Trainer Freddie Roach (L) and boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines pose in the lobby of the Venetian Las Vegas Resort in Nevada August 30, 2014. Pacquiao and his opponent Chris Algieri of the U.S. are on an international tour promoting their WBO welter
Trainer Freddie Roach (L) and boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines pose in the lobby of the Venetian Las Vegas Resort in Nevada August 30, 2014. Pacquiao and his opponent Chris Algieri of the U.S. are on an international tour promoting their WBO welterweight title match which will take place November 22 at the Venetian's Cotai Arena in Macau. REUTERS

Manny Pacquiao's boxing trainer Freddie Roach believes that Ruslan Prodnikov won against Chris Algieri in their previous bout, having only been saved by the judges when the scorecards were needed.

Despite hitting the floor twice and having a swollen right eye, the undefeated American controversially survived the Russian with a split decision, with two of the adjudicators scoring it 114-112 to his favour, patently inconsistent with the appreciation (117-109) of the third member of the panel.

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"I thought Algieri faded a bit in the late rounds," the 54-year-old told philstar.com.

"The way I saw it, he lost to Ruslan but the judges gave it to him."

The said win earned Algieri a shot to face "Pacman," which Roach, nevertheless, deems he deserves.

"He's the best guy out there," he added.

"He's part of the new generation. He's a world champion."

"They're calling him the Real Rocky and they've even gotten Sylvester Stallone to endorse him."

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Meanwhile, he confirmed reports claiming that he said Algieri already got "knocked out cold" to be true, amidst denial by the recently crowned WBO Junior Welterweight Champion, even offering proof to substantiate his assertion.

"Take that thing about Algieri getting knocked out cold," he said.

"Algieri claims he's never been knocked out."

"But I've seen the video. It was in a kickboxing bout. And Algieri got knocked out not by a kick but by a punch."

"I can't understand why he would deny it. I can show him the video."

Roach echoed the assessment made by his assistant trainer, Marvin Somodio, that conditioning would be the "key" to victory.

"Manny's always in great shape," he intimateed.

"When I arrived in General Santos over a month ago, Manny did 12 rounds of mitts and that was our first workout in the gym."

"Conditioning will be key in this fight because we expect Algieri to be in excellent condition."

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