Bradley: Algieri needs to move vs Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Timothy Bradley, who has fought Manny Pacquiao twice, gave some advice to fellow American Chris Algieri on his upcoming tussle against the Filipino next month.

Bradley had some success against Pacquiao in their first meeting two years ago, escaping with a split decision win. He, however, came up short in their rematch earlier this year as Pacquiao got back at him with a unanimous decision victory.

Still, his victory over Pacquiao gave Bradley a measure of credibility when it comes to giving out tips on how to beat the fiery southpaw. He shared a pivotal one to Algieri.

“We all know that movement frustrates Manny Pacquiao. If he stands there, he’s gonna get obliterated. If he moves on Manny Pacquiao and makes Pacquiao pick up his feet and chase him around, then he has a better chance of winning the fight,” Bradley told host Jenna J of On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

Though undefeated in 20 fights, Algieri is not known for his punching power, with only 8 of those wins coming by way of knockout. He prefers to flick his jab, box and move around to pile up points.

That’s what he did against former champion Ruslan Provodnikov last June to pull off an upset and take the Russian’s WBO light welterweight title. Despite the career-defining win, the New Yorker is still a heavy underdog against Pacquiao.

“They’re not giving him [Algieri] a chance because they don’t know who Chris Algieri is. He had the great match against Provodnikov and then he had another good match against Emanuel Taylor and he looked good there. The fans don’t really know too much about Algieri and he doesn’t have that big name or that hype, so they’re not giving him a chance,” said Bradley.

The former welterweight champion added that Algieri’s best chance to win against Pacquiao is to do what he did in the Provodnikov fight.

“Algieri is what I call a pure boxer, almost like a Paulie Malignaggi in the sense that he uses his movement and he’s long, tall and rangy and he knows how to use his movement. A lot of fans don’t really realize that Algieri is not used to losing, the guy was a kickboxing champion, world champion kickboxer, 20-0. This guy is not used to losing,” he said.

“Algieri showed in the Ruslan fight that he can make adjustments. He stood there and he got hit, got dropped, got back up and then he figured it out, ‘Ok I gotta move on this guy.’ He did that and he ended up winning the fight against Ruslan Provodnikov. This guy can definitely make adjustments, he definitely has a height and reach advantage going for him in this fight,” Bradley continued.

Whether Algieri can do the same to Pacquiao at The Venetian Macao on November 23 is a big question. – Dino Maragay