Was Chris Algieri’s trainer to blame for his one sided defeat to Manny Pacquiao?

17 Submitted by on Wed, 26 November 2014, 16:50

In the aftermath of Chris Algieri’s bout against eight division and current WBO welterweight World champion, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, many questioned the strategy of Algieri’s trainer, Tim Lane. Could he have switched things up, or at least have had some kind of plan B in place for his charge?

Pacquiao absolutely dismissed Chris Algieri as any threat whatsoever and Tim Lane was STILL sticking to his so called ‘Game Plan’ to get Algieri into the late rounds to allow Algieri to KNOCK OUT a hopefully tiring Manny Pacquaio. Pacquiao did seem to be blowing hard towards the end of the 3rd round and breathing with his mouth wide open, and for a second I thought “Maybe there is something in this plan to get Manny tired at his age and after all the wars ‘Pacman’ has endured.”

Well, this didn’t come to fruition for Tim Lane and Team Algieri. The question now is, was there anything that Lane could have done earlier in the bout to change things up?

YouTube video for Tim Lane’s comments during the fight to Algieri and to Max Kellerman

It will always be a tough task to face off against a fighter with the output Manny Pacquiao has and hand speed, and I guess Lane and Algieri’s team really believed that Chris could evade many of the numerous shots ‘Pacman’ unleashed, every single minute of each round. But the fight itself was embarrassing to watch and I for one felt sorry for Chris Algieri. Tim Lane certainly had no ‘Plan B’

As a trainer in this sport you MUST always have a backup plan in any fight. You CANNOT solely rely on what you HOPE will be successful, especially against a Pound For Pound legend in the shape of Manny Pacquiao. It was always going to be tough for Algieri, (even against a somewhat diminished Pacquiao) ‘Pacman’ had clearly not declined enough for Tim Lane’s plan to come off.

What could and should have Tim Lane had set in place for Chris Algieri if the fight unfolded the way it actually did? Was it a good idea to let ‘Pacman’ fire off all of his shots while Algieri back peddled in HOPE that Pacquiao tired, and allowed Algieri to get the late KO or the TKO?

I don’t want to be harsh on Tim Lane or Team Algieri but when Max Kellerman was interviewing Tim Lane in the Algieri corner mid way through round 9, Lane said to Kellerman “I’ve got him in the cage right now, I’m gonna let him go in a round or two, he’s gonna put him(Pacquiao) to sleep in a minute,” then BANG, Pacquiao decked Algieri once more. As I said I don’t want to be harsh, but that was one of the most well timed corner interviews and comments from a trainer that HBO have ever conducted and it was pinnacle moment of a game plan, gone wrong.

It was always going to be tough regardless of what plan Tim Lane gave to Algieri (and I give credit to Algieri for sticking to the plan and having faith in Tim Lane) but what could Lane have actually done differently to change the course of the bout and the way it was heading? Fair enough if you are going to try and knock ‘Pacman’ out, but with Algieri’s seemingly lack of any power at all, I think it was really short minded to wait until the 10/11th round to “Let him out the cage.”

Could and SHOULD Tim Lane have switched his plan after seeing what was taking place? Did Lane have the capability to switch his plan mid fight? I would honestly think a game plan centered more on counter punching Pacquiao and turning him behind good movement and a jab would of been more effective than simply running for the majority of the bout. If Algieri had a higher punch output to go along with the movement, he might of done better than the 120-102 scores indicated.

One has to wonder where Algieri goes from here, he not only lost his undefeated record, but also his WBO light welterweight title before he even stepped into the ring with Pacquiao. In the 140lb division Algieri still has a height and reach advantage over most fighters, and would it would be interesting to see what fights he gets now.

Algieri did show toughness in back to back fights to overcome knock downs to survive to the end, and if fights with other top junior welterweights such as Adrien Broner or Lucas Matthysse could be very interesting, so even though the game plan failed at the highest level, it appears there is a future for Chris Algieri, just as long as he finds a new trainer.

