By Edward Chaykovsky
Former WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20-1, 8KOs) got his wish, because British superstar Amir Khan (30-3, 19KOs) has announced him as his next opponent for a potential May 23rd or May 30th return. The fight is taking place at 147-pounds, no venue or location has been announced.
Algieri had told BoxingScene.com earlier in the week that he was the frontrunner to face Khan. The Long Island fighter is coming off his first career defeat, a November twelve round decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in Macau, China. Pacquiao was unable to stop Algieri, who went down six times in the contest.
Algieri started off 2014 with a decision win over Emmanuel Taylor and in June he made his HBO debut with an upset split decision to capture the WBO 140-pound title from Ruslan Provodnikov. Khan had two big welterweight victories in 2014, over Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander.
"At this point I'm looking for a big fight and a big opportunity. Its not just about the money, he's a big name. I just came of fighting Manny Pacquiao, one of the biggest names in the sport and I want to stay at that level - and I think the Khan fight is great for that. There are still options for us to go back to 140 and get the title that is rightfully mine. I never lost that title. So we have a lot of options and I want to get back in the ring and get a really big fight," Algieri said to BoxingScene.com.
