By Gav Duthie: Only 48 hours after making the decision to fight Chris Algieri on May 30th it wouldn’t surprise me if Amir Khan is already regretting it. I am normally an Amir critic with regards to his attitude, decision making and delusions of grandeur but in this instance I feel for the Bolton boxer. Granted there were bigger fights out there than Chris Algieri but this is still a very tricky opponent for Amir. He is going to have to be 100% up for a fight that no television network seems to want to pick up and no fan seems to support. Don’t get me wrong:
– When Khan and Brook verbally agreed to a winner takes all purse I was excited
– When Adrien Broner tweeted #KhanBroner I was excited
– When the IBF ordered a Khan-Bradley final eliminator I was excited
– When Khan announced he was fighting Algieri I was disappointed
That being said the criticism has gone well over the top. Algieri was a world champion only last year and has lost one fight only to Manny Pacquaio. Everything Khan does is under the advisement of Al Haymon and with one eye on a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. This article will try to play devils advocate by entering the looking glass from Amir Khan’s point of view on why he is avoiding Kell Brook in his relentless pursuit of Floyd Mayweather Jr as well as analyze Algieri as an opponent commercially and technically.
Ramadan
The first issue is his dedication to the religious sacrifice of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar in which a strict fast is observed from Dawn to Sunset. In 2015 the month runs from 18th June to 17th July. The dates for a stadium fight in June/July would have been difficult or near impossible with Brook. Seeing as the football season runs from August-May there is a tight schedule for stadium contests. Amir was under pressure to get a fight in before Ramadan and considering we have just entered April it is a good coup to get Algieri for next month.
Kell Brook
Brook is understandably gutted that Khan has dodged him and cited a lack of respect. Rightly or wrongly Khan’s attitude is that a fight with Brook will always be there, there is no rush or time limit. There is no doubt he sees Brook as a big risk in his pursuit of Mayweather. He feels that Pacquaio beat Algieri before Mayweather so why not him. If Khan was IBF champion would this persuade Floyd, perhaps but Amir isn’t sure. Khan knows he could lose to Mayweather (he could even lose to Algieri) and still get a fight with Brook. Kell needs to forget about it for now and build his own reputation. I think Khan is genuinely fearful of Brook. It was fine him playing the Sheffield man down before but now that he is world champion and looking impressive Khan is starting to look stupid with his comments. When he does catch up to Khan I’m sure he will win.
Mayweather
In Khan’s mind Pacquaio managed to secure the Mayweather fight by beating Algieri so why not him. Maidana beat Broner to face Floyd so similarly he felt that would potentially do more for him than facing Brook. Khan often talks about Brook not being big in America and seeing as Algeri is a native New Yorker he sees this as a more viable opponent. Is he making the wrong decision, absolutely but this is his logic. I think he underestimates Floyd’s interest in the UK market. He promotes Ashley Theopane and often has interest in the UK sector. If he thought Khan could sell out a stadium he would undoubtedly consider him a viable opponent. Facing Algieri could really backfire if Showtime don’t pick the event up. Perhaps Haymon will need to make this part of a PBC event on Spike TV.
Algieri
Now on to the man in question. Algieri only turned professional as a boxer at 24 years old after amassing a 20-0 record as a kickboxer. He is 20-1 (8) as a boxer with his only loss to Manny Pacquaio. I think the fact he was beaten so badly is the problem for fight fans. I feel this fight will be a test for Amir’s new boxing style. Algieri has a similar height and reach and Amir’s last two opponents have been southpaws. This will be a decent technical battle for Khan and he may come frustrated if he can’t land the same volume of shots as he did against Collazo and Alexander.
The future for Brook-Khan
I feel that Amir is consumed by thoughts of a fight with Floyd Mayweather. In theory Floyd’s last ever fight should be in September this year. Whether or not Khan gets the fight remains to be seen but if Floyd retires I think he will then turn to Brook as his biggest fight.
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