Aspiring physician Chris Algieri nearly quit boxing a year ago
MACAU – As he was preparing for what would be by far the most important fight of his life, Chris Algieri awoke before the crack of dawn to get to the gym.
But he wasn't doing roadwork or studying the nuances of Ruslan Provodnikov's style. Rather, Algieri pulled himself out of the comfort of his bed to put some middle-aged housewives through their paces at a fitness center near his home on Long Island, N.Y.
He was a personal fitness trainer who charged $45 for a 30-minute private session, making some extra income to supplement his meager boxing earnings.
Prior to the $115,000 he made to face Provodnikov for the WBO junior welterweight title at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn in June, Algieri's biggest purse was only $15,000.
He paid off his student loans with the money he made from his bout with Provodnikov, in which he survived two hard first-round knockdowns to win a gut-check decision. That landed him a bout, along with his first $1 million-plus purse, against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday on HBO Pay-Per-View in one of the year's high-profile events.
It's hard to grasp how far he's come in 12 months, especially considering that he contemplated walking away. "A year ago from right now, I was ready to quit," Algieri said. "Ready to quit. The fight at [Madison Square Garden], the Russian kid who almost died [almost made me quit]. We had the same record. He was 17-0. I was 17-0. I was at the fight when he got injured and went into a coma."
Algieri attended the Nov. 2, 2013, bout when heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov nearly died and suffered life-altering injuries against Mike Perez.
It had a profound impact upon him. The aspiring physician has a bachelor's degree in health science from Stony Brook University and a master's in clinical nutrition from New York Institute of Technology.
He doesn't need to box; instead, he wants to box. And that makes him vastly different from most men who step into the ring.
But when Algieri's career was stuck in neutral and he saw Abdusalamov nearly die because of the brutal bout, he began to think carefully about how much he wanted to continue to fight.
"The guy was undefeated and one fight and he is now in a coma," Algieri said. "I went to [promoter Joe] DeGuardia's office and I said, 'Listen: That guy just [about] died. I'm done. We can't make a move. If we can't make a move, what are we doing making lateral moves? I just fought off TV twice in a row.' "
He told that story while in a conference room at the lavish Venetian Macao, where in a few days his fight with Pacquiao will be one of the sport's biggest events of the year.
It is an unlikely rise, but one that doesn't surprise Algieri. He expected to be here all along, and only was going to walk away when it looked like he had no chance of catching a break.
Medical school can wait, he said, while he pursues his boxing dreams.
"We'll see how long this career lasts, or how long I want to do it for," Algieri said. "That's really the key. I'm young and I'm hungry and I'm able to do that now and so I want to do it now as much as I can, and as much as I want to. It's all about passion for me. If I ever lose my passion, I'm out."
The cynics have said, and continue to say, that he might be out on Saturday, though not of his own accord. Pacquiao is an overwhelming favorite – still favored by odds better than 10-1 – and there is a line of thinking that Algieri won't be around to make the second half of the fight.
Pacquiao, as usual, declines to make any prediction and speaks mostly respectfully about Algieri.
His trainer, Freddie Roach, said that Pacquiao is simply too nice to say what he's really thinking, that he believes he'll knock Algieri out early, perhaps as soon as the first.
Algieri has largely carried the promotion, doing a slew of interviews for months, and if he's bothered by any of it, you'd be hard-pressed to tell.
"This kid is wonderful," Top Rank's Bob Arum said. "I mean, this story is incredible. He really is like a real-life Rocky. And some of these other kids, they got nervous and so forth and they cracked under the pressure when they fought Manny.
"But I don't think that's going to happen with him. I really don't. He's a smart kid and he's a good athlete and he knows what he's all about. You can't [expletive] him. He knows what is real and what is [expletive]."
Algieri's height and reach edge, and his ability to box, are his greatest advantages. The script for Algieri will be to jab and move and use his ability to box to keep Pacquiao off-balance.
If he wins, he'll have to do it again with Pacquiao, given that there is a rematch clause. And, unquestionably, his life will change immeasurably.
But Algieri insists that he won't change. There will be no additions to the entourage and while he may wind up replacing his old, worn Honda Accord, there won't be any great spending sprees, either.
"I'm me, man," Algieri said. "My entourage is my family and my team. We haven't grown since the Ruslan fight. The only new addition has been [business manager Kevin] Rooney. … But I'm going to be the same person, regardless."