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17 Responses to "Was Chris Algieri’s trainer to blame for his one sided defeat to Manny Pacquiao?"
  1. Albert Rodman says:

    even if they have plans b, c, and d, still, algiere won’t win.

  2. Floyd JailWeather Jr says:

    Head trainer Tim Lane said he was gonna unleash the lion Aligieri out of his cage in the 13th round.
    When informed that there was no 13th round, Lane responded:
    “Why, they think the number 13 is unlucky? We’ll wait until the 14th round then.”
    – end of story

  3. glen says:

    Every Trainer of every Pacquiao’s fight… They all say the same thing… They got him figured. But after the fight, they usually came out wrong. It was not easy finding a perfect sparring partner to mimic Manny Pacquiao. For me that’s the main reason why they can’t beat pacman.

  4. Billabong says:

    The dudes a tool.. going hell for leather in rd 10 should have been plan C.. who waots 10 rounds before exucuting a plan.. you leave no room for error. if manny doesnt get tired your screwed.. how can u rely on someone else for your plan..

  5. Levi says:

    Tamed Lamed must stick to kickboxing. Algiere must hire a new Boxing trainer; try Freddie, Nazim, Robert they are top guys.

    • jomannix says:

      I still believe that Chris Algeiri has a bright future in boxing, he only need to get a better trainer. Roy Jones, Nassim, Nacho, Garcia or even Roach. Roach doesn’t have anything bad about Chris since most of his comments where about Chris not ready yet for Pacquiao, it is the trainer Tim who yaks too much. Chris can go against Rios to start with, surely he can beat Rios.

  6. Who is Tim Lane anyway? Yes, he was a kickboxing champion but that doesn’t translate automatically to a good decent boxing trainer/coach. Algieri is a good boxer. I also think he has power in his punches. Only because his trainer did not put some muscles on those arms. If only he can get a better trainer like Roach, Garcia or even Roy Jones, he has a bright future.

  7. PACMANUSA says:

    Algerei got what he deserved !

    I still say this fight shoulda never happened !

    Pacquiao only needs fight two more !

    Finish off Marquez , but require drug testing . If he had done that in the last fight with McRoids he wouldn’t have been knocked out .

    And the second should be with that woman beating bum in Vegas .

    .

    • jomannix says:

      It’s about time that we stop hoping for the Gayweather-Pacman fight, I am convince that this will never happen in 2015, this unless, Showtime force the Fearweather or cancel the contract with him.

    • rico says:

      Yes keep talking about who uses steroids in boxing and who doesn’t ,I don’t need to ask You who is the “clean” boxer because your name tells me your Answer, I’ll leave you something to read .

      http://www.fighthype.com/news/article15933.html

    • CK says:

      Moron,Pac came up from a flyweight to beat up bigger guys,that happens when you take PEDs and not just raw talent so stop with the bullcrap of Marquez taking roids as he is a much better fighter than Pac and proved it in all their fights and finally putting him to sleep in their last fight ended any debate,imo!!!

  8. pikkon says:

    michael…you are not harsh enough to tim lane…why don’t you say tim lane is the worst of all trainers?..algieri should sue tim lane for bad coaching…

  9. Rocky Cervo says:

    Maybe they are talking of a different fight… are you sure it’s Pacman – Algeiri fight?

  10. cognitor says:

    The reason Tim Lane used the “cage” allegory was because of his kickboxing, K-1, MMA background. It was probably in reference to the octagon. Algeri may have been a better “striker” than kicker in another sport but in boxing he has just average hands and you can’t take that to beat a Manny Pacquiao even at this stage of Manny’s career. I wouldn’t count Algeri out boxing against the other 140 pounders. Nevertheless, I think the kid could use his looks in an acting career. I don’t think he was the smartest boxer Manny ever faced but only the best looking.