre-fight that a clash of styles would work in Pacquiao's favour.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph, the Bolton-born boxer explained why former sparring partner Pacquiao would be too much for the inexperienced Algieri:

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The Filipino's speed and movement will help beat someone like Algieri, who is the bigger man and can box a bit. But we have seen Manny in the past beat bigger guys like Antonio Margarito, so I do not think the size difference will be a factor and I think Algieri’s style is made for Manny. I expect Manny to look impressive and beat Algieri over the 12-round distance.

"

After the New Yorker beat Ruslan Provodnikov via split decision, this was a substantial step up in pedigree for Algieri, and it showed in every aspect.

He was hesitant when looking to pull the trigger, and his footwork could not compare to his rival. Only his miraculous recovery powers saw him walk away with any credit.

Pacquiao may be five years the American's elder, but all that experience paid dividends in a clash that showed there are more important factors in a fight apart from who's closer to his prime.

By the end of the bout, Algieri was retreating so frequently one might have thought Pacquiao was still fighting his early rounds—such was the vigour in which he chased the result.

Kin Cheung/Associated Press

Having said that, he should have been made to work a lot harder in a bout of such magnitude. Algieri had every hole exposed in a fight that will prove hard to recover from, and his rebuilding process should start at a much lower level.