Algieri Sees Himself In Next Opponent

By Andrew Wroblewski

awroblewski@longislandergroup.com

Chris Algieri, a former world champion boxer from Greenlawn, pictured during a workout earlier this year, will get back into the ring on Saturday.

Three days before retaking the ring at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he once became a world champion, Greenlawn native Chris Algieri compared himself to his next opponent, Erick Bone.

He’s “a tough guy, a tough opponent [and] a scrappy guy. He’s in a position that I was in a few years ago,” Algieri told Newsday.com Wednesday during a media workout at the Bellmore Kickboxing Academy. “He’s the unknown guy coming in and he’s got a lot to prove. For him, I’m sure this is going to be the fight of his life.”

Algieri, 31, referenced the time before he became a world champion, when he faced a heavily-favored Ruslan Provodnikov in a bout for the WBO world super lightweight title at the Barclays Center on June 14, 2014. On that night, Algieri made a name for himself by upsetting Provodnikov and winning the title.

So Bone, the underdog by Las Vegas odds, finds himself in a situation similar to the one Algieri was in. But there is one difference: Bone (16-2, 1 KO) isn’t fighting for a title.

Five months after Algieri won his championship belt, he took on perennial world champion Manny Pacquiao and lost by unanimous decision. Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs) was later stripped of his super lightweight title in the months leading up to his bout with Amir Khan in May, a fight which he also lost by unanimous decision.

Algieri will look to bounce back from the two setbacks with a 10-round welterweight matchup with Bone, which will be broadcast on Showtime Extreme at 7 p.m. EST. The fight is part of the undercard for the middleweight title bout between Daniel Jacobs and Peter Quillin.