Manny Pacquiao Next Fight Update: Chris Algieri’s Jab Won’t Be a Problem for Pacquiao, Says Freddie Roach
Freddie Roach believes that Manny Pacquiao will not have a problem dealing with Chris Algieri's jab in their upcoming showdown on Nov. 22 at the Venetian Resort in Macau, China.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Roach admitted that Algieri uses his jab effectively, but he reiterated that Pacquiao knows how to deal with it, citing the way the former pound-for-pound king bypassed Oscar De La Hoya's jab during their super fight in December 2008.
"Taking away some of his jab is not the hardest thing in the world to do. Manny knows how to do it well. He did it with Oscar," Roach said.
Roach, who trained Ruslan Provodnikov in his loss to Algieri in June, said that Algieri's jab was one of the main reasons why he managed to escape with a split decision win against Provodnikov despite getting knocked down twice in the opening round.
The 54-year-old trainer said that Provodnikov managed to neutralize Algieri's jab in the early rounds of their fight, but the 30-year-old Russian became too eager to score a knockout win, giving his then-challenger a chance to maximize his height and reach advantage with his jab.
"Ruslan got past it in the first round; it's not hard to do. He just wasn't consistent with it," Roach said. "He was just looking for a one punch knockout and that's something you can't do with a guy like this. You're not going to hit him with one punch and knock him out. Ruslan had success early and then got carried away with it."
Algieri, who will put his perfect 20-0 record on the line against Pacquiao, recently admitted that the Filipino boxing icon is faster and has better footwork than him. He is not worried about it, though, saying that his jab can neutralize Pacquiao's vaunted speed and punching power.
"I don't care what you got. I don't care how strong you are. I don't care how fast you are. A good jab and a good mind can neutralize anything," Algieri said.
The 30-year-old Huntington, New York native, who is the reigning World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion, is set to earn a career-high $1 million guaranteed fight purse in his welterweight title fight against Pacquiao.
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