Chris Algieri knows that he will be a heavy underdog in his upcoming fight against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 22 in Macau, but the reigning World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion believes that he can silence his critics.

In a recent interview, Algieri had all praises for Pacquiao, whom he called as a living legend and a future Hall of Famer, but the unbeaten champion confidently said that it's his time to shine.

"Manny has done great things in the sports," Algieri said. "He's a living legend. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. What he's done in the sport is incredible, but it's time for a new era. It's time for new faces, the time is now and I'm ready to take it."

The 30-year-old champion added that he will go all out against Pacquiao, saying that he has long dreamed for an opportunity to prove his worth, and he will not waste the chance that he is about to get this November.

"This is what I want. This is what I've wanted for a long time," Algieri said.

Algieri was a relatively unknown in the stacked welterweight division but made a name for himself after scoring a split decision win against Ruslan Provodnikov in June.

The Huntington, New York native, who holds an unblemished 20-0 record, went down twice in the first round of the match but showed resiliency throughout the fight en route to a close win against the former champion.

Boxing analysts Al Bernstein was impressed with the way Algieri recovered during his fight against Provodnikov. And based from what he saw during the Provodnikov-Algieri fight, Bernstein believes that Algieri has a chance to score a huge upset against the former pound-for-pound king.

"I have huge respect for what Algieri did in the Provodnikov fight. I just think for a fighter to get through the adversity that he did early in that fight, and come back to fight so well is remarkable," Bernstein said. "He made a believer out of me as a very good fighter. I think because of his height and length and because of the way he fights it's going to be a pretty interesting fight."

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