Algieri Open To Facing Anyone at Junior Welterweight

By Bill "Two Scoops" Emes

WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20-0, 8KOs), who earlier this month pulled off a big upset victory over Ruslan Provodnikov at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, is open to fighting the best fighters in his division.

The recognized ruler at 140 is WBC/WBA champion Danny Garcia, who returns on August 9th at Barclays. There is also IBF champion Lamont Peterson. And IBO/WBA 'regular' champion Jessie Vargas who defends his title against Anton Novikov on August 2nd.

Algieri says there are no contractual boundaries which prevent him from fighting on HBO or Showtime and his promoter, Joe DeGuardia, has a good relationship with both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions.

"[Danny Garcia] is the recognized kingpin, especially after that Matthysse fight. He was tarnished a little bit with Herrera, but everyone has bad nights bad Herrera is a tough guy. I heard talks that he might be moving up to 147 and [his next fight] is his last at 140, so the landscape is wide open and I can't single out Danny just because he has two of the titles. There is also another good titlist out there, Lamont Peterson out of Washington DC, who is another great fighter," Algieri said to BoxingScene.com in an exclusive video interview.

"It's a talent rich division and the champions deserve to be there. I'm willing to fight anyone in the division at this point. I've actually said that in the past. I took on the most scary guy in the division from relative obscurity. At this level, you have to be willing to fight everybody. I don't want to be the best, I just want to get the chance to fight the best."