By Mark Whicker
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum will discuss the possibility of a November 22 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri with Art Pelullo in Los Angeles today.
Pelullo, the promoter for Ruslan Provodnikov, got promotional options on Algieri after the Long Islander super-welterweight lifted Provodnikov's WBO title with a unanimous decision June 14.
Such a matchup wasn't on anyone's GPS until Algieri upset Ruslan Provodnikov, despite the fact that his eye resembled the coin slot in a vending machine.
The fight most likely will be in Macau, Arum said Tuesday.
Algieri is 20-0 after beating Provodnikov for the WBO light welterweight title on June 14. The former kickboxer from Huntington, N.Y. also has a master's degree in healthcare science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and is about as pure an underdog figure as anyone can be against Pacquiao.
"You don't find guys like him in boxing very often," Arum said to BoxingScene.com. "He's a very well-spoken guy with a good image and the people in China will appreciate that. I also think the fight will do very well on the East Coast. But it isn't done yet."
Most people felt Pacquiao would fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the fifth time this fall, but Marquez has been ambivalent about that fight and particularly the location.
"I haven' been able to travel so it's been difficult," said Arum, who is recuperating from a knee replacement operation. "But I don't get the impression that Marquez wants to do this fight at this time. Maybe next year."
Mark Whicker has been a sports columnist in Southern California for 27 years.
