I’LL BE FINISHED
Lose to Algieri and dream of Floyd fight is over, admits Khan
AMIR KHAN admits he will be finished as a big-time boxer if he loses to local boy Chris Algieri in Brooklyn tonight. The last time Khan ceded home advantage to an opponent he was robbed of his world title by drugs cheat Lamont Peterson in Washington. No such fears this time. Not only does Algieri have a reputation as a health fanatic but he is likely to have fewer fans roaring for him in the Barclays Center than our young man from Bolton.
Khan’s retinue of exuberant followers were in raucous evidence at the weigh-in for their welterweight contest and are expected to outnumber New Yorkers.
Khan stresses: ‘A bad performance here would ruin me. The Floyd Mayweather fight would go out the window. The super-fights I dream about would disappear.’
Algieri, who was humiliated by the six knock-downs inflicted on him by Manny Pacquiao in his last fight, says: ‘People are saying I am fighting for my redemption. I don’t see it like that. I believe that was a tremendous learning experience against a great fighter and it’s helping me move forward. But I have to prove it.’
Khan’s risk is the greater. He says: ‘There is a lot of pressure on me. Not least because of the way Manny beat Algieri. I don’t have to prove anything by direct comparison to Manny’s great performance but I do have to put on an exciting show.
‘I’ve taken this fight in America (rather than a London gala night against Kell Brook) to keep up the pressure on Mayweather to fight me in September.’ Mayweather will handpick his opponent from among several contenders — for what he insists will be his mega-millions swansong in Las Vegas — in due course.
Khan aims to keep himself at the head of that queue in the hope that Mr Money will not be able to swerve him yet again ‘even though he must have seen something in me to give him concern about fighting me’.
But first Algieri, a converted kickboxer who won a world light-welterweight title by rising after being flattened by heavy-punching Russian Ruslan Provodnikov and fighting back for a gallant points victory.
Even so, expect Khan to inflict upon Algieri the second defeat of his career — probably by convincing decision. Khan v Algieri is live on BoxNation late tonight.