Amir Khan boxing news
We all witnessed it on Friday night. Britain’s Amir Khan receiving every bit of scorecard and referee assistance possible in a ludicrously scored contest (2 cards of 117-111 were extreme) against game American Chris Algieri, who not being a noted puncher – was a man he was supposed to blow away.
Amir Khan improved to 31-3 when he was awarded a unanimous decision victory against Chris Algieri this past Friday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Two of the judges (Benoit Roussel and Joseph Pasquale) scored the bout 117-111 for Khan, in a bout that seemed far more competitive than those tallies suggest. Don Ackerman’s score of 115-113 for Khan seemed much closer to the mark. With the loss Algieri’s record drops to 20-2, having now lost 2 in a row since making a name for himself with his upset victory against Ruslan Provodnikov one year ago.
(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) Amir Khan (31-3) unanimously outpointed Chris Algieri (20-2) on May 29 and his performance raised more questions than it answered. He won beyond any doubt but did not really dominate the slightly bigger New Yorker and came across as a fast but fragile contender with a power shortage. In fact his lackluster outing may have increased his chances of a big payday as he is obviously not a major threat to the key players at welterweight and he appears to be a low risk opponent for them regardless of the bold hype. Boxing without hard punches is aerobics.
Chris Algieri is perhaps at the peak of his career and he may have unwittingly accepted the position of a gatekeeper/measuring stick of the division after he went the distance with Pacquiao.
After his sizzling one sided performance over Frankie Gavin last night in London – both Kell Brook and his promoter Eddie Hearn have insisted once more that they are willing to face Amir Khan, yet while Hearn says pressure must be placed by the media on the Bolton man to force the fight – Brook says he isn’t going to hang around, preferring to chase other lucrative opportunities if Khan won’t step up.
At last night’s post fight presser, Hearn compared the two after Khan’s points win over Chris Algieri, insisting his fighter would end the American inside 3 rounds.
(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) BROOKLYN (May 30, 2015) – Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike returned to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday night with another explosive night of bouts for fight fans. In the main event, Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) scored a crafty and hard fought unanimous decision over Chris Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (28-0-1, 20 KOs) won a crowd-pleasing unanimous decision victory over Bryan Vasquez (34-2, 18 KOs) in the televised opener.
Below are comments made by the televised fighters after their performances tonight:
AMIR KHAN
“I thought I worked well inside. I’ve never done a lot of work in the pocket like that and I plan to do more of that in the future.
(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) needed a great performance tonight to potentially earn a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but I’m not sure that we saw that with Khan’s 12 round unanimous decision victory against Chris Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Khan won most of the first six rounds, but Algieri came on strong in the second half of the fight in nailing the British fighter with bone-jarring shots to the head and body. Khan did a good job of holding any chance he could get, and this seemed to slow Algieri down, especially in the 11th and 12th rounds.
Khan was near helpless to Algieri’s lead right hands. The American was able to land that punch frequently, and Khan was powerless to stop it for some reason. In between rounds, Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter constantly scolded him, showing his unhappiness with the way that Khan was fighting.
A good strategy is best judged by the long-term results it delivers in any form of business, boxing is no different. A solid plan can be the difference between the maximization of a fighters talents or future theoretical discussions of what might have been.
So, when Virgil Hunter spoke at Tuesday’s final press conference ahead of tonight’s clash between his improving charge Amir Khan, 30-3 (19KO’s), and New York native Chris Algieri, 20-1 (8KO’s), we would do well to listen.
“Strategy, always strategy. Success in life comes from strategy.” Proclaimed Hunter.
Amir Khan and Chris Algieri meet in a game of high-speed chess not checkers in front of a Brooklyn based crowd at the Barclays Center on Spike this Friday night. Khan’s been busy the last few years lining up his ducks in a row in order to land a major fight. Can Algieri pull another rabbit out of his hat the way he did versus Ruslan Provodnikov about a year ago. The co-feature pits the explosive Javier Fortuna against a steady-rising Bryan Vazquez in a matchup that should start the broadcast out with a bang.
Nearly 3 years ago Amir Khan was ready to face Lamont Peterson in a rematch from a close bout. As fate would have it Lamont Peterson failed a random drug test after not informing the agency he’d implanted a testosterone pill in his hip the previous winter before their first meeting. In walks Danny Garcia for a July showdown with the highest of high stakes awaiting Amir in victory in the form of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Tonight in New York from the Barclays Center, Amir Khan squares off against light hitting Chris Algieri in a much criticised fight that has brought considerable pressure on Khan from ALL corners – particularly the fans – who have bombarded his twitter feed over recent days and weeks to let him know exactly how they feel about this fight – which is largely seen as meaningless.
Kugan Cassius spoke to former 2 weight champ Paulie Malignaggi for iFLtv ahead of the fight to discuss his own thoughts on the contest.
The New Yorker – who was due to box on the card before sustaining a cut in training – is in the UK for Sky Sports punditry duties ahead of tomorrows Brook v Gavin card from London and essentially agrees with the fans, albeit it a little more respectfully than some of the tweets I’ve seen.
The fight will take place on May 29 at the Barclays center, a high capacity indoor arena in Brooklyn, NY. Usually boxers need excuses why they do not take a certain fight but Amir Khan (30-3) has been trying to justify his choice and has offered excuses why he should fight Christopher Algieri (20-1). The British boxer can gain credibility only from a stoppage win over this opponent even though Algieri went the distance with Pacquiao and holds a win, albeit a controversial SD, over rough and tumble Ruslan Provodnikov.
Chris Algieri is a little taller and his reach is a little longer but he lacks in experience and skill compared to Khan. In fact he lacks in experience compared to any high-level boxer. Khan is an Olympic silver medalist and his transition to the paid ranks was not seamless but he has more fights than Algieri, a journeyman with little if any amateur experience. The American has been floored 8 times in his last two fights and it would take a stretch of imagination to conjure up a winning path for him in this fight.