By Ronnie Nathanieslz
MANNY Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz has debunked reports that newly crowned World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Chris Algieri is the likely opponent for the Fighter of the Decade’s scheduled Nov. 22 fight in Macau, while indicating that a fifth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, was never even considered.
Koncz, who returned to Los Angeles after joining Pacquiao and his family in vacation in Israel, said the Filipino icon, who went on to Italy, had no plans of going to the US as mentioned by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
A lot of media attention is being paid Algieri, who was dropped twice in the opening round, but fought back to win a 12-round split decision over rugged Russian beast Ruslan Provodnikov at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York last week.
But Koncz told krikya360.com/Standard “Algieri is not in our sights.” The adviser also revealed that Pacquiao was not going to Los Angeles to discuss his next fight with Arum, who last Tuesday underwent surgery to replace his painful right knee.
At the same time, Koncz somewhat surprisingly said they were “never thinking about or interested in a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez,” who reportedly had asked for $20 million to fight Pacquiao for a fifth time following his stunning sixth-round knockout in their last encounter in December 2012.
The consensus is that Marquez, who refused to face Pacquiao for a $13-million fee, but instead faced Timothy Bradley and lost a 12-round decision, is pricing himself out of the market because he doesn’t wish to undergo the mandatory drug tests conducted by the Volunteer Anti Doping Agency.
Koncz earlier told BoxingScene/Manila Standard they would insist on the random drug tests, following the outcome of their last fight in which Marquez looked unusually big and strong in coming back from the brink of being knocked out in Round 5 to score an unbelievable sixth-round knockout.