Roach Says Pacquiao is No Provodnikov, Credits NYSAC

By Bill "Two Scoops" Emes

Trainer Freddie Roach saw no reason for the New York State Athletic Commission to stop Saturday's fight between Ruslan Provodnikov and Chris Algieri. Algieri was dropped twice in the first round. The punch which caused first knockdown injured Algieri's right eye and it swelled completely shut by the later rounds.

Some wondered if the NYSAC should have stopped the fight to protect Algieri's eye. Roach is not one of those critics. The fight was allowed to continue and Algieri boxed his way to a twelve round split decision and captured the WBO junior welterweight title.

"No, I don't think it should have been stopped. I like fights to go on and they gave him a chance. They eye, I don't think he could see too good out of it, but I've had fighters like that before. In my era they let the fights go on a little bit longer. But in some states they may have stopped the fight. I think it was the right choice [to let it continue] because he never quit," Roach said.

With the win on Saturday night, Algieri is now in line to face one of Roach's other star fighters, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, in the fall. But Roach warns that Pacquiao is no Provodnikov.

"Manny and Ruslan are kind of opposites. Ruslan is a power puncher and a knockout artist. Manny, well at 140 he's a knockout artist, but at 147 he doesn't have a lot of knockouts. He only has a couple at that weight. He's a better boxer than Ruslan. They are a bit like opposites," Roach told BoxingScene.com.