Manny Pacquiao’s November 2014 bout wasn’t hard to call prior to the action. Many analysts had picked Pacquiao – the seasoned, future Hall of Fame fighter – as the victor. Nobody really gave Chris Algieri, the young, tough, athletic New Yorker a chance at beating the Philippine boxing icon.
The saying “always go with your gut” proved ever so right when the overwhelming favorite won a shutout decision, the scorecards reading one of the widest margins recently seen in a Pay Per View title fight – certainly in 2014.
Not only did Manny Pacquiao win every round of his WBO title defense in Macau, China, he knocked down his challenger a staggering six times – one of them being particularly brutal in the 9th. The Unanimous Decision comprised scores of 119-103 (twice) and 120-102.
From the get-go, Pacquiao outclassed his challenger, using blurry hand speed and unorthodox angles to score big power shots. This was not the Pacquiao that destroyed Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, by any means – but it was a bloody good one.
Too much so for Algieri, who, though deserves credit for going the distance courtesy of tremendous heart and toughness, was totally out of his depth. No one doubts he is a fine fighter – we witnessed his courage and tool set in Provodnikov vs Algieri – but he simply jumped up too many levels when he took on Manny Pacquiao.
Algieri was dropped in the 1st, twice in the 6th, twice in the 9th, and once in the 10th. Needless to say, he has great recovery powers. Algieri landed a few shots of his own – mostly counters – but they were few and far between as he remained mostly on the defensive. Even though possessing the greater height and reach advantage, he was still unable to establish a good offense.
Following the victory, Pacquiao retains his WBO Welterweight belt (recaptured following Pacquiao vs Bradley II in April 2014). He now climbs to 57 wins, 38 knockouts, 5 losses, 2 draws, while Algieri suffers his first loss in 20 fights, which includes 8 knockouts to his name.
Pacquiao vs Algieri: One Career Soars, Another Dives
Given the landslide nature of this violent bout, this is not just a case of winner-loser. The bout will have thrust Manny Pacquiao well and truly back into the big picture at Welterweight, while handing the young Algieri an ugly, career-derailing loss. So much so, that’s it’s going to take a lot of mental strength to shake of the loss and bounce back.
This fan-friendly fight will have pleased casual fans of the sport. But how serious fans will feel may be a different matter. Was it exciting? Well, in a one-sided, non-competitive sense, yes. Was it worthy of the Pay Per View price tag? Mmm…now that’s definitely up for debate.
Vasyl Lomachenko won a Unanimous Decision over Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo on the night’s undercard. The WBO Featherweight titlist dropped his challenger in the 4th round en route to matching shutout scores of 120-107. In the bout prior, Jessie Vargas outpointed ex-titlist Antonio DeMarco, being awarded matching scores of 116-112. The win secured Vargas’ WBA Junior Welterweight title.
How did you feel about Pacquiao vs Algieri? Was it Pay Per View worthy? Was Chris Algieri really an overmatched opponent? – or did Manny Pacquiao simply take the fight away from him?
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