Manny Pacquiao's opponent in his next fight on November 22 in Macau is expected to be revealed soon, and Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum said that Chris Algieri is on their list of possible foe.
Arum said in a recent interview that Algieri, who recently scored a split-decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov, could be Pacquiao's next opponent, but only if their top targets will not be available in November.
Previous reports indicated that Juan Manuel Marquez is still on top of their list.
However, Marquez, who scored a sixth-round knockout win against Pacquiao in their fourth showdown in December 2012, is reportedly making "ridiculous" demand of $20 million fight purse to face his Filipino nemesis again.
Saul Canelo Alvarez is also being linked to Pacquiao, but the former junior middleweight champion might not be ready to fight again in November as he is scheduled to face Erislandy Lara on July 12 in Las Vegas.
Danny Garcia, the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion, is also being mentioned, but Arum said that "it's not a possibility."
When asked about the possibility of facing Pacquiao, Algieri, who holds a 20-0 record with eight knockouts, said that he is excited with the opportunity of fighting in big-money bouts.
"I already fought the most dangerous guy around for very cheap, so now, let's go for the big guys and maybe that's Manny Pacquiao," Algieri said. "I think that we have a lot of momentum right now and that the boxing world would like to see that. I think that they're probably going to be saying the same thing about that fight as they did about Provodnikov."
The 30-year-old New York native expressed confidence that he has what it takes to stand toe-to-toe with Pacquiao, and as a good chance of pulling off another upset win.
"Stylistically, it's a good fight for me," Algieri said. "I think that if we were to make that fight happen and if I were to prepare the right way and have everything go similar to how this preparation went for Provodnikov, that I would be ready for a Manny Pacquiao fight this year."
However, one possible hiccup is the fact that Provodnikov's camp is asking for a rematch, saying that Algieri should give the Russian a shot to avenge his defeat.
Vadim Kornilov, Provodnikov's former manager, said that if Algieri wants to prove that he is the better boxer, he should give the Beryozovo native a rematch soon.
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