Chris Algieri may lose offer to fight Manny Pacquiao

With his promoter Joe DeGuardia sounding more concerned than adamant about any negotiation details, the New York Daily News is reporting that Chris Algieri is close to losing his offer to face Manny Pacquiao on November 22 in Macau, as the fighter has perhaps been overly patient in responding to the deal presented by Top Rank's Bob Arum.

Algieri (20-0, 8 KO) beat Ruslan Provodnikov on June 14, and said immediately that he wanted a big fight, and mentioned Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO) specifically.

"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," DeGuardia said in a phone interview. "I need to know his answer. It's been a week. No one has told me anything about needing more money. Hopefully he comes to his senses but if I don't hear anything [by Monday] we'll likely lose the offer."

While DeGuardia says he hasn't heard anything about a money issue, Algieri told Newsday that he doesn't like the offer of $1.5 million plus PPV upside if sales are "strong." Given the fact that Pacquiao has not performed well on PPV in his last two fights, and Algieri isn't a strong name value B-side, it would seem unlikely that he'd be seeing any of that upside money.

"I took a calculated risk with the Ruslan fight and took short money because of that reason," Algieri said Saturday at an appearance at a sporting goods store in Huntington Station. "I was really unknown at that point. I'm not an unknown anymore.

"If we're going to make this fight happen, I value myself and my health very highly and what I've been doing for the past 20 years. I just want what I deserve."

$1.5 million is really low money for an "event" fight, even considering that Pacquiao events aren't what they used to be. While it would be a career-best payday for Algieri, he may have some leverage here. Pacquiao doesn't have a lot of options for November, as Top Rank's cupboard at 140-147 is pretty bare for name fighters that Pacquiao has not already beaten. Juan Manuel Marquez appears totally disinterested in a fifth fight with Manny, which is the biggest fight out there for Pacquiao.

Other than Marquez or Algieri, there just isn't much out there. Even though Golden Boy and Top Rank are on friendly terms at the moment, Golden Boy doesn't actually control many fighters at that weight, either, who aren't really signed with Al Haymon, who does not do business with Top Rank, and vice versa, unless absolutely necessary and/or in a purse bid situation.