The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of May 31

Let's get ready for the second straight fight week at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York!

This week, we take a look at Amir Khan's competitive unanimous-decision win over Chris Algieri from Friday night.

Did Khan finally prove his worth for a showdown with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

And did Algieri—the huge underdog—finally prove that he belongs at this level?

We also take a look at Kell Brook's big win in London on Saturday night and ponder what the future holds for the undefeated British champion and whether he'll be able to entice big names to come over to England for a fight.

Which takes us to the action this coming weekend.

Miguel Cotto defends his middleweight title in Brooklyn against Daniel Geale Saturday night.

Can the Puerto Rican icon advance to a fall superfight? Or will Geale play the ultimate spoiler?

All that and more in this week's edition of the hottest storylines in boxing.

Did Amir Khan Show Enough to Earn a Superfight?

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Khan did what he had to do Friday night at the Barclays Center to escape without a stunning and possibly career-derailing loss against Algieri, but did he do enough to make either Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao—whenever he returns—salivate at the prospect of a match with him?

That's a difficult question.

The Bolton native was clearly quicker than his opponent from just a few miles down the highway, but the expectations game in boxing is what it's all about. 

And if you ask anyone in the arena or watching on TV, Khan didn't meet his burden, while Algieri clearly put to rest the conjecture that he would once again prove to be a few strokes out past his depth. 

People expected Khan to completely outclass Algieri—who had been dropped six times in a decision loss to Pacquiao that bordered on comically wide—but the underdog caught Khan completely off guard with his willingness to come forward and press the action. 

Algieri's aggression made it a close fight at the midway point before Khan's speed took over the show to secure his victory in the later rounds.

Even with all that, CompuBox tracking showed Khan with just a 218-199 edge in landed shots, with Algieri throwing nearly 100 more. 

So there was definitely a bit of wiggle room here in the scoring.

Do you want to take a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full approach?

Khan showed an ability to adapt and hold back a hard-charging and determined opponent.

But the detractors will take the opposite line and criticize him for struggling against a foe he should have dominated.

Khan later called out Mayweather, both in the ring and at the presser after the fight. That's the fight he's been chasing for a couple of years now. 

But does this win make it more or less likely to happen?

It probably makes it more likely, but given his struggles and the relative ease with which Algieri found a home for his right hand, it also makes his possible challenge of Mayweather a bit less compelling.

Has Chris Algieri Proved He Belongs?

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Algieri was forced to play defense for most of the promotion for this fight, much as he had done after signing to face Pacquiao last November in Macau on HBO pay-per-view.

Mainstream fans and media once again dismissed his chances and even questioned his selection as an opponent after the six-knockdown drilling Pacquiao unleashed on him. 

But even in defeat, the Huntington, New York, fighter may well have the last laugh.

Algieri looked nothing like the fighter who got shellacked half a world away in the most lopsided PPV main event you'll ever witness in your lifetime.

This was his first fight under the tutelage of former multi-weight world champion John David Jackson, and the improvements were immediately apparent from the opening bell.

Algieri told Bleacher Report last week that his new trainer was working to find ways to better utilize his athleticism and generate power on his punches, and in that vein, he came out much more aggressive and tried to take the fight out of Khan's comfort zone. 

Against Provodnikov, Algieri had to lie back and box—mainly because he would have had his head ripped off otherwise—to disrupt and stymie the Siberian slugger's momentum. 

But against Khan, it was Algieri who was forced into the stalker role.

The Brit, who has well-documented issues with his chin, appeared tentative early and many times didn't look comfortable in the fight. Algieri landed a right hand or two that buckled him a bit, and the fight was probably closer than a pair of 117-111 scorecards would indicate.

There were a ton of close, swing rounds that could have gone either way—I scored it 116-112 from ringside for Khan—but it's hard to give either man all of them.

Algieri may have a gripe over the wideness of the scoring, but the right man had his hand raised.

He has to settle for the moral victory that he was able to silence the naysayers who, once again, told him he doesn't belong here.

Algieri will be back, and he's earned it. 

He's a world-class fighter, for sure.

Can Geale Blow Up Cotto's Plans?

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Cotto makes the first defense of his middleweight crown against Australia's Geale, a former multi-time world champion at 160 pounds, Saturday night at the Barclays Center on HBO.

