Undefeated Algieri wants a piece of Pacquiao

Photo from hbo.com

MANILA — After dethroning Manny Pacquiao’s presumed next opponent Ruslan Provodnikov for the WBO junior welterweight title, undefeated Chris Algieri set eyes on big fighters including the Filipino boxing icon.

“I just fought the most dangerous guy around for very cheap, and now, it’s time for the biggest fight that I can get, and maybe that’s Manny Pacquiao,” Algieri told the www.ringTV.com.

Algieri, who upset Provodnikov via a split decision victory in Brooklyn, New York last Saturday, is also targeting fellow undefeated fighter and Ring junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia.

“I only want the big fights. We want them as big as we can get them. Ruslan Provodnikov is one of the most feared fighters in the game,” the new WBO junior welterweight champion said.

Pacquiao’s American coach Freddie Roach said he has no problem getting the Filipino champion ready to beat Algieri, undefeated in 20 fights with eight knockouts.

“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 in boxingscene.com.

Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38KOs) is set to return in the ring in November in Macau, China although Top Rank president Bob Arum has yet to announce the Filipino’s next opponent.

Arum is also considering Algieri as possible next opponent after his upset win over Provodnikov.

Last April, Pacquiao dethroned former undefeated Timothy Bradley via unanimous decision win to regain the WBO welterweight title he lost by controversial split decision to Bradley in June 2012.