Macau: Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao comprehensively dismantled American Chris Algieri to retain his World Boxing Organization welterweight title at Cotai Arena, Macau on Sunday.
Pacquiao dropped Algieri to the canvas six times during the 12-round contest in the southern Chinese city to win an overwhelming unanimous decision, 119-103, 119-103, 120-102 on the judges' cards. The Associated Press had Pacquiao winning 120-102.
Unofficial scoring of the Pacquiao-Algieri fight
Round 1: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Algieri very tentative and throws almost nothing as Pacquiao chases him.
Round 2: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 8. Pacquiao credited with knockdown in corner. Algieri trying to stay away.
Round 3: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. So far this is a mismatch with Algieri unwilling to engage.
Round 4: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Pacquiao's shots are finding their mark, while Algieri only paws passively with his jab.
Round 5: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. This is a lopsided fight no matter what Algieri's corner thinks.
Round 6: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 7. Pacquiao gets two more knockdowns and looks capable of knocking Algieri.
Round 7: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Pacquiao still wins the round, but basically rested for much of the time.
Round 8: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Pacquiao wins another round as Algieri still hasn't landed much.
Round 9: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 7. Two more knockdowns. Algieri has nothing at all against a resurgent Pacquiao.
Round 10: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 8. Another round, another knockdown, six total for the fight.
Round 11: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Taking a round off before the last round, Pacquiao still wins it.
Round 12: Pacquiao 10, Algieri 9. Final round a snoozer, but Pacquiao gets a big win that he needed.
Total: Pacquiao 120, Algieri 102
Pacquiao dominates
Pacquiao went into the fight saying he needed a signature win to entice Mayweather to fight him in a bout that boxing fans have wanted for years. He vowed to put on a power performance like some of his earlier fights and did, never letting Algieri get close.
"I really want that fight," Pacquiao said of Mayweather. "The fans deserve that fight."
Algieri spent more time trying to stay away from Pacquiao than trading punches. But while Algieri could run, he couldn't hide. Pacquiao caught him repeatedly with power punches and dropped him as he tried to back away.
"The master boxer was given a master class by professor Pacquiao tonight," trainer Freddie Roach said. "I was disappointed in Algieri's performance tonight. All he did was run."
Algieri said he was simply beaten by a better fighter.
"It's not just his hand speed," Algieri said. "He's a great fighter. He does everything well. Manny has perfected his style of boxing."
Pacquiao knocked Algieri down in the corner in the second round, though Algieri claimed it was a slip. He easily fought his way through Algieri's tentative defense, landing punches on the inside and piling up points.
Algieri came into the fight with a reputation for his jab, but he refused to commit to it early and simply pawed at Pacquiao with his left hand. Still, Algieri's corner somehow thought he was carrying out the game plan just the way they had drawn it up.
"You're doing beautiful man," trainer Tim Lane told his fighter after the third round. "Everything stays the same. Keep it up."
By the end of the fourth round, Pacquiao had already thrown more than 100 more punches than Algieri. But Algieri rarely stopped to set his feet to punch, and kept trying to run away from the champion's punching power.
Unfortunately for Algieri, things then went from bad to worse. Pacquiao caught him with a big left hand that sent Algieri sprawling on the canvas in the sixth round, almost turning a reverse somersault before finally landing in the corner.
Pacquiao was right back on him, and Algieri went down again late in the round as he tried desperately to survive.
Still, Algieri's corner urged him to continue to do what he was doing, long after he needed a knockout to win.
"This is the way we want to be," Lane told him. "This is what you wanted."
Algieri was an unlikely opponent despite being unbeaten in 20 fights after ending a kick boxing career to concentrate on boxing.
He got the bout after being knocked down twice in the first round in his June fight with Ruslan Provodnikov and coming back to win a 12-round decision, and was supremely confident in the weeks before the fight that he would beat Pacquiao, too.
Weighty issues
On Saturday, Algieri could not make the catchweight limit of 144lb and was still 0.20lb over after a second attempt despite stripping down to his bare essentials at the weigh-in at the Venetian Macau’s Cotai Arena.
Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) was given two hours to sweat off the remaining weight and came back for a third attempt which saw him finally go under at 143.6lb.
Despite the hiccup, which would have thrown Algieri’s final preparations for Sunday’s fight slightly behind schedule, the former kickboxer from Long Island predicted he would win.
“I did all the hard work I needed to do,” said Algieri. “I know I can count on my skills to do it. This is dream come true and I’m ready to rock.”
Pacquiao (57-5-2, 44 KOs) has been relaxed and confident all week in Macau. The Filipino eight-weight world champion has been impressing all who have watched him train with the intensity and power he has shown in his workouts.
“I’ve been preparing like the early days in my career,” said Pacquiao at the weigh-in. “I want to get back the hungriness and the aggressiveness that I had when I was young.”
Earlier this week Pacquiao had said he enjoyed fighting unbeaten boxers, such as Algieri, because he liked to teach them what it is like to lose. But on Saturday the Sarangani province congressman was more diplomatic.
“I like to fight undefeated fighters like Algieri because it’s an honour to be in a fight like that,” Pacquiao said.
