A WIN FOR KHAN PUTS HIM IN MAYWEATHER SWEEPSTAKES
Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather has one fight left on his legendary six fight contract with Showtime. That last bout is rumored to take place in September. One of the frontrunners to face the megastar is former 140lb world champion Amir Khan (30-3, 19 KOs) of the United Kingdom.
Khan (left)
Khan, a former Olympic silver medalist is fast and rangy with good power. His achilles heel is his chin or lack of ability in taking a punch. He has been knocked out twice in his three losses, and been hurt on multiple occasions in bouts. Friday night he makes his debut on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV versus the light punching Chris Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs), live from the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York.
KHAN IN “MUST” AND “SHOULD” WIN SPOT
Algieri is coming off a one-sided defeat to Manny Pacquiao last year where he was knocked down six times. Algieri is the perfect opponent at this stage of Khan’s career and the odds reflect such. Odds at William Hill have Khan as a 14-1 favorite. Algieri shouldn’t be able to hurt Khan, and if the Brit can eclipse Pacquiao’s dominant performance over Algieri with a stoppage win, he could become the front runner to face Mayweather.
CAN ALGIERI PULL OFF THE UPSET?
While Khan is the better fighter with more power, speed and boxing ability, Algieri is a New York native. In his last bout he faced Paquiao in Macao China, outside his comfort zone. Friday he will be in his hometown and have the crowd behind him. While many fighters view fighting at home as a potential distraction, the college educated Algieri appears to be a responsible individual who shouldn’t let that affect his focus.
NEW TRAINER FOR LONG ISLANDER
After the embarrassing loss to the Filipino superstar Pacquaio it was time for Algieri to make a change. His former trainer was clueless in giving his fighter instructions in the corner in his last outing. The new trainer, former world champion John David Jackson should be able to get more out this client. Chris at 5’10, has a one inch height advantage over Khan. At 72′ he posesses a one inch reach advantage. It will be interesting to see if Jackson can help him make most of those slight advantages. It’s Khan’s fight to lose.
UNDERCARD MAY PRODUCE FIREWORKS
In the televised undercard Bryan Vasquez (34-1, 18 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (27-0-1, 20 KOs) look to steal the show in a battle for the vacant WBA super featherweight title. Both guys can bang, but have yet to make a name for themselves on television. At times Fortuna can be explosive, but is vulnerable even with his unorthodox style. Little has been seen of Vasquez as he has only fought once in the US. Plenty of leather should be exchanged in this 12 rounder.
Kevin Perry