The Pacman chased a fugitive around the ring all day — then resumed his pursuit of Mayweather and the money.
‘The fans deserve the fight between me and Floyd,’ said Manny Pacquiao after discovering six knockdowns don’t make a knock-out if the man in the other corner cares only for survival.
Deserve it the faithful do, before they are subjected to more pretenders who simply take the money and run, as the American Chris Algieri did here.
Promoter Bob Arum has been accused of blocking the fight the world has been waiting years to see. Now he says what so many feel: ‘If boxing wants to be considered a major sport a Manny and Floyd fight has to happen. We’re doing all we can to bring it about.’
Arum’s ambition of a Billion Dollar Fight — predicated on opening up the Chinese TV market — will almost certainly tempt Mayweather. That project remains on track, with the hope their next fights will be against each other next May.
Did I write take the money and run? It should read run and take the money. The PacMan cameth. Sylvester Stallone made the journey from Hollywood. So did Arnold Schwarzenegger. Only the opponent failed to show. Someone called Algieri was here in his model body, but not in fighting spirit.
Had they removed the ring ropes he would have reversed himself into the car park of the Venetian casino. This was not a mere landslide decision, it was a seismic earthquake measuring 120-102 on the Richter scale of scoring.
Ducking and diving in an effort to remain conscious for 12 rounds is not ambition enough in a world title fight, certainly not to justify take home pay of more than a million dollars. But wasn’t he courageous to keep rising from the canvas?
There are two answers to the question. Pacquiao gave the courteous one: ‘Chris showed big heart by getting up six times.’ The Filipino’s trainer Freddie Roach put it witheringly: ‘Algieri never came to fight and didn’t have the guts to fight when he got back to his feet.’
The sold-out crowd were happy to see their idol deliver what Roach described as ‘a masterclass.’
Algieri’s contribution may be that his 12-round survival makes Mayweather believe Pacquiao is beatable. Let us hope so. We deserve that fight to happen. But none more so than Manny Pacquiao.– Daily Mail