Amir Khan took to social media Thursday to announce his next opponent.
Khan – the former unified 140 lb. world champion – announced on his wife Faryal Makhdoom’s YouTube channel that he will fight fellow former 140 lb. title holder Chris Algieri on May 30.
The fight is expected to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will mark the first time Khan has fought in New York since stopping Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th round in his American debut nearly five years ago.
While an official announcement has yet to be made, Khan (30-3, 19 KOs) said he is excited for the fight and hopes another impressive performance will lead him one step closer towards securing a high-profile fight:
“He’s a decent boxer, overall. He knows how to box and how to move well. He takes a decent amount of shots and he’s got a decent amount of power. So I think, overall, this is going to be a good fight for me and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope the fans get behind this fight.”
It was speculated that Khan – a native of Bolton, Lancashire, United Kingdom – would elect to fight fellow countryman and reigning IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.
But as little of a surprise to many, he turned down the bout in hopes of securing a megafight with either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao.
Khan even reportedly declined to fight former welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in a proposed title eliminator. Bradley is now expected to face Khan’s countryman Frankie Gavin.
The 28-year-old Khan, who trains in the Bay Area under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter, turned in an impressive campaign at welterweight last year.
He made quite a splash in his debut this past May by dominating Luis Collazo on the undercard of the first fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana. He then returned to the ring in December and emphatically defeated Devon Alexander in a virtual shut out.
Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) shed his relative unknown status in June by defeating rugged Russian power-puncher Ruslan Provodnikov via split decision to capture the WBO junior welterweight title.
But Algieri’s momentum came to a screeching halt in November when he tasted the canvas six times and lost a virtual shut out to Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao in Macau.
Algieri has since parted ways with previous trainer Tim Lane and will train in Florida under the tutelage of John David Jackson, the former two-division title holder who has gained increasing notoriety for his work with unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
Despite his opponent’s lackluster performance against Pacquiao and lack of notable opponents on his résumé, Khan still acknowledges Algieri as a top-notch fighter:
“You can classify him as an A-class opponent. He has fought decent opponents, beaten decent opponents. He just fell short against Manny Pacquiao, which is an A-star opponent.”
Khan expects his manager and advisor Al Haymon to make an official fight announcement soon.
This website uses cookies.