By Edward Chaykovsky
Hard welterweight puncher Keith Thurman (23-0, 21KOs) is giving unbeaten Chris Algieri (20-0, 8KOs) a shot to upset WBO champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38KOs) on Noevmber 22nd at the Cotai Arena in Macau, China.
Algieri had a huge upset in June when captured the WBO junior welterweight title with a twelve round split decision over Keith Thurman at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"He has a height advantage I believe, he has a reach advantage, the kid showed decent skills. I don’t think he’s unbeatable by any means, but he’s got some talent and he’s made it to the world class stage. If he keeps training like a champion, he may stay a champion," Thurman told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
At the same time, Thurman believes Pacquiao will succeed in areas where Provodnikov technically failed.
"It is obvious that Manny is favored. We saw what happened with Provodnikov’s power punching, so you would assume that Manny’s power punching would be just as effective, and then Manny’s speed would make it more difficult for Algieri and most likely it’s gonna allow Manny to land more power punches than Provodnikov was able to do when he fought Algieri," Thurman said.
"It’s not one that people aren’t really super eager to see or really talk about, but it’s a match nonetheless and there’s a potential upset, once again. He did it once, can he do it twice? That’s the big question."