Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction
Despite the efforts of a game opponent, welterweight Amir "King" Khan (31-3) kept himself in consideration for a shot at pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
On Friday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Khan used blinding hand speed and superior movement to earn a unanimous-decision victory over the rugged Chris Algieri (20-2) in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV. It wasn't a sparkling performance from Khan, but it was a win nonetheless.
Dan Rafael of ESPN.com has the official scorecards:
I scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Khan.
Algieri landed a hard right hand in the first round that momentarily wobbled Khan, but like most of the other moments the New Yorker had during the fight, the success came on single punches. Khan did almost all of his work on quick, effective combinations.
That contrast in styles led to a noticeable advantage for Khan in the Compubox numbers:
Khan's hand speed took over from the second through sixth rounds. He struck Algieri's head back on a consistent basis. He wasn't hurting him with the shots, but they were scoring. To his credit, Algieri remained steadfast in his pursuit of his swift opponent, but he wasn't getting much payoff for his aggression investments.
Algieri gained some momentum in the seventh and eighth rounds with his pressure and effective body punching. To the dismay of his trainer, Virgil Hunter, Khan began to run more than he was fighting. His lack of assertiveness let Algieri back into the fight and made the final result a little closer than it needed to be.
After receiving Hunter's stern instructions in the corner, Khan re-established control in the ninth and 10th rounds by standing his ground more often and landing some of his best punches of the night. A hard uppercut in the 10th round was the only shot of the bout that seemed to hurt Algieri.
Throughout the fight, Algieri stepped out of character to put Khan on the defensive. Usually, Algieri is the consummate boxer. However, against a quicker, slicker Khan, Algieri played the stalker role.
The problem with this approach was Algieri's lack of knockout power. He had only eight knockouts coming into the fight, and his inability to exploit Khan's notoriously weak chin was as much responsible for the result as any other factor.
Algieri couldn't match Khan's speed and movement, but he had opportunities to land big shots. He just lacked the power to make them count.
When the fight was over, Khan wasted no time calling out Mayweather, per the PBC on Spike broadcast:
While the performance was a winning one for Khan, it didn't leave many members of the boxing media impressed.
Showtime's Brian Custer, Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix and Fight Hub TV's Mick Akers wouldn't endorse a Khan-Mayweather bout:
""I want to fight @FloydMayweather!" - @AmirKingKhan #PBConSpike pic.twitter.com/cisZ5ZPgQP
— SPIKE (@spike) May 30, 2015"
The fight was exciting, but Khan's defense still looked suspect. He outboxed Algieri—which many expected—but it's hard not to wonder whether he would have been in serious trouble if he were facing a better puncher.
The ease with which Algieri landed shots makes it seem as if Khan could find himself in dire straits against Mayweather—or Kell Brook for that matter. Normally, a fighter's stock doesn't go down after a unanimous-decision win, but that might be the case for Khan after Friday night.
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