Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will defend his WBO Welterweight championship against undefeated Chris Algieri on Saturday, 10:00 p.m US Eastern time, at Venetian Macao in Macau, China.
The 35-year old Pacquiao (56 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws with 38 KOs) is defending his championship belt after reclaiming it from Timothy Bradley in a lopsided unanimous decision win last April. The Filipino slugger has bounced back well after absorbing a sixth-round TKO loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez, but Algieri is presenting a difficult test at this point of Pac-Man's career.
After scoring the biggest win of his career in a controversial split decision win over budding pound-for-pound star Ruslan Provodnikov last May, Algieri (20 wins with 8 KOs) surprised the boxing world after he immediately got a shot at one of the sport's biggest pay-per-view attractions.
Algieri, former kick-boxing world champion, is putting his 20-fight winning streak on the line against the man notoriously known for busting streaks in violent way.
Pacquiao hasn't scored a knocked out since dropping Miguel Cotto to begin his first WBO Welterweight championship reign in 2009. Several experts believed Pacquiao doesn't' possess the same amount of power to flatten bigger opponents in the 148-pound weight division, so his team has seriously pondered on making return to the junior welterweight division.
Although the fight is still for the WBO Welterweight crown, it will be fought at 144-pound catch-weight, giving Pacquiao more speed and agility while conceding greater advantage in height, size and reach to the 5-foot-10 Algieri.
For Pacquiao, an impressive win against the American will keep every boxing fans' dream alive, and that's no other than a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year. On other hand, an Algeiri upset would likely end Pacquiao's career and give birth to a new legend in the boxing world.
TV Schedule, Live Stream & Round-by-Round Analysis
Undercards for the Pacquiao vs. Algieiri match will begin at 10:30 p.m US EST, while the main event will take place at around 12:30 midnight. HBO Pay-per-View and Sports Stream provides live stream coverage. Round-by-round scorecards is available on ESPN, while analyst Dan Rafael provides analysis on his Twitter account.
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