WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is still "hungry" to fight, despite a dalliance with professional basketball that had his camp worried sick. The 35-year-old, who has world titles in eight weight divisions under his belt, defends his current crown against undefeated Chris Algieri in Macau on November 22nd.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, worked the corner of Ruslan Provodnikov when he faced Algieri in June. Algieri got off the floor in the first round, twice, and boxed his way to a twelve round split decision to capture the WBO welterweight crown.
Roach says Pacquiao is a much better finisher than Provodnikov, and predicts Pacquiao will end Algieri in a similar situation.
"Well he was in against a big puncher and he got off the canvas twice after knockdowns. It is a tough thing to do. His eye was really damaged in that fight. Ruslan is a big puncher but he just got caught up looking for that one-punch knockout and I think that was the downfall in that fight for us," Roach said.
"I think Manny is a much more experienced fighter and a much more technical fighter, throws a lot more combinations and is a lot faster. He’s not as big as a one-punch knockout artist but Manny can hurt you when he wants to. Manny is also a great finisher and as I said before, Manny always finishes what he starts.
