Algieri Channels His Inner Rocky and Throws His Name in The Pacquiao Ring

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In what was a good solid undercard in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center last weekend, we saw possibly the rising of a future star in boxing in Demetrius Andrade and the crowning of a new champion as Chris Algieri upset Ruslan Providnikov to become the WBO Junior Welterweight champion by split decision. The post-fight press conference were also filled with quotes from Algieri which touched on his next fight, having a chip on his shoulder, as well as overcoming a deep hole in round 1 after being knocked down and taking a knee.

The perfect way to explain how Chris Algieri looked after the fight was by his own words. Algieri started off the press conference by saying, “Arturo Gatti was my favorite fighter in High School, but I never wanted to fight like him, but I think I might have turned into him for half a night.” Then he pulled his sunglasses up and showed his right eye, which was completely red and swollen shut, a sore site for the Algieri supporters.

Algieri then went on to talk about his motivation in the ring, saying “Ruslan was a guy that nobody wanted to fight and I had said that for me, this wasn’t about a title. This wasn’t about making more money than everyone has made. This isn’t about the future of making money. This was about tonight. I was more concerned about coming out of here 20-0 than I was about coming out of here the world Champion.”

Algieri knew that he was a big underdog and he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder regarding Ruslan being regarded as a “Warrior” and not himself. Algieri said, “For me it’s my competitive nature to want fights like this and that’s what kept me in this fight. There were a lot of doubters about how much I really wanted it. Ruslan kept saying he would die in the ring and if I’d be willing to do that. I think I showed that I belonged there as well, even though I didn’t come from a torn childhood or upbringing. I came from the suburbs of Long Island. I don’t have to fight, I fight because I love to fight and if you didn’t see passion in those 12 rounds, I don’t know what you were looking at.”

Algieri got off to a really “Rocky” start. He was knocked down with a hard left hook in round one and then had to take a knee about a minute later, also in the 1st. Algieri commented on that saying, “The only punch that hurt me all night was really that 1st left hook, I didn’t see it, I threw a sloppy left hook, and I got caught with that shot. It put me down and my eye started swelling immediately. The 2nd knockdown I took a knee really to gather and really see what was going on with my eye.” Nothing else seemed to faze Algieri, “I felt like I stopped getting hit after the 4th round. At that point they were few and far between, and they were wide loopy shots. Like I said, the only shot that really hurt me was the 1st left shot in the 1st rd.”

Being down in such a huge hole early, after round 1, one had to wonder the strategy of taking a knee and giving up a 10-7 round that start the fight. “It’s harder to overcome getting stopped than it is to overcome getting a knockdown. So after that 1st knockdown I wanted to make sure my eye was okay before I got hit with another shot trying to gather myself on my feet. I figured I’d gather myself on my knee, that way I didn’t get hit with another shot that could have really injured my eye and possibly ended the fight”, said Algieri. Regarding how much vision he had, Algieri said, “I was good up until about the 8th round. It was starting to affect me after the 8th. By the 12th, it was shut.”

When Algieri was asked “What’s next for you?” Artie Pelullo, the co-promoter of this event, along with Chris Algieri’s promoter, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing, said, “Bob Arum says if he wins the fight he has Manny Pacquiao next.” When Algieri was asked about the possibility of Pacquiao, Algieri said, “It’s a good fight. It’s a great fight. To be in there with a guy like Manny, definitely a future Hall of famer, it would be awesome. I think stylistically it could be a good matchup for me. He’s another dangerous guy, but I feel my style matches up good with his. Hey, that could be a very real possibility, but I don’t really know what happens next.”

It was a memorable night for Chris Algieri and the Brooklyn crowd, which was very pro-Algieri, which came to see him fight. It was truly like a scene out of Rocky with the heavily favored Russian knocking the American down twice early and the American fighting back, gaining momentum with the crowd chanting his name. Algieri summed it up by saying, “This is how I pictured me winning a world title, in New York, fighting like this.” As Jim Lampley would say, “This is boxing!”