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Algieri, If He Didn’t Steal the Show, Came Close at Pacquiao Presser in NYC Today

Freddie Roach had high praise for underdog Chris Algieri, who takes on The Fighting Congressman Manny Pacquiao Nov. 22 in Macau, when I asked what other pure boxer that Manny’s faced Algieri reminded him of.
“I compare him to Oscar De La Hoya,” Roach told me at the NYC presser today, which was held at a swank theater called the Liberty. “Good jab, good hook, not much of a right hand, has that height, maybe a little taller than Oscar. Not Oscar at his best, I’m not saying, but up ‘n’ coming Oscar.”
That sort of high praise for Algieri (seen in Chris Farina pic, with Manny, above), who drew laughs when he came in with a band of ladies–I tagged them the Algieri-ettes–was perhaps the theme of the presser. “That’s it, Chris?” I yelled with a wink, as he strode to his seat. “There’s more on the way,” he said, chuckling.
One high level executive told me he was beyond pleased how Algieri has performed in recent weeks, on the press tour, on 24/7, in interactions with all the fight game notables. The kid seems built for this, seems to soak it up, and appreciate it. Now, that doesn’t necessarily translate into a win.
But Arum, even, seems taken with The Huntington Heartthrob, noting that the last fella he saw inspiring such pheremonal activation (I said “activation” in my Richard Schaefer voice, by the way) was, you guessed it, Oscar.
I spoke to Algieri for a good few minutes, and I can say the kid isn’t cocky, but doesn’t lack for confidence. He told me he knows Manny is a better boxer, much better, than the last guy he fought, Ruslan Provodnikov. “But I don’t fear his power. He doesn’t steamroll people. And a guy who can do that, Provodnikov, he didn’t do that to me,” he said.
“We’ll box for little while, three four rounds, but I think at some point, when Manny wants the knockout, he’ll get it,” said Roach when I asked what strategies could be used on Nov. 22. “It’s the first time I’ve really seen Manny even talk about a knockout. He kind of knows he needs one at this point, and I think moving down (to 144 pounds or less) to a lower weight class is going to be better for him, because he’s never really been a 147. The only reason he moved down was to fight the big fights that came along. I think he’ll be better at 140, there are better opponents at 140. But I think he’ll knock this young kid out somewhere along the way.”
I posed the KO question to Manny. Is he really craving it, or is Freddie doing his Arum thing, stirring up our imaginations, getting us craving that red KO meat? “I’m trying to do my best, the KO is in my mind. I’m thinking about a good fight,” he said.
Maybe he likes this guy too much?
“Algieri is one of the nicest opponents I’ve had in my career. A gentleman, he’s a professional.”
And is it harder to try to KO someone when you like them? “I have to go in and do my job,” he answered. “If I get the chance to finish him, why not?”
Manny also said he’s happy to picture Algieri as a young Oscar. Why so? “That’s how I don’t get overconfident, that helps me focus on training. Has long jab, long, tall. He’s taller than Oscar,” Manny said.
I finished my grilling of Manny by asking when he’s running for President of his nation. He’s thinking Senate in 2016, and wouldn’t promise anything beyond that. Skilled pol, indeed.
My take: As Freddie pointed out, Manny can shrink a ring a hundred times better than Ruslan. That’ll make it real hard for the New Yorker to use his movement to as great an effect as he did June 14. Without a nasty right, it’ll be harder for him to make Pacman back off. But I’m not betting against him. His chances are better if Manny doesn’t want to train like a maniac or gets sidetracked with hoops or whatever. You’ll hear people saying that boxing is as much as 90% mental. If that is so, that bodes well for Algieri. No part of him thinks he doesn’t belong in with Pacman, and I didn’t employ a polygraph, but I do think he damned well believes he will bring the WBO welter crown back with him to the Island. We…shall…see.
Your thoughts, friends?
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— Photo Credit : Chris Farina – Top Rank
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.
SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.
It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.
Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.
Co-Feature
In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.
Other Bouts of Note
The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.
The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.
In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.
In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.
In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.
Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”
He meant it as a rhetorical question.
Semi-Windup
Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.
A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.
Also
Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.
In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.
The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.
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