By Edward Chaykovsky
Amir Khan (30-3, 19KOs) is not moved by Kell Brook's upcoming defense of the IBF welterweight title against Frankie Gavin. Khan is back on May 29th against Chris Algieri at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Khan says Gavin is unknown to many fans outside of the UK, but he does hold a high ranking with a fourth position under the IBF. Algieri is returning from last November's twelve round decision loss to Manny Pacquiao. Algieri survived despite going down six times in the contest.
"Chris Algieri just came off a win. I saw it the other day. It was a very good fight. He boxed very smart against a guy who is a good pressure fighter and a big puncher. Then, against Pacquiao, one of the quickest fighters in the world. I think if you look at the names of Chris Algieri's opponents, Kell Brook's last few opponents, the names will speak for themselves," Khan said.
"Yeah, Kell Brook, the guy is a world champion, he should be fighting the likes of Bradley and the big names in boxing, like me. I'm fighting Chris Algieri, who just came out of the ring in his last fight against Pacquiao. Kell Brook, never heard of the guy he fought. Now he's fighting another no-name fighter without a ranking."
"That name doesn't bother me anymore because he's not doing anything. The only reason his name gets pushed to me because he holds the title. If he didn't have the title, I don't think it would mean anything to me or boxing."
Khan says he could have faced Brook next, but Ramadan got in the way and Brook was unwilling to push his return to a much further date to accommodate the contest.
"I could have fought Kell Brook in the UK. I don't want to fight because of Ramadan coming up. Either way, I'd be taking Ramadan off. I don't want to be going into Ramadan tired after a fight, going straight into Ramadan, fasting. I've done that before. I've had a fight and I've gone straight into Ramadan back-to-back. It's too much for a body to take. Obviously I need to look after my body," Khan said.
