Malignaggi: Algieri in Win-Win Spot Against Pacquiao

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi is giving Chris Algieri (20-0, 8KOs) a good shot to perform impressively on November 22, when he faces WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in Macau, China.

Malignaggi is not convinced that Algieri, the WBO world title holder at 140-pounds, has enough speed or enough crisp punching to overcome the physical skills of the Filipino eight division world champion.

In June of this year, Algieri won a close twelve round decision over Ruslan Provodnikov to capture the WBO championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

"I think stylistically, this fight doesn’t favor Algieri as good as the Provodnikov fight did. Pacquiao and him both go on speed and timing and the boxing aspect of it, instead of the brawling aspect of it. I worry that Pacquiao might be a little too sharp for Chris or just a little quicker than Chris, but we’ll see because Pacquiao is getting up there in age. Chris is a busy guy, we’ll see if he can use his height and kind of negate that in and out range of Pacquiao," Malignaggi said to On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

"Chris is a pretty tall kid for junior welterweight, even for a welterweight. He says he’s gonna push the pace and Chris is always in very good shape, he’s a fitness guru and I think he’s gone to school for that dietician and stuff like that. He’s a very intelligent guy and knows how to get himself in shape, so we’ll see. Regardless of whatever happens, for Chris it’s a win-win situation because if he doesn’t pull off the upset, he’s still the junior welterweight champion."