(Photo credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME) By Jim Dower: #6 WBO welterweight contender Chris Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs) will be in the ring this Saturday night against Erick Bone (16-2, 8 KOs) in a 10 round bout on Showtime Extreme from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This as part of the Daniel Jacobs vs. Peter Quillin fight card. Algieri and Bone are coming into their fight on Saturday off the back of defeats.
In the 31-year-old Algieri’s case, he’s coming into the fight with two straight defeats to Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao. You can’t blame Algieri for either of those losses, as he moved up in weight to welterweight for both fights, and he’s still trying to come up with an identity in the new weight class.
For the Pacquiao fight, Algieri attempted to box the faster and more powerful Filipino fighter. It was a poor plan, and it led to Algieri getting knocked down six times in losing the fight by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision. For Algieri’s second fight at welterweight against Khan last May, he bulked up in weight and changed his fighting approach to become more aggressive.
The change worked well, as Algieri came close to winning the fight. The only reason Algieri failed to get the victory was because he didn’t throw enough punches. Part of being more aggressive is it means you need to throw a lot of shots, and Algieri didn’t do that. He came forward a lot in the fight but he wasn’t always throwing combinations.
For his fight against Bone, Algieri is going to need to increase his work rate if he wants to get the victory because Bone is a tough fighter who will take the fight to Algieri and outwork him if given the chance. This is by no means a mismatch. Bone, 26, has the kind of talent to give Algieri a lot of problems and perhaps even steal the victory.
Jacobs-Quillin telecast start time is @ 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Where to watch? Showtime.
Location of fight card: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com. www.barclayscenter.com or at 1-800-745-3000
Algieri needs to put in a good performance against Bone in beating him in an impressive fashion so that he can move up the welterweight rankings so that he can get a title shot. Algieri’s two defeats hasn’t derailed his career because he was facing good opposition. But at the same time, Algieri cannot afford to lose to a fighter in Bone’s class if he wants to keep his top 15 ranking and continue to be a fighter in demand.
It is one thing losing to the likes of Pacquiao and Khan, but losing to Bone would be a huge blow for Algieir’s career because he’s not in the class as the top guys. In other words, Bone is the type of fighter that the top tier guys are expected to beat. If Algieri can’t get past Bone, then he doesn’t belong in the top tier. He would have to consider moving back down in weight to 140, or reconcile the fact that he’s not cut out for the top 15 at welterweight.
“Don’t miss my fight, because it’s going to be a sensational victory,” Algieri said.
It won’t be a sensational victory even if Algieri beats Bone. It’s not a big enough fight for it to fit into the category of a “sensational victory.” Beating Khan and Pacquiao would have been a sensational victory for Algieri, but beating Bone is something that is expected of him.
“Boxing is about big surprises. Everybody knows in this sport, that everyone has one opportunity. This is my opportunity on Saturday night,” Bone said.
Bone is coming into the fight looking to pull off an upset over Algieri. There’s no pressure on Bone because nothing is expected of him. Bone lost his last fight to former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter last March in getting stopped in the 5th round.
If you saw that fight, you’ll notice that Bone gave Porter fits in the first four rounds of the contest before getting hurt in the 5th and dropped twice in losing by a knockout. If Bone can stay on his feet against Algieri on Saturday, he’ll have a chance of scoring an upset. Bone was beaten by Alberto Mosquera by a 12 round split decision in 2013.
A win for Bone in this fight will likely give him a top 15 ranking at 147.
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