Six-time Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach predicted that WBO welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao will knock Chris Algieri out in the first round in their scheduled fight on Sunday, November 23 in Macau.
Roach, Pacquiao’s long-time trainer, said that Algieri will be outclassed by his fighter, adding that the American boxer can run to confuse Pacquiao but the Filipino boxing icon will catch him.
For Pacquiao (56-5-3, 38 knockouts), the Macau bout will be his second in the former Portuguese colony, and will be his third fight since he sustained back-to-back losses in 2012. The undefeated Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) for his part, will be fighting outside of his home state for the first time. The 30 year-old native of Huntington, N.Y. scored an upset win against Ruslan Provodnikov early this year to earn the WBO junior welterweight title.
The Filipino’s strength and conditioning coach, Justin Fortune, shared the same opinion as Roach. He said they have a great game plan which has been executed with great results.
