Pacquiao vs. Algieri: What Title Fight Results Tell Us About Each Boxer
Chris Algieri came in looking for an upset but only left with a headache after losing a clear unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao.
While Pacquiao was unable to stop the fight early, he did earn six knockdowns in the dominant victory. Bleacher Report provided a look at the scores from the three judges:
There were question marks surrounding each boxer heading into this battle for the WBO Welterweight Title, but these have mostly been answered after the one-sided fight.
Here is a look at what we now know about each competitor following Saturday's high-profile bout.
Chris Algieri
No matter what a boxer's record, it is hard to know too much about him until he faces the best competition possible. Chris Algieri started his career 20-0, but it was not until his win over Ruslan Provodnikov that anyone took him seriously as a contender.
Even though that split-decision win was disputed, it showed that he was at least in the conversation for the best fighters in the world at his weight class. The match against Pacquiao would determine whether he could stay among the elite group of competitors.
On the down side, he was beaten pretty handily while being unable to cause any damage on his opponent. Ryan Songalia of Ring Magazine joked about the boxer's struggles:
It is clear no rematch is needed because it would not show us anything new. However, he did showcase a lot of heart in the loss, as noted by ESPN's Skip Bayless:
Algieri proved he has a strong chin and would be competitive against a lot of other competitors. He also is not short on confidence, as he showed after the bout:
While he might not get another pay-per-view main event anytime soon, he should be involved in some high-profile events against other top competitors like Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse or Humberto Soto.
If he can remain confidence and learn from his mistakes, he should be able to remain in the spotlight and possibly work his way toward another title opportunity.
Manny Pacquiao
A couple of years ago, it seemed like Pacquiao was ready to end his career after consecutive losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. After his latest win over Algieri, it is clear the Philippine boxer is as good as ever.
The 35-year-old fighter threw 200 more punches than his opponent, landing 121 more shots, according to CompuBox (h/t ESPN). His quickness caused Algieri to only land 23 percent of his punches.
Although the fight was not perfect for the veteran, ESPN's Dan Rafael notes how impressive the performance was:
While many fans thought Pacquiao was no longer worthy of a bout against Floyd Mayweather, this again is all we can talk about. At least it is something that the Pac-Man wants to see happen:
There are obvious logistic concerns with this potential superfight as the two sides debate money, drug testing and other issues. However, it is clear that this is the only bout that would be acceptable for either competitor.
Pacquiao avenged his loss to Bradley and has already defeated Marquez in the past. This means that if he doesn't battle Mayweather the opponent will likely be a relative unknown who will not fare too much better than Algieri.
This is not what fans will want to see and his PPV numbers will suffer.
However, the fact that he is once again proving to be among the best in the world at any weight class, a bout against Mayweather is truly the only option. Hopefully, the two elite competitors will please fans by creating the bout everyone wants to see.
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