Algieri can win, he’s going to shock people, says Jackson

By Boxing News - 05/28/2015 - Comments

Image: Algieri can win, he’s going to shock people, says Jackson(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Allan Fox: While most people believe that former WBO light welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) has virtually no chance of pulling off an upset on Friday in his fight against Amir Khan (30-3, 19 KOs), Algieri’s new trainer John David Jackson believes he’s going to shock the world by defeating Khan in their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Jackson notes that Algieri is the taller fighter of the two at 5’10” compared to the 5′ 8½″ for Khan, and that Algieri will rehydrate to around 160 pounds by the time he steps inside the ring.

Jackson says Khan isn’t a big welterweight, and he’s not a physical one either. He can’t fight on the inside, and he’s got a chin problem. Jackson sees Khan’s hand speed advantage to be a small one over Algieri, and not enough for him to do anything with it.

If Algieri is able to pull off an upset on Friday, it’s going to be a major blow to the 28-year-old Khan’s career. It would upset his dreams for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., and it would cause him to have to go into another rebuilding stage for his career. Some would say that Khan is still in the rebuilding phase after his last defeat to Danny Garcia three years ago in 2012. Khan still hasn’t faced a puncher since that fight, and he’s not taken on anyone that can be considered a dangerous threat to him.

“I think Chris can win,” Jackson said via RingTV.com. “Chris is going to shock so many people for this fight. We know Khan’s chin is out there, and Amir is the smaller man,” Jackson said. “Chris will come in at 147, but the next day, he’ll get up to 157, 160 pounds.”

Khan losing to Algieri would be a real shocker for many people because they see this fight as a slam dunk win for Khan. Algieri doesn’t have lethal punching power, and he’s coming off of loss to Manny Pacquiao. That loss was very one-sided, and Algieri was on the canvas six separate times from knockdowns. However, Khan isn’t in the same league as Pacquiao, and we could see Algieri expose Khan like other fighters have done in the past. Before his loss to Pacquiao, Algieri had been an undefeated fighter with wins over the likes of Ruslan Provodnikov and Emmanuel Taylor. Those are solid fighters, and Algieri showed great skills in beating those guys.

If Algieri can handle Khan’s hand speed, and figure out how to time him, he could get the better of the British fighter. It’s not likely, but there’s a possibility that Algieri could use his intelligence to defeat Khan.

A win for Algieri will open up opportunities for other important fights in the future, perhaps even a rematch with Khan. It’s difficult to imagine Khan walking away from this defeat without trying to get a rematch. Khan never attempted to avenge his defeats at the hands of Breidis Prescott, Danny Garcia or Lamont Peterson, but he would need to do in this case because it would be such a damaging blow to his career.



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