(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated Errol Spence Jr. (19-0, 16 KOs) feels that he was already primed to fight for a world title two fights ago, but this Saturday night the talented 26-year-old will be looking to lock himself into a world title fight when he faces Chris Algieri (21-2, 8 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Spence and Algieri will be fighting in an IBF 147lb eliminator, and the winner of the contest will be fighting IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook next year if he doesn’t vacate his title first.
Spence sees this fight as his coming out party where he goes from prospect to contender after he takes the 31-year-old Algieri’s scalp in beating him on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC. The fight will be seen by a lot of casual and hardcore fans, and it’ll give Spence an opportunity to show the world how good he is. Algieri has been in there with guys like Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Ruslan Provodnikov in the past, and he’s mostly held his own. Algieri is really up against it in facing Spence though, because this is a guy that no one wants to fight in the 147lb division. Keith Thurman turned down a fight against Spence when it was offered to him by Floyd Mayweather Jr, even after the “Money” man said he would put up one of his world titles if Thurman would take the fight.
If Spence can obliterate Algieri in lightning fashion or if he can simply dominate him over 12 rounds, that would be a huge accomplishment because only Pacquiao has been able to dominate Algieri thus far. No one has stopped Algieri, so that would be a big feather in Spence’s cap if he can score a knockout over the hard to hit fighter.
“Saturday night is going to be a great performance,” said Spence. “I never thought fight week would come. I just need to stick with my game plan. The game plan that my coach laid out for me and do what I do and get the win. I’ve always felt like I was ready for this level. Saturday night, I’m looking for a coming out party. I was ready two fights ago to fight for a title. After this fight we can talk about what’s next, but right now, Chris Algieri is in front of me. Chris has been in a lot of hard fights. At the end of the day he’s a boxer and so am I. It’s going to be a war.”
Spence says “it’s going to be a war” against Algieri, but it might not be a war. It might be case of cat and mouse in this fight with Spence playing the part of a big cat chasing a mouse around the ring. Algieri obviously isn’t a mouse, but it’s difficult to believe that he’s going to want to stand in there and trade with Spence or fighting in a war against him. That would be pure suicide. Algieri is someone that has just recently changed his fighting style from being a pure boxer to that of a slugger, and he’s done this just in his last two fights. But what’s interesting is that Algieri has made this chance without any improvement in his punching power.
Algieri has made the change in his fighting style without having added to his punching power. You can’t make major changes to your fighting style without having new weapons to assist you when you step it up a level, and in the case of Algieri, he simply doesn’t have the weapons to fight someone like Spence if he’s going to try and slug with him in the same way that he did in his last two fights against Amir Khan and Erick Bone. Those guys didn’t have the major power to make Algieri pay fopr his new style of fighting Spence does have the power to make Algieri pay and then some. If Algieri doesn’t have a Plan-B ready to use on Saturday night, he’s probably going to get blown out within five rounds by Spence. Even if Algieri does employ a Plan-B, he’s still likely going to get blown out in five rounds.
“Spence is a guy people don’t want to fight, so they brought him to me,” said Algieri. “The best thing about working with John David Jackson is the confidence he gives me. He let’s me be who I am. He gives me the faith to trust in my abilities. I’m looking forward to putting on another great display with him in my corner,” said Algieri.
It’s nice that Algieri has a new trainer in John David Jackson that is helping instill confidence in him. However, in this case, I think it’s going to take more than confidence to keep Algieri from getting knocked out. It’s going to take a great chin and some talent. I don’t see Algieri having enough of either of those things to keep him from getting blown out by Spence in this fight.
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