Pacquiao, Algieri ready for ‘Clash in Cotai’

The Pacquiao vs. Algieri matchup, which will be featured in this Sunday’s Clash in Cotai II boxing event, “has captured the world’s imagination,” said Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum.
“You cannot find two better stories in boxing, much less sports, than what we are presenting on Sunday. And I think it is only fitting that the Venetian Macao, which has become one of boxing’s biggest international stages, hosts this world championship event,” stated Arum at the pre-fight press conference held on Wednesday evening.
As the undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri put it, “the talking is done, the hard training is done.” It’s time for the bout.
The 30-year old New Yorker will face off against “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs), the sole eight-division world champion in boxing, for his WBO welterweight title.
“All I can say is: it’s all set. We did our best in training,” said Pacquiao. “My team (…) we remember and we see the battles of the old days when I was young – the speed, the power and the determination, and the aggressiveness is there – it’s back, so I’m very excited for Sunday for this fight. ”
On Sunday morning, the Cotai Arena will also see Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO) defend his WBO featherweight title for the first time, against the number one contender Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (51-1, 33 KOs) of Thailand. Moreover, Jessie Vargas (25-0, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas will defend his WBA super lightweight title against former world champion Antonio DeMarco (31-3-1, 23 KOs) of Mexico.
On the main card, China’s boxing icon Zou Shiming (5-0, 1 KO) will battle Thai boxer Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym (27-0-2, 12 KOs) in a 12-round WBO flyweight world title elimination bout.
“I just realized I’m fighting someone who looks like Manny,” Zou joked, “I’ve always wanted to fight the best fighters in the world. Manny Pacquiao is the very best in the world and now I am facing his lookalike.”
The press conference also unveiled several promising boxers besides the star headliners. “We are certain this event will be shining a global spotlight on Macau, and that it provides a platform for some of Asia’s rising boxing stars to further develop their professional careers,” stated Sands China president Edward Tracy.
On the undercard, local favorite Rex “The Wonder Kid” Tso (14-0, 9KOs) and “The Macao Kid” Ng Kuok Kun (5-0, 2 KOs) will fight in eight-
round and six-round bouts respectively.