Showtime decided to pass on televising the May 30 fight between WBC Silver welterweight champion Amir Khan and former WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri in New York.
I’m actually very surprised by the move. Sure, Khan is heavily favored, but that didn’t stop Showtime from televising Garcia-Salka a year ago, did it? Stylistically, I believe this is going to be a tremendous fight. It’s not going to be ‘Fight of the Year’ material, but something fans are always going to remember.
One man walks into his friend’s house and says ‘Hey, you remember what happened in the Khan-Algieri fight?’ ‘Yeah! Khan’s hand speed was phenomenal, but Algieri kept timing him with those rights.’ It’s that type of fight.
Khan has been under a significant amount of pressure from the boxing world to fight current IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook. Quite frankly, Khan isn’t ready for that type of clash yet. From my perspective, the Algieri fight is a tune-up that will attempt to prepare for him for a clash against Brook, who is a superior counter puncher. Although Khan says his reasoning behind not fighting Brook is because he doesn’t have a solid fan base in the United States, it’s bologna. Khan is promising to fight Brook within the next year. This has nothing to do with his “fan base.”
With Showtime out of the picture, this opens up the door for Al Haymon and his Premier Boxing Champions Series. If that gets done, and it’s likely to happen, the fans are going to be thrilled. Khan has superior hand speed and combination punching capabilities. While Algieri isn’t all that powerful, he is a solid counter puncher. With his new trainer John David Jackson, we expect Algieri to be emphasizing timing and luring Khan into shots he won’t see coming.
This could make or break Amir Khan. Chris Algieri isn’t the most cherished fighter after his sub-par performance against Manny Pacquiao and Khan is being scrutinized for ducking Kell Brook. If the fight is competitive, which I think it will be, it could benefit both fighters. If Khan loses decisively, it’s going to be a much rockier road to the top than before.
