The 31 year-old New Yorker, who takes on Amir Khan this Friday night in Brooklyn, is of the belief that Pacquiao could have been beaten mentally by Mayweather before the first bell even rang at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I didn’t really see anything physically. I saw a little more mental,” said Algieri.
“(Pacquiao) seemed more focused from my fight, to tell you the truth. Even at the weigh-in, he was kind of bubbly and smiley at the Mayweather weigh-in. He wasn’t that way with myself when we were in China. That’s neither here nor there. You don’t know whether that could be anything. That’s kind of a hard question to answer for someone else.”
Pacquiao would go on to lose on via a unanimous decision to Mayweather in a disappointing performance before citing an injury that has since ruled the seven-weight world champion out until 2016. Despite the fight not reaching the heights it promised, Algieri says witnessing the event has pumped him up for his own imminent bout with British star Khan.
“I’m just a very hungry fighter at this point. I’m coming off my first loss as a professional, and watching Pacquiao and Mayweather fight has spurred me on even that much more, made me that much more of a hungry fighter,” he stated.
