Pumped up by his upset win over Ruslan Provodnikov, unheralded Chris Algieri thinks he can stand his ground if given the chance to slug with Manny Pacquiao, who is still shopping for an opponent for his much-awaited ring return on Nov. 23 in Macau.
Algieri, unbeaten in 20 fights with eight knockouts, stunned the boxing world over the weekend by carving out a split decision over Provodnikov, a one-time sparring partner of Pacquiao and a shining star in Freddie Roach’s stable at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.
Speaking to ESPN Boxing, Algieri, 30, said nobody thought he could beat a seasoned and favored banger like Provodnikov.
Algieri said he was a nobody a few months ago and he made a lot of heads turn with his gritty performance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, getting up from two first-round knockdowns en route to a rousing display of fighting spirit and toughness.
Now that his name is being mentioned as a candidate to face the 35-year-old Pacquiao, the 5-10 Algieri said he has a strong feeling he will get the megabuck matchup.
“Very realistic. How realistic was it for me to get this Ruslan fight? How realistic was it for me to win the fight? These are all things that if you would have asked people a couple of months ago, they would have said the same thing about me getting the Ruslan fight,” said Algieri.
Algieri said that a Pacquiao face-off will be an opportunity for him to show that he is not a one-trick pony.
“Well I ended up getting it and I ended up winning it so why not get me the Pacquiao fight and see if I can do it again?” (Nick Giongco)