Boxing News 2014: Pacquiao-Algieri 6-City Tour Begins on Aug 25
To drum up more interest in their forthcoming Nov 22 bout in Macau, eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao and WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri will start on Aug 25 a 6-city tour. The 6 cities are in Macau and Shanghai in China, and San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York in the U.S.
Eastsideboxing.com advises Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum to come up with quality undercard bouts, not with obscure boxers, to generate higher pay-per-view buys in the U.S. As it is, the Pacquiao-Algieri match is not expected to get high PPV buys in the U.S., although Arum had previously said that he is targeting the Macau PPV market for the Nov 22 fight.
Read: Boxing News 2014: Expert Warns Pacquiao Bout vs Algieri Is a Lose-Lose Situation for the Filipino Champ
The boxing Web site suggested that Arum should offer good money to name boxers to fight in the undercard to draw more PPV buys in the U.S. It suggested some of the best Top Rank fighters such as Terence Crawford, Julio Cesar Chavez, Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado, Miguel Cotto, Mikey Garcia and Nonito Donaire.
Top Rank and Pacquiao have been criticised for cherry picking Algieri, whose story of being a medical student and not some tough kid who grew up in ghettoes as many boxers are, Arum believes, would help sell PPV buys.
Defending his selection as Pacquiao's Nov 22 opponent, Algieiri told Boxingscene.com, "At the end of the day, I believe I proved to be where I am, that I should be here. This is a very real fight. Mark my words, I'm coming fully prepared and I think Manny knows this and Freddie [Roach] knows this as well. I'm not here just for a payday. I'm not here just to fight Manny Pacquiao. I'm coming to win this fight and I'm going to be fully prepared on fight night. Anyone who is looking past that fact doesn't know me and doesn't know anything about me, and that I belong to be here."
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