Boxing DVDs

Famed trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas says he’s not dismissing Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) chances in his fight next month against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) on November 22nd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, in Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

“It could be a tougher fight. I mean, you don’t know what Pacquiao’s going to be when he gets in the ring,” Atlas said to Fighthype.com. “He’s [Pacquiao] a guy with a lot of problems, a lot of distractions. He’s made a lot of money. He’s got a lot of miles on the odometer. He’s only a couple fights removed from being knocked out cold.”

The only threat here is if Pacquiao comes into the ring taking Algieri lightly. Psychologically, he has to realize that a victory here means absolutely nothing. If he knocks Algieri out, fans will dismiss the challenger as being undeserving anyway. If Algieri is even remotely competitive, the rallying cry will be that Pacquiao is slipping.

This fight is the epitome of a no-win situation for the Pacman.

“Algieri wasn’t supposed to get this far. He’s surprised everybody and he’s an undefeated guy,” Atlas said. “He hasn’t learned how to lose, and he’s got nothing to lose. He’s got legs, he’s got youth. He might get Pacquiao on an off night. He’s made us wrong so far.”

I couldn't disagree more with Atlas. He is not mentioning the fact that Algieri was the recipient of one of the worst decisions in recent memory with his disputed victory over Ruslan Provodnikov. Max Deluca, the only judge with 20/20 vision working the Provodnikov fight, scored the fight 117-109 in favor of the Siberian Express.

Algieri really has not done anything to “make us wrong” aside from survive the distance with the hard punching Provodnikov.