LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao’s ability to reinvent himself allowed him to overcome a devastating knockout for the ages, made him a champion at age 40, and now carries him to another welterweight title at 46.
“I’ve been worried about him fighting at this advanced age,” said Chris Algieri, the former 140lbs world champion who fought Pacquiao in 2014 and will now analyze his Saturday night bout versus WBC champion Mario Barrios on PPV.COM. “But I feel better for him after seeing him.
He still seems spry with energy, seems energetic, genuinely happy to be here. And a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter.”
Algieri, who also analyzes bouts and issues for ProBox TV, told BoxingScene after interviewing Pacquiao at Wednesday’s news conference that the most compelling dynamic is the chess move of which fight plan Pacquiao 62-8-2 (39 KOs) is planning for the 30-year-old Barrios 29-2-1 (18 KOs).
When Algieri fought Pacquiao in 2014 in China, the record eight-division champion who’s now been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame was just two fights removed from his hellacious knockout loss to rival Juan Manuel Marquez.
“The guy I fought – at 35, we were considering him old – wasn’t old. I was expecting the same fighter who fought Marquez and Barrera and Morales. Two-fisted attack, both hands, aggressive, diving in. But he didn’t fight me like that,” said Algieri, who suffered six knockdowns in the unanimous-decision loss that paved the way for Pacquiao’s megafight in 2015 versus Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
“He boxed me. Boxed really well. Fought me on the outside. Used his jab. Yes, he used the blistering combinations.Yes, he had the fancy footwork. Yes, he hit hard. But he fought much more in a boxing style … it caught me off guard, because that was post-Marquez 4 Manny Pacquiao. When he got knocked out by Marquez [in 2012], he became a different fighter.
“He started using more of his IQ, and I was surprised by how smart he was in the ring, his awareness. He was never known for that. He was a two-fisted destroyer. I expected his explosivesness, athleticism, all that. It wasn’t the guy I met.”
Algieri later called a Pacquiao title victory over power-puncher Lucas Matthysse in 2018, and watched him defeat another intellectual foe like Algieri, in then-welterweight champion Keith Thurman in 2019.
“Manny puts on a great performance, drops [Thurman] in the first round, hurts him late, gets his hand raised in the end,” Algieri said. “And that guy was much different than the guy I fought. He stood his ground much more, got hit by Keith more, stayed in the pocket and showed incredible durability. The power and deceptiveness in the attack was still there.
“So, it makes me think, ‘What version of Manny will we get on Saturday versus Barrios?’”
It’s the question of fight week.
As Algieri considers it, he returns to Pacquiao’s age and brilliance in altering his strategy to the opponent.
Beyond the muscle memory of relying on well-conditioned footwork, creative punching angles and world-class power, Pacquiao’s proven ability to improvise is the focal point of the bout.
“I don’t think it’ll be the same guy as Thurman. We’ve seen him change. And he stays effective, even at the highest level,” Algieri said. “That’s the thing that’s so remarkable about Manny. His boxing IQ is way higher than what he gets credit for. I don’t expect him to be moving all over the ring, don’t expect him to be throwing blistering combinations. I expect him to be looking for the one big shot. Early.
“I think he’s going to go for it right away. In the first round, his first step – like a basketball player on the fast break – is so fast. If he has even 60 percent of that Saturday and starts landing that left hand in the first round, he’s got a real shot. We’ve got a fight. But if he’s falling off balance, is slow to pull the trigger like most older fighters are, it’s going to be a really long night.”
Seeing his former foe’s energy and enthusiasm Wednesday gives Algieri reason to believe Pacquiao can execute the plan against an opponent vulnerable to it.
“Mario is a Mexican warrior. He prides himself on that. He’s a better technical fighter than he gets credit for, but he gets dragged into fights and he gets square and he gets hit,” Algieri said.
“And we’ve seen that against guys who are sub-championship level: Abel Ramos, Fabian Maidana both touched Barrios up. Eyes swelling, bleeding, Ramos dropped him [in a draw on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson card in November].
“The last thing to go is the power. If Manny’s got anything left, he can still punch with that left hand. That’s what we’ll be looking for. This version of Manny will be a new version, and I think it’s him trying to land the big shot.”
