MACAU, Macau – Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao on Monday dismissed his next opponent, undefeated American Chris Algieri, as merely an “okay” fighter as the build-up began to their upcoming contest.
Pacquiao (56-5-2) will put his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title on the line against 30-year-old former kickboxer Algieri (20-0) on November 23 when the Filipino icon returns for his second fight in the southern Chinese gambling haven of Macau.
Despite Algieri wresting the WBO light welterweight title in a big upset against the tough Russian Ruslan Provodnikov in a controversial split decision in June, it was clear that Pacquiao does not feel his opponent can cause another shock.
“I saw his fight with Ruslan,” Pacquiao told reporters at a press conference to announce the November card. “He took a lot of bad punches from Ruslan but he’s tough.
“He can box. I’m not saying he’s really good but he’s not bad. He’s OK,” Pacquiao added.
Pacquiao and Algieri were in Macau on the first date of a whirlwind six-city promotional tour that will move on to Shanghai, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.
Roach said he just had to accept it, but when it came to the serious end of training for the next fight, he had made a deal with the hoops-mad Pacquiao.
