"They're seeing a much more rested guy, a guy who's coming into training sessions hungry to learn and get better, and my coaches are saying it every day, I'm ahead of schedule. We are ahead of where we wanted to be...as you can see, they're concerned about something related to me. We're not taking that approach. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be me and I'm going to set the tone. Myself and my coaches agree, we gotta go and do the work, not counter Manny's work...I've prepared for tough fights, but I never prepare for close fights. I'm going to go out there and I'm looking to win every single round. I don't want any close fights. I don't prepare for that," stated undefeated WBO jr. welterweight champion Chris Algieri, who spoke in-depth about his upcoming November 22 clash with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Check out what else he had to say!
BT: Chris, what's this whole experience been like for you? As far as your training is concerned, how much have you had to change in order to compensate for the added responsibility of promoting a fight this big?
CA: That is the one thing that has not changed whatsoever is my training. On the press tour, I trained every day while I was out there. I'm not going to change what's got me here and that's been hard work, so for me, that stuff hasn't changed. All the press obligations, they definitely add up. It's definitely different, but this is also the first time in my life that I'm a full-fledged fighter. I was working the week of the Ruslan [Provodnikov] fight. Now, I'm living like a real professional and a champion, so this extra time that is being devoted to press obligations is nothing new to me. I was a full-time student in the first two-thirds of my professional career, so time management and dealing with other things other than training and fighting is normal for me. It's nothing out of the ordinary.
BT: Now that you are a full-time fighter, how big of a difference has that made in your career? Can you notice the difference in training?
CA: My coaches sure as hell can. They're seeing a much more rested guy, a guy who's coming into training sessions hungry to learn and get better, and my coaches are saying it every day, I'm ahead of schedule. We are ahead of where we wanted to be. I show up to camp and my coach is like, "Wow! I didn't expect us to do this stuff for another week or two." I'm doing my conditioning and I'm two weeks early on my work, so really, it's really helped dramatically. I would say the big thing is just the rest. I'm able to rest and heal my body, so I'm able to progress that much faster.
BT: Every Saturday, you're doing a public workout to let fans see what it's like for you as you prepare for this fight. What made you want to do something like that for the biggest fight of your career?
CA: Um, it's not something that I wanted to or chose to do. It was something that was brought up as part of the deal for me to stay and train here at the Venetian. I was okay with it. They're very excited about us being able to do that. It helps promote the fight, but also it helps invite the public to see how hard I work and to see why I am here and I deserve to be here. I think it's going to turn a lot of heads when people see my training regimen.
BT: Well kudos to you for being willing to do that on a fight of this magnitude. I think it's only going to help up your stock grow, as far as exposure is concerned, both before and after the fight.
CA: Yeah, thank you. I agree, but also think it's going to raise the bar for the sport itself. I think if we got more guys similar to myself, young guys, young champions who are willing to take on tough fights and are willing to invite people into our world, I think it'll help the sport. Look at the UFC. You know, they did these reality shows and followed these fighters through their train and it helped them blow up, so why can't boxing do that? We got great stories, we great fighters, and now we got some more young guys who are willing to fight anybody. I'm never going to be accused of ducking anyone. I've never been that guy my entire career. Opportunities arise and I go after it, so hopefully that can start a new era where guys are willing to take chances and people see what we do.
BT: Not too long ago, during a conference call, Freddie Roach noted that your jab was your best weapon. Do you agree with his assessment and are you hoping the fight ends up being a chess match?
CA: Well, as you can see, they're concerned about something related to me. We're not taking that approach. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be me and I'm going to set the tone. Myself and my coaches agree, we gotta go and do the work, not counter Manny's work. I'm not going in there like, "Well, he's gonna do this, so I'm gonna do this." No, we don't fight like that. I'm going out there and I'm gonna set my pace and my tone and fight my fight. That's the difference, I think, between our team and a lot of other teams. We fight specifically for each opponent, but I'm gonna go out there and fight my fight.
BT: How much do you take away from some of the success that other fighters have had against Manny, whether they won or lost? Do you think there's a blueprint out there on how to fight him?
CA: I leave that up to my coaches. My coaches have studied a tremendous amount of tape. You know, everybody has holes, and to tell you the truth, Manny has more than most, so we just gotta capitalize on those specific holes and tendencies. So far in sparring, we've had some excellent, excellent work and a lot of the things that my coaches have been strategizing have been coming to fruition. For me, I'm not a guy who watches tape. I don't study tape because you can't get rhythm from a tape and boxing is a rhythm sport and I'm a rhythm fighter. I gotta figure things out as we're in there, so my coaches, they do that work. They study tape and they come up with the game plan and how we're going to fight and I enact on fight night.
BT: Who have you been sparring with?
CA: We got a kid who came in this week, Jose Zepeda, who is 20 and 0 with 17 knockouts. He is a very dynamic puncher, very explosive, quick guy, and he's young and hungry. And the kid fights for 4 minutes of every round, because we do 4-minute rounds here. We got a guy who's young and hungry and excited to be here. It's been fantastic work.
BT: Freddie all said, and some of the "boxing experts" agree, that Manny Pacquiao will have the edge in experience when you guys step into the ring on November 22. Do you agree with that statement or do you think your background in kickboxing equates to what Pacquiao has been doing over the years?
