Diaz says Algieri not in Manny’s league
MACAU – Take it from legendary Argentine cutman Miguel Diaz who has worked over 40 years as a manager and trainer of a wide assortment of fighters, including over 10 world champions. He said Chris Algieri is just not in WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s league.
Diaz joined Pacquiao’s corner starting the fight against Oscar de la Hoya in 2008. The man called El Mago (The Magician) was in the Filipino’s corner when he trounced Algieri to retain the WBO crown at the Cotai Arena here yesterday.
“It’s like Manny fought nobody,” said the 76-yearold Diaz. “You can’t even compare how Manny performed against Algieri to how he fought other guys like (Timothy) Bradley because there was just no competition. Everybody wanted Manny to knock out Algieri but how do you knock out a guy who doesn’t want to fight? That guy’s a runner. If you put Algieri against Bradley, you’ll see a boring fight. They’ll run all night. Algieri is not in Manny’s class.”
Diaz has lived in Las Vegas for over 35 years and worked with fighters like Pedro Decima, Erik Morales, Fernando Vargas, James Toney, Jorge Arce, Miguel Cotto, Marcos Maidana and even Floyd Mayweather.
Diaz said Algieri never put his punches together because he was too scared to be hit back. “I thought the only time that Algieri threw a succession of punches was when he got hurt and had to keep Manny away,” he said. “Otherwise, it was Manny all the way.”
Diaz said he has no sympathy for Algieri even if his mother Adriana is also from Argentina. “I know Adriana,” he said. “I’ve spoken to her.” Algieri’s father Dominick is a New Yorker of Italian descent. He has an older brother Mike who is a detective with the New York Police Department.
Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Justin Fortune said Algieri realized soon enough that it’s different facing a fighter of the Filipino’s caliber. “Algieri was talking of how he’d knock out Manny, that he’s faster and stronger,” said Fortune. “When he finally got in the ring with Manny, reality set in. Let’s face it, Algieri isn’t a big time fighter. He’s good for ESPN, not for HBO. He did as we all expected, he ran and didn’t engage. Nothing new.”
From what Algieri showed against Pacquiao, Fortune said he couldn’t imagine how Ruslan Provodnikov lost. “If Algieri and Ruslan fight again, it’s a nocontest,” he said. “He doesn’t belong in the elite level with guys like Manny, Bradley and Mayweather.”
Fortune whipped Pacquiao into tip-top shape and the Filipino could’ve gone even 12 more rounds with Algieri. “Bob (Arum) did a good job of hyping this fight because Algieri was just no match,” he said. “Algieri could do nothing in there with Manny. It was good for the fans because Manny put on a show with six knockdowns. Algieri came in not intending to win. All he wanted to do was to survive 12 rounds with Manny. He was happy with that. I think he knew from the start, he had no chance of winning. He was scared stiff.”
Pacquiao’s assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez said he didn’t want the defending champion to take chances. “Algieri has a strong left uppercut and right straight,” he said. “I told Manny to be careful. Sometimes, when Manny comes in, he leaves himself open for a left uppercut and a right straight. Algieri tried to throw that left uppercut but Manny knew it would come.”
Fernandez said he wasn’t surprised that Algieri scaled 155 for the fight and Pacquiao, 149. At the weigh-in, Pacquiao scaled 143.8 and Algieri, 143.6 on his second attempt after tipping in at 144.4 on a trial and 144.2 in his first official try. Fernandez said the added weight made it easier for Pacquiao to land because Algieri got too heavy.