Chris Algieri stunned the boxing world after scoring a split-decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov on Saturday night to capture the WBO welterweight title - a win that could also earn him the biggest fight of his career.
Multiple reports indicated that Algieri, who improved to a perfect 20-0 record with eight knockouts, could earn a shot against reigning WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, who is scheduled to return to the ring on November 22 in Macau.
BoxingScene reported that Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum said before the fight that the winner of the Provodnikov-Algieri match could be Pacquiao's next opponent.
When asked about the possibility of facing Pacquiao, Algieri expressed excitement, saying that fighting a future Hall of Famer is a great fight for him.
"Pacquiao is a good fight. It's a great fight. To be in there with a guy like Manny, definitely a future Hall of Famer, it would be awesome," Algieri said.
The 30-year-old Huntington, New York native also expressed confidence that he has what it takes to score an upset win over Pacquiao, who is coming off a sensational win over Timothy Bradley in their rematch in April.
"I think stylistically it could be a good matchup," Algieri said. "He's another dangerous guy but I think my style would match up well. That could be a really good possibility but I don't know what happens next."
On the other hand, Freddie Roach, who trains both Pacquiao and Provodnikov, sounded cold about the idea of pitting Pacquiao against Algieri.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Roach said that he is not sure whether or not Algieri, who battled back from two knockdowns in the opening round, did enough to merit a shot against the former pound-for-pound king.
"Algieri is a real nice kid. I never heard of him before this fight. He made a good statement with this fight. I don't know if he's quite that big yet [to face Pacquiao]. He's still a 140-pounder moving up 147 to fight Pacquiao. Pacquiao is thinking about moving down to 140. We'll kick that around a bit," Roach said.
But if Algieri eventually becomes Pacquiao's opponent in November, the Hall of Fame trainer said that he won't have a problem preparing the Filipino boxing icon to beat the unbeaten junior welterweight champion.
"I have no problem getting Pacquiao ready to beat him," Roach stressed.
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