CA: I think the experience factor comes in there in the fact that I'm not going to be in awe of the big show or caught in the lights or caught in the aura of Manny Pacquiao. I've been in with some of the best in the world in kickboxing. Literally I've been in with guys who arguably the best there ever was during my kickboxing career, so it's nothing new to me. And for me, I don't look at Manny as being this legend. He's just the next guy that I'm fighting that's standing in the way of what I want.
BT: I know you're preparing for the best Manny Pacquiao possible, but stylistically, do you think he's the same fighter who fought guys like Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barerra, Ricky Hatton, or Miguel Cotto?
CA: Well, I think it's more so the move up in weight in the weight classes then so much him changing styles. You can't be a guy shot out of a cannon for 12 rounds, like he was when he fought Lehlo Ledwaba at 122 pounds, when you're 145 pounds. It's a different weight class; it's a different sport, you know. They're fought at different speeds. The output is different. I don't care who you are, if you're putting on 25 pounds, you're going to move differently and you're going to fight differently, so I don't think it's so much him slowing down or missing a step. I just think it's a change in weight class. You know, the guy is human and it will happen to anybody.
BT: You normally fight at 140 pounds. Obviously you've got the height and reach advantage, but do you think you'll definitely be the bigger man as far as weight is concerned on the night of the fight?
CA: Absolutely! Absolutely! And even being around him on the press tour, I think that was painfully evident that I am the bigger man even though we're fighting in technically his weight class. In fact, I wanted the fight to be at 147. I wanted to fight for a true welterweight title. The catchweight was on their side 100%. I'm a boxing purist. I wanted to fight for a welterweight title at 147 pounds because that's what a welterweight is. They would not budge on that.
BT: Like I said earlier, Freddie Roach said your best asset is your jab. Some people might say it's your heart. What would you say is your best asset?
CA: My ability to adjust and find a way to win, which is an intangible, I know. A lot of people, like you said and Freddie said, think about the jab and whatnot. I don't think that's my best asset. I think my best asset is being able to adjust in a fight; adjusting to any situation and finding a way to win.
BT: Is that one of the reasons why you credit your fights with Ruslan Provodnikov and Emmanuel Taylor so much, because of how you had to make adjustments in those fights?
CA: Absolutely. I mean, I wasn't one of those guys who was signed early by a big promotional company and had the benefit of great matchmaking to kind of build my career. I've fought every style you can think of and I fought tough guys. If you look at the numbers of all the guys I fought, I never had those building guys. I was in fights. I've been in fights since my pro debut. My pro debut was a 5'11" southpaw. You don't want to fight that guy in your first fight. So I've had to find ways to win in every single one of my fights and it's gotten us here, so it's working out. I only know uphill battles in terms of the opposition. I've been on the adjustment my whole career. Plus my kickboxing career, I was young and, for lack of a better word, dumb and I wanted to fight the best immediately. I won a world title fight in my fourth fight. I had to keep fighting and keep beating up regional guys, but I was pushing for world title fights almost out of the gate.
BT: How much experience do you think your kickboxing career gave you prior to embarking on your boxing career?
CA: I mean, at the end of the day, it's a fight and we're not wearing headgear. I've been in with guys who were 35, 40, 45 fights deep and I had less than 10 fights. That's just the way my whole career has been. I was sparring with world champions when I was 16 in kickboxing, so for me, I've been in with guys with a lot more experience literally my whole career.
BT: Most fighters rarely admit to being concerned about the judges heading into a fight. That being said, do you think you can get the benefit of the doubt in close rounds or do you think the judges might lean towards the more popular name if you're not totally dominating?
CA: I'll put it this way, I've prepared for tough fights, but I never prepare for close fights. I'm going to go out there and I'm looking to win every single round. I don't want any close fights. I don't prepare for that. I don't even think of having close fights. Really the only close fight I had in terms of scoring was the Ruslan fight and that was because I was in such a hole in the first round. I don't think that I have to do that [dominate each round], but that's just my own expectations of myself from the get-go anyway.
BT: Assuming all goes well on November 22 against Manny Pacquiao, what's the first thing that Chris Algieri is going to do on November 23?
CA: November twenty-what? I don't even know what that is. I'm 100% focused on November 22nd. The furthest I've gotten is my hands raised and I don't know anything after that.
BT: Is there anything else you want to let the fans know before I let you go.
CA: Just check out chrisalgeiri.com. We got a lot of good things coming up on there now. It's a brand new site and it's kicking ass. It's badass, so check it out!
ALSO CHECK OUT:
CHRIS ALGIERI EXPLAINS WHY HE CHOSE BOXING OVER MIXED MARTIAL ARTS AFTER HIS KICKBOXING CAREER
CHRIS ALGIERI SAYS MANNY PACQUIAO HAS MORE HOLES IN HIS STYLE THAN MOST FIGHTERS AND HE PLANS TO EXPLOIT THEM
CHRIS ALGIERI NOT IN AWE OF MANNY PACQUIAO OR THE BIG STAGE; CREDITS KICKBOXING CAREER FOR EXPERIENCE
CHRIS ALGIERI: "I WANTED THE FIGHT TO BE AT 147...THEY WOULD NOT BUDGE ON THAT"
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