By Thomas Gerbasi
Chris Algieri may not have seen the win column since the night of June 14, 2014, but that’s not to say he didn’t learn anything from his subsequent defeats against Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan. And it’s not just a technical or experience thing. It’s about finding the balance between the work in the gym and all the other work that goes along with competing on the elite level of the sport.
“I learned that I’m much more in the driver’s seat than I had initially thought and that I can choose what I do and what I need to do, and what’s important and what’s not,” he said. “I don’t have to do everything out there like I did earlier in my career. Everything that came my way, I was front and center, ready to do the interviews and show up for this and that. Now I’ve been able to be more relaxed and focus on what got me to the top, and that’s been the hard work in the gym.”
It may not sound like much, but to a lot of world champions, the fight’s the fun part, with the work behind closed doors a close second. The rest is part of the job, but it can become tiring, and Algieri has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to make himself accessible. Eventually though, it’s necessary to be a little selfish and focus one hundred percent on the work in the ring, and with a third consecutive loss staring him in the face should he fall short against Erick Bone at Barclays Center this Saturday, the former WBO junior welterweight champion is all business.
So while the 16-2 Bone isn’t exactly a household name, Algieri has to look at him as being the most dangerous opponent he’s ever faced.
“I’ve got to treat like all my recent fights, and that’s as a big fight,” he said. “At this level, there are no easy fights, every fight is a big fight, and the result matters. So for me, this is an extremely serious situation, I prepared very well for this, and I’m going to go out there and show what I’ve been working on and make a statement to the welterweights in the world right now.”
This weekend’s bout is his second with John David Jackson manning the corner, and it’s been a good fit so far. Following the blowout loss to Pacquiao a year ago, Jackson came in and Algieri looked to be in top-notch form against Khan despite losing a decision that many felt could have gone the other way. Algieri is one of those many, but he’s not dwelling on it, choosing instead to focus on the positive of that night in Barclays Center.
“I was very happy with how I performed on the night of the Khan fight,” he said. “I’m not happy with the end result in terms of the decision, but that’s not for me to worry about now. It is what it is, and I’ve just been learning and getting better and that fight showed it.”
And he promises even more the second time around with Jackson.
“Absolutely,” Algieri said. “(Former pro boxer and current Director of Public Relations for DiBella Entertainment) Kevin Rooney’s been down in camp and he was saying that a lot of the things that John’s been doing with me in the gym are starting to show in sparring a lot more and I think it’s going to show that much more on fight night.”
The 26-year-old Bone, an Ecuador native, saw a four-fight winning streak snapped by a fifth round knockout loss to Shawn Porter in March, and Algieri should have the goods to beat him. But is this a way for the 31-year-old Long Islander to get back to his winning ways and kick off a rebuilding year in 2016, or is he going big name hunting again immediately?
“I don’t like to assume anything, so I’m taking this next fight very seriously, and when it comes to 2016, I’ve never really picked how fast or slow my career has gone,” Algieri said. “I’ve always wanted it to be faster, and then once we started making some moves, it went lightning-fast. So I can’t really say what I want this next year to be. I just take it as it comes. I’ve never picked an opponent, I never had a choice in those kind of things, so it is what it is. Whoever’s there, I’m kind of old school in that way. Who I fight is who I fight.”
What he will have a choice in is what he does between the ropes, and in his eyes, it’s statement-making season.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “Everything moving forward is going to be a statement-making opportunity and that’s the great part about this sport. I get to go out there in front of the world, and I have a chance to make a statement that everybody can see. December 5th against Erick Bone, it’s just another one of those nights and I cannot wait until that night.”
