Amir Khan returns to the ring on Friday night to face Chris Algieri, although the hope remains that he can land a shot at Floyd Mayweather in September.
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn.
When: Friday May 29, 21:00 (ET)
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Khan has made no secret of his desire to face Mayweather, and he is adamant that he has all the tools necessary to become the first man to defeat ‘Money’.
However, he can’t afford to overlook his next opponent even though he knows that an emphatic win over Algieri could be the springboard required to land him the fight that he craves.
Algieri is coming in off the back of a crushing loss to Manny Pacquiao as the Filipino dominated him in their encounter, flooring him six times en route to an unanimous points decision win.
However, back in New York and ready to upset the odds, the American will want to prove that he isn’t just there to make Khan look good and will look to out-box his rival as he doesn’t the knockout power that could trouble his rival.
The New York-native has a slight height and reach advantage, and his strengths lie in his durability, foot work, speed and quick jab. Given that he is a former undefeated kickboxing champion, he has pedigree and will certainly go into this fight in great condition.
Nevertheless, he won’t be able to take advantage of Khan’s vulnerability of not being able to take a big shot, and he badly struggled with Pacquiao’s speed and movement when they met last year.
Khan will look to attack aggressively and sustain it before dipping back out and in consistently to overwhelm Algieri and put him in trouble early.
Does the Brit have the power to knock him out? It remains to be seen, but he will predictably dominant the bout and then call out Mayweather after. It would be ideal if he faced the winner of Kell Brook vs Frankie Gavin next, with the British pair meeting for the IBF welterweight title in London on Saturday night but that doesn’t look likely.
Khan and Algieri are expected to ring walk around 03:30 UK time on Saturday morning.
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