Pacquiao vs. Algieri Round by Round: Top Highlights from Pac-Man's Title Defense
It couldn't have come much easier for Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in Macau as he earned a unanimous-decision victory over Chris Algieri.
None of the three judges had the fight close, with two scoring it 119-103 and another going 120-102, per HBO Boxing:
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Pacquiao looked great to start the fight.
He got out on the front foot in the opening round and peppered Algieri with shots. That continued into the second and third rounds, with Algieri offering little opposition. He seemed content to run around the ring and defend.
Algieri was a bit unlucky to slip on the mat and go down in the second. The referee scored it a knockdown despite the challenger's protests.
The fourth and fifth rounds were Algieri's best. He began working the jab and slowing building some momentum. Pacquiao still had the advantage, but the belief in Algieri's ability grew. The positivity was short-lived, though.
The sixth was a complete disaster for Algieri, with Pacquiao recording two knockdowns. That allowed Pac-Man to slow down a bit in the seventh and eighth rounds as he regained some stamina but still distanced himself from Algieri on the cards.
From the ninth round and beyond, it became clear that Algieri's only hope of winning was knocking Pacquiao out. He had climbed into such a deep hole on the cards that there was no way he could outpoint the champion that late into the bout.
Pacquiao was smart enough to rein in his offense to the extent that he wouldn't leave himself open too much. He remained in firm control until the final bell.
Quite frankly, few highlights were to be had in Saturday's fight. Pacquiao was far and away the better fighter, and Algieri never had that burst of offense that made you think he might pull out a surprise knockout. All in all, it was a drab main event.
Below are three of the more enjoyable moments.
Manny Pacquiao's Offensive Flurry Begins
Right around the sixth round was when Algieri's hopes and dreams for this fight died. The 30-year-old American was knocked down twice in the space of about 30 seconds. It really felt like Pacquiao would end the bout right then and there.
The brief flurry was when fans got to see flashes of the buzz saw that ran through Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. It's unfair to expect Pacquiao to ever return to that level again.
The 35-year-old has gone nine fights without registering a KO, per ESPN Stats & Info:
While the knockout power might be gone forever, Saturday night showed that he can still be an offensive terror in the ring. The present-day Pacquiao is a ton of fun to watch.
Tim Lane Has the Worst Timing
The unintentional star of the night might have been Algieri's trainer, Tim Lane. He was so hopelessly optimistic that it bordered on the delusional and possibly even dangerous.
No matter how deep of a hole Algieri found himself in, Lane was there to pump up his fighter and say that Pacquiao was ripe for the picking. ESPN.com's Dan Rafael wasn't enthused:
Things veered off into the tragicomic in the ninth round, when the HBO announce crew interviewed Lane mid-fight. The trainer explained that his grand strategy was to unleash Algieri in the 10th round, by which time Pacquiao would be on the canvas.
"He's going to put him asleep here in a few minutes; I'm going to let him go in one more round," Lane said, via Newsday's Neil Best. "I've got him in the cage right now. I'm going to let him out of the cage."
Less than a minute after that comment, Pacquiao caught Algieri flush with a left hand that dropped the challenger. The timing couldn't have been more perfect:
Suffice it to say, Algieri didn't knock Pacquiao down in the 10th or 11th round.
Stoke Those Embers for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fight, Manny
A man can hope, can't he?
The sensible action would be ignoring anything said about a potential superfight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. With the way that everything has transpired between the two, it's hard to believe the bout is any closer to happening than it was years ago. Nothing has truly changed.
But fans aren't sensible, and they want to see Pacquiao and Mayweather face off before it becomes something like Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, which featured a shell of Tyson's former self.
Of course, people are going to get excited when Pacquiao says that he's ready to take on Mayweather, per CBS Sports:
Really, you wouldn't expect him to say anything else. If Pacquiao tried dismissing the possibility, he would have been booed out of the building. Plus, neither guy wants to be seen as the one ducking the other.
Mayweather made similar comments to Pacquiao after his rematch with Marcos Maidana in September.
"I got to go back and talk to my team, I'm not ducking or dodging no opponent," the unbeaten champion said, per The Telegraph. "If a Pacquiao fight presents itself, let's make it happen."
The thing about boxing is that you can never rule anything out as long as dollars can be made. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao would be wildly profitable and likely the highest-grossing fight in history. Money talks, and sooner or later, Mayweather and Pacquiao will hash out their differences to cash in.
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