MACAU—In the end, Manny Pacquiao just didn’t have the heart to inflict the supreme ignominy of a knockout on a battered challenger.

“Nakakaawa din (I pitied him),” Pacquiao said Monday, three hours before his chartered AirAsia A320 was to leave the Chinese territory for General Santos City. “Sayang, nasabak agad (It’s too much, too soon for him).

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“He lacked the experience,” added Pacquiao of Chris Algieri, whose lack of big fights showed in his lopsided unanimous decision defeat to the Filipino icon during their WBO welterweight title fight on Sunday at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena here.

Pacquiao, who has fought 64 times (57 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws), said he sensed Algieri’s anxiety and hesitation right in the first round.

“The way he moved and fought, he was inexperienced,” he said of the American from New York who went down six times in absorbing his first loss in 21 fights.

Algieri’s only other big fight came last year when he upset Ruslan Provodnikov in their WBO light welterweight title clash.

Fighting scared

Algieri fought scared as soon as Pacquiao’s punches started to find their mark.

“Aamba pa lang ako, kumu-cover na (He covers up as soon as I get ready to launch a shot),” the eight-time world champion said. “A veteran won’t do that. Either he’ll evade it or try to counter,” added Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, who watched the tape of the fight in his four-bedroom suite on the 38th floor of The Venetian’s south wing, said Algieri still needs more quality fights and fine-tuning to make his mark at the elite level.

The fighting congressman dictated the pace of the entire 12-round pay-per-view bout (“If he doesn’t create situations, I’ll create it. And if he creates, I will counter. Whenever he creates first, the more he gets hit”).

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Pacquiao, however, gave credit to Algieri for withstanding the solid punches he unloaded.

“He’s sturdy. Maybe it’s because he’s young (30 years old).”

Pacquiao turns 36 next month.

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