Team Pacquiao focused on knockout

— -- As the great Manny Pacquiao, boxing's only eight-division titleholder and a reigning welterweight titlist, was making his historic march up the scale, he was knocking almost everyone out.

Because of those eye-catching knockouts, including devastating performances against Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and David Diaz, Pacquiao made history and rocketed to the top of the pound-for-pound list, as he and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were for years 1-2 in whichever order one preferred. He also became an international icon. This was especially true in his beloved home country of the Philippines, where he now serves as a congressman in his second job to boxing.

While Pacquiao remains one of the best in boxing, his knockout power has vanished. In fact, since a 12th-round knockout of Cotto in November 2009 to win a welterweight title for the first time, Pacquiao has not knocked anyone out in his past eight fights. The span includes a massively controversial decision loss to Timothy Bradley Jr. in their first fight, which Pacquiao avenged easily with a rout in April, and a knockout loss to rival Juan Manuel Marquez in the fourth fight of their legendary series.

Some have accused Pacquiao -- including Mayweather, which cost him a bundle in settling a civil lawsuit -- of using performance-enhancing drugs even though there was no evidence. Pacquiao and those around him have steadfastly maintained that he has never used any illegal drugs.

Trainer Freddie Roach said the lack of recent knockouts is simply because Pacquiao, whose first world title came at flyweight, is a small man who has been fighting bigger men in recent years and therefore has not been scoring knockouts.

"He has only knocked out two welterweights [Cotto and a weight-drained De La Hoya] since we've moved up in weight for the big fights," Roach said. "All those other big knockouts were in smaller divisions."

Many believe Pacquiao will regain his KO mojo when he steps into the ring to defend his title against junior welterweight titlist and big underdog Chris Algieri, who is taller and longer than Pacquiao but moving up in weight, on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) at the Venetian Macao's Cotai Arena in Macau, China (where the fight will happen in the Chinese morning).

The fight is being contested at a catchweight of 144 pounds, three fewer than the welterweight limit, because Pacquiao is considering a future return to the 140-pound junior welterweight division if the big one -- a fight with Mayweather -- still can't be made in the first half of next year.