Philippine ring icon Manny Pacquiao comprehensively dismantled the US’ Chris Algieri to retain his WBO welterweight title at the Cotai Arena in Macau yesterday.
Pacquiao dropped Algieri to the canvas six times during the 12-round contest in the southern Chinese city to win in an overwhelming unanimous 119-103, 119-103, 120-102 decision on the judges’ cards.
WBO light welterweight champion Algieri — previously unbeaten — was outclassed from the start, with eight-division world champion Pacquiao knocking the Long Islander down in the second round, twice in both the sixth and ninth rounds, and finally again in the 10th.
Photo: AFP
Pacquiao was landing punches at will as the quick Algieri tried to run, slip and hide from the onslaught. Yet the congressman from Sarangani province really turned it when he smashed Algieri to the canvas with a devastating straight left in the sixth.
The American only just beat the count and dropped to one knee moments later as blows rained in from all angles.
He somehow survived and was knocked down twice more in the ninth and then again in the 10th, with one left sending him sprawling across the ring and head over heels backward into the corner.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m satisfied with the result,” Pacquiao said. “I did my best. I was trying for a knockout, but he was fast and keeps moving.”
“He’s perfected his style,” Algieri said. “He’s perfected the art of fighting like Manny Pacquiao. He hurt me once when he buzzed me with a left hook, but that was the only time.”
Algieri holds a master’s degree and wants to become a doctor once his boxing days are over. All week in the buildup to the bout, his trainer, Tim Lane, had been declaring that the American would destroy Pacquiao with his “master boxing.”
Those proved to be hollow words and Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach mocked them afterwards.
“The master boxer was given a master class by professor Pacquiao,” Roach said.
Roach raised a laugh when he told reporters he hadp resorted to an unusual tactic to try to get Pacquiao to finish Algieri with a knockout.
“Eleventh round, I said: ‘I want you to knock him out,’” Roach said. “He [Pacquiao] says: ‘In Jesus’ name?’ I said: ‘If that’s what you want me to say?’ He said: ‘Yeah.’ So I said: ‘Knock him out — in Jesus’ name!’” Roach said. “Really I tried everything I could to get that knockout.”
Pacquiao’s victory will inevitably heighten calls for him to face the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather in what could be the first US$1 billion fight in boxing history.
“I really want the fight. The fans deserve it,” Pacquiao said afterward, throwing down a challenge by imitating a new TV commercial in which he mocks Mayweather.
That brought huge cheers from the sellout 13,202-strong crowd at the Venetian Macau, the vast majority of whom seemed to be Filipinos.
Many hundreds more of Pacquiao’s compatriots were waiting patiently outside for a glimpse of their national hero after arriving at the venue in the early hours of yesterday to find all the tickets gone.
Back in the Philippines, the nation stopped to watch en masse.
“The Filipinos were united in celebrating the victory of our national fist, Congressman Manny Pacquiao in his fight against Chris Algieri in Macau,” Philippine President Benigno Aquino III spokesman Herminio Coloma said in Manila.
Earlier in Macau, Hong Kong super flyweight Rex Tso was given a tougher than expected workout over eight rounds against Espinos Sabu of Indonesia, but came through on a unanimous points decision.
Also, KK Ng — the up-and-coming “Macau Kid” — thrilled his home fans by battling through a six-round super welterweight contest against Australia’s Stephen Attard to win on a unanimous decision.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB