Eight division world champion, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao made his second appearance in the ring this year by taking on undefeated challenger, Chris Algieri. Algieri, a former kickboxing champion turned professional boxer, made a leap into the spotlight when he pulled off a decision victory over ‘The Siberian Rocky’ Ruslan Provodnikov earlier in the year. The Cotai Arena in Macao, China hosted the twelve round championship bout that was contested for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title.

In the lead up to the fight, a surprising amount of members of the media and professional fighters predicted that Chris Algieri would prove to be too skilled, and combined with his four inch height advantage would be able to outbox the thirty five year old Filipino star. Would Algieri dethrone the boxing icon or would Pacquiao show his class and prove that he is still an elite level fighter?

The fight began as expected, with Chris Algieri staying light on his feet, looking to stay on the outside. Pacquiao stalked Algieri and launched heavy blows at the New York native. While many felt that Algieri would be able to maintain the fight at his preferred range with his long jab, the fight proved otherwise. Manny Pacquiao closed the distance at will and in the second round landed a shot which sent Algieri to the canvas. A partial slip on the knockdown, but nonetheless a knockdown.

For the first four rounds, Chris Algieri’s strategy was to stay as far away from Pacquiao as possible and avoid any unnecessary damage. Algieri was able to avoid many punches but he was offering nothing in return. A cat and mouse game took place during many of the rounds, ‘Pacman’ chasing after Algieri and looking to land his power shots on him. In the sixth round, Pacquiao scored two more knockdowns, which widened the margin to nine points on the scorecard, meaning Algieri would need to do something spectacular if he had any hope of winning the fight.

The fight continued in the same manner for the following rounds, Pacquiao clearly winning the rounds. During the ninth round, HBO analyst Max Kellerman spoke to Algieri’s trainer, Tim Lane, about the strategy to change the fight around, Tim replied by saying that Chris Algieri was going to put Manny Pacquiao to sleep. Seconds later, ‘Pacman’ landed a devastating left cross which knocked Algieri to the floor — the most significant punch of the night to that point. Pacquiao swarmed and forced Algieri to take a knee, making for the second 10-7 round of the fight.

In round ten, Manny scored his sixth official knockdown of the night. Algieri simply had no answer for the speed and technique of Pacquiao. It was no secret that Chris was not a power puncher — with only eight of his twenty wins coming before the scheduled distance — but surprisingly from listening to the corner of Algieri, it seemed their gameplan was to look for a KO win.

Nevertheless, the fight went all twelve rounds, Pacquiao winning all the rounds plus an additional six points for the knockdowns. The judges’ scorecards read, 103-119, 103-119, 102-120, all in favor of Manny Pacquiao.

With the win, Manny Pacquiao proved that he is not just a good fighter, he is still an elite level fighter who stands shoulders above all but one man, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Following Manny Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, many had lost faith in Pacquiao and felt as though a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would not be competitive. Manny Pacquiao completely outclassed a very solid fighter in Chris Algieri and sent a loud message to Floyd Mayweather that he is ready to fight.

In Manny Pacquiao’s post fight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman, Pacquiao was asked about the fight fans have wanted to see for years, Mayweather-Pacquiao to which Manny jokingly reenacted his recent Foot Locker commercial “He wants to fight me, he wants to fight me!” and then followed it up stating that the fight he wants the fight to happen next year with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and that he is ready.

After this Saturday night, we saw the return of the explosive and dominant Manny Pacquiao, a fighter that is capable of hurting any opponent he faces and in the aftermath of Pacquiao’s win against Algieri, you have to wonder if Mayweather was watching and was considering the fight. If he has once against changed his mind in order to protect himself from a potential loss, only time will tell but one this is certain, Pacquiao has never been more ready to take away Mayweather’s perfect record.

Manny Pacquiao post fight quotes:

“Of course I’m satisfied with my performance tonight. I came to fight, I did my best and I think that’s enough.”

“We improve our strength, we did more heavy bag training and we started earlier in our training camp and that’s why I’m very confident to win the fight. I’m in shape”

“I’m looking for a knockout but he’s fast and he’s moving so it’s hard.”

“I’m ready to fight next year with him (Floyd Mayweather)”