The fight will take place at a catchweight of 157 pounds, which only adds fuel to the growing fire that casts aspersions on the Puerto Rican legend's claim to legitimate supremacy over the middleweight division. 

And that doesn't even make any mention—yet—of the elephant, or monster, in the room: Gennady "GGG" Golovkin.

More on that in just a second.

Cotto is in the first fight of an exclusive promotional contract with rap mogul Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports, and he's been out of the ring for nearly a year since dethroning Sergio Martinez last June at Madison Square Garden. 

Geale has held both the IBF and WBA 160-pound titles, but he hasn't appeared on American television since Golovkin nearly torpedoed his head out of the ring last summer in yet another one-sided demolition.

His only fight since was an easy decision over former world-title challenger Jarrod Fletcher in his native Australia, which leaves many to wonder about Cotto's motivations to avoid Golovkin but fight his leftovers.

Expectations are that the catchweight and name-recognition elements here make Cotto a prohibitive favorite to emerge from Barclays with his title and a fall superfight with Canelo Alvarez intact.

But expect Geale to have something to say about that before everything is said and done.

According to Miguel Maravilla of FightNews.com, Cotto has reportedly looked great in training camp at Wild Card with veteran cornerman Freddie Roach, but the Aussie is a legitimate top-10 middleweight fighter who knows how to win. 

Was Kell Brook's Win a Statement?

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Brook made a statement Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London.

The IBF welterweight champion struggled a bit in the first couple of rounds against Frankie Gavin, a cagey southpaw with good movement and a tricky style, before figuring out his man for a spectacular sixth-round knockout. 

The win was Brook's second successful defense of the 147-pound title he took from Shawn Porter last year in suburban Los Angeles, and it positions him for high-profile matches in a talent-laden division.

Khan would seem the obvious target, but Brook is tired of talking about him after being rebuffed in several attempts to make that fight a reality.

"It is getting boring now, me and Amir Khan," Brook said, per BoxingScene.com. "I have the title so why not come and fight me. Frankie had the cojones to get in a fight with me so I take my hat off to him."

Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn reiterated that Khan is still waiting at the altar for Mayweather to give him a jingle and that Brook is focused on trying to get Brandon Rios, Keith Thurman or Pacquiao to take the shuttle over to Sheffield for a fight.

According to Edward Chaykovsky of BoxingScene.com, Rios was reportedly supposed to be next for the winner of Brook vs. Gavin, and the American remains a name with an exciting style.

Will Bob Arum send him across the pond?

That part remains to be seen.

Thurman, who returns July 11 against Luis Collazo in Tampa, Florida, also might be a bit reluctant to take that trip for a fight.

Brook is the champion and one of Britain's best fighters, but he might need to travel once again to secure the big fights he desires.

Can Some Big Names Resurrect Their Careers on PBC?

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If you hit the rewind button and went back into the not-so-distant past, you'd take one look at the Premier Boxing Champions card Saturday at the StubHub Center and be floored with the amount of sheer talent appearing in one afternoon of boxing. 

Robert Guerrero, Alfredo Angulo and Vic Darchinyan will all appear on one card, each in separate bouts, and each once again trying to continue trekking forward in careers that have started to sink into the mud.

Guerrero is clearly the freshest and most relevant of those names.

He fought on the inaugural PBC card, dropping a rough unanimous decision against rising welterweight sensation Keith Thurman in a fight that saw him hit the deck in Round 9.

Guerrero shouldn't find any shame in that defeat—he showed huge guts and heart—and shouldn't have much difficulty with Aaron Martinez in the main event.

Angulo was once one of the most exciting and compelling warriors in the sport. He's tough, rugged and has never seen a punch he didn't like to throw or eat.

But he's dropped three in a row and four of his last six fights, so a win over journeyman Delray Raines—who has fought many solid fighters but just recently returned after a four-year hiatus—isn't likely to do much to revitalize him.

Darchinyan is the one who is matched the hardest on Saturday and has the biggest opportunity. 

He challenges dangerous WBA featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar in what you have to figure is his last shot at boxing glory. 

Cuellar is a rising star who made his name by thumping what used to be Juan Manuel "JuanMa" Lopez to win a share of the 126-pound title. Given Darchinyan's known chin issues, this one could get brutal.

Kevin McRae is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter @McRaeBoxing.