Just around the same time his rival in the Philippines took his preparation to another level, Chris Algieri did the same thing over in Las Vegas as the undefeated US fighter capped training day by sparring a total of 13 rounds over the weekend against three different guys.
Two weeks before they rumble in Macau, Pacquiao and Algieri made their respective training teams beam with pride by coming up with intense workouts in the crucial stage of the buildup.
Pacquiao did 12 furious rounds on Thursday and actually began to slow down the following day, while Algieri just hit his peak by toying with his sparmates.
Algieri even had a surprise visitor with renowned conditioning coach Angel Heredia dropping by the gym to say hello to the 30-year-old New Yorker, the heavy betting underdog in the scheduled 12-round welterweight war at the Cotai Arena on Nov. 23.
Heredia is remembered for his participation in the training camp of Juan Manuel Marquez during the fourth fight with Pacquiao in Dec. 2012.
Marquez credited Heredia for lending a hand in his stunning sixth-round knockout over his fierce Filipino rival.
But Top Rank chief publicist Lee Samuels said yesterday that there was nothing to Heredia’s recent visit to Algieri’s training session.
“Memo (Heredia’s nickname) was with (Algieri sparmate) Zab Judah and he’s (Heredia) not a part of Algieri’s training team,” said Samuels, noting that Algieri has his own set of strategists in place.
“He’s (Algieri) not connected with Memo in any way,” added Samauels, who will join Algieri in the long flight to Macau from Las Vegas beginning on Nov. 12.
Algieri began training camp shortly after the multi-city press tour that began in late-August and ended in the early part of September.
But even before Algieri joined the traveling circus, he had started working out, a testament to his topnotch work ethic.
Algieri is spending his last days in Sinn City to perfect his gameplan and will be on his way to Macau on Nov. 12.
Latest odds favor Pacquiao (-800) over Algieri (+550). To cash in on Pacquiao, a bettor has to place $800 to win $100, while a mere $100 on Algieri will win $550.