Poor old Chris Algieri. Ahead of his much maligned fight with Amir Khan on Friday at the Barclays Center in New York, the British fighter has suggested a desperate scrabble for a suitable opponent was partly responsible for choosing to fight the former kick-boxer, insinuating to Espn that due to various complications, nobody else credible was available in the wake of him not getting the May 2nd Floyd fight ahead of Manny Pacquiao.
“There were a few names I wanted to fight. (Adrien) Broner was another name which I got no response back. Another one, Miguel Cotto, would have been a great fight for me.”
“Boxing has a lot of different promotional teams, there are a lot of TV networks that work separately and it’s really hard to get a fight that you want.”
Clearly not a fan of the ‘take on all comers’ ethos, Khan – who 100% could have been the man fighting Kell Brook for the IBF 147 lb title on Saturday rather than Frankie Gavin, said;
“I think Algieri was in a position where he needed to make a fight, I was in a position where I was leaving it too long waiting for other fighters to get back to me and they weren’t getting back to me.”
In a seemingly shameless rubbishing of Algieri as a top level opponent, he continued;
“I thought before I make the mistake where I wait so long and I don’t get the fight that I want – and I don’t get to fight in May, then I’m going to have to make the Algieri fight.”
“So I got kind of desperate as well and had to really pick someone and I thought a good venue for me would be New York. The Barclays Center is where they’re having the biggest fights – and to be there – where I have a huge fan base in NY, was appealing.”
“I haven’t fought in New York since the Paulie Malignaggi fight. So, I thought ‘this could be a good fight for me’ – and fighting against Algieri – who is from New York – really helps this fight as well.”
Christ. It’s got sloppy seconds written all over it. Almost makes me feel sorry for Chris Algieri.
Almost…
It’s part of Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions brand and will be on Boxnation in the UK for British fans.
