By Edward Chaykovsky
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is not focused on knocking out his upcoming opponent, unbeaten Chris Algieri. They will clash on November 22nd at the Venetian in Macau, China.
Pacquiao has not stopped an opponent inside the distance since the TKO victory over Miguel Cotto in December of 2009. His trainer, Freddie Roach, is hoping he gets a knockout next month, but that is not Pacquiao's focus.
He refuses to make the same mistake that he made in 2012, when his sole focus was to score a knockout over Juan Manuel Marquez, who ended up catching Pacquiao cold with a one-punch KO in the sixth round.
Pacquiao has been criticized by some for the taking fight lightly, because he took part in professional basketball games in the Philippines.
"No, absolutely I'm not taking this fight lightly because I know his hunger and he's young and he wants to win the fight, but I will not let that happen," Pacquiao said to Fox Deportes.
"I'm not thinking about the knockout because it will make me confident and careless. If the knock-out comes it will come but my focus is to make sure that 100 percent condition and killer instinct is there, the aggressiveness is there, so that's my focus in training."