Can Pacquiao Negates the Excellent Footworks of Rangy Algieri?

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

When veteran radio commentator Ruel Camba asked me recently inside the booth of DWPR in our city the difference between Chris Algieri and Manny Pacquiao, I told him that even 5’10 in height and 72 inches shoulder and hand reach Algieri, native of Huntington, New York, has 20 bouts on his sleeves where he technically knocked out eight of his opponents, he has a master’s degree in nutrition.

World Boxing Organization's  Welterweight Champ Manny Pacquiao (L) poses
 for posterity with the taller and rangy Chris Algieri whose style is to
 box backtracking.

 “Si Pacquiao aside from his knocked out ratio of 60% of his 63 bouts, he finished only elementary grade until he was accelerated, (through the intervention of the Philippine President?) to college while his fellow examinee, brother and wannabe boxer and wannabe PBA (professional basketball) player flunk,” I explained.

Style makes fight.
I agreed with Siberia, Russia citizen the hard puncher (harder than Pacquiao) Ruslan Provodnikov who bewailed that he should not be fighting the absconding Algieri last June 14, 2014.
Although Provodnikov knocked down twice the New Yorker in the 1st Round, transformed his face from celluloid screen heartthrob Ding- Dong Dantes (Philippine’s version of Ben Alfeck) to flick’s villain the ugly Max Alvarado, the Russian southpaw could hardly hit the back pedaling – Algieri whose   footwork’s could be an inferior version of Ali.

“Ali Dimaporo, the Marcos warlord?” Ruel jokingly posed.
“No”, the greatest Muhammad Ali whose famous poetic quipped “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”, I told him.
But Algieri could only float but his stings lack venom, thus branding him as less dangerous pug whose punches lack the knock out’s pop.
In that split decision that Provodnikov lost, his face was unscathed.

“Umakyat siya sa lona na dala-dala niya iyong ala Janet Napoles na mukha niya, bumaba siya ng lona na dala-dala din niya ang Janet Napoles na mukha niya (He ascended to the dais with that Janet Napoles (arrested Pork Barrel Queen of the Philippines) face, he descended from the dais with the same Janet Napoles face,” I told Ruel –  Pangasinan’s video Karaoke star.
But Pacquiao is a different creature to Provodnikov. The former has a ton of adrenalin and is three to four times faster in throwing those hay-makers than the Russian.
Pacquiao will be cutting him as he (Algieri) backtracks clockwise to avoid being hit. Manny will paper targets his body (since his head weave and bobble) with a power combination or hit him with his looping power left punch to his right chin whenever he lowers his right glove.
With the unceasing fast paces attack from Pacquiao from the starts of Round 1 to Round 12 (if Coach Freddie Roach follows this strategy)  , Algieri, a non- counter puncher, would be contented to just  throw his long left jabs and sneak his right combo as he retreats.
“Although I could not discount a K.O in the latter round from a Filipino boxer who has not seen a KO from his arsenal since five years ago, I still favor Manny to win the fight through aggressiveness and the harder punches he lands on the face and torso of the New Yorker,” I concluded.
(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com