Sports Blog 28/05/2015: Boxing Preview – Khan vs Algieri & Brook vs Gavin, Friday 29th & Saturday May 30th 2015

It’s a busy weekend for welterweight boxing with a flurry of British fighters in action on Friday and Saturday night.

The bigger of the two bouts takes place on Friday night (or more accurately the early hours of Saturday morning), as Amir Khan takes on Chris Algieri in New York in a non-title fight. Whilst ‘King Khan’ is the heavy odds on favourite to win the battle, at 1/14 against Algieri’s 8/1 (and 28/1 odds for a draw), the bout has an interesting, and important, underlying narrative that goes beyond Friday night. There is only one man Khan wants to fight: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Many believe Khan could be Mayweather’s next opponent after he beat Pacquiao last month, with a potentially career-ending fight to come in September. Khan insists he is focused on the Algieri fight alone, but will be keen to use this bout to prove his worth as an opponent both in the ring and on the ticket.

Khan won his last fight against Devon Alexander back in December by a unanimous points decision, a victory he used to once again reiterate his desire to fight Mayweather, and is attempting to go 31-3 when he faces Algieri in the Big Apple. With 19 career knockouts to his name, Khan is at a 50-25-10 spread of 32.5-35.5, where the boxer is awarded 50 points for winning by knockout, technical knockout or through their opponent’s disqualification, 25 points for winning on points, 10 points for a drawn bout and 0 for losing the contest.



However, the focus on Khan’s future beyond this fight does a disservice to Algieri, who has never lost a fight in his native New York. Granted, Algieri has only ever fought one bout outside of New York, a loss to Manny Pacquiao that also happened to be his last fight AND his first defeat back in November of last year. Whilst this leaves Algieri at 20-1 with 8 knockouts, the New Yorker is only at a 50-25-10 spread of 1.5-4.5 due to the preference for Khan going into the fight. Yet Algieri caused an upset by beating Provodnikov last time he fought at the Barclays Center, and has a full reach advantage over Khan, 72” to 71”, alongside a 2” height difference in his favour.

Unfortunately for Algieri, this match is being seen as another step on the road to Mayweather rather than a serious challenge for ‘King Khan’, leaving the Bolton-born boxer with the advantage at a Khan/Algieri 10-3 Supremacy spread of 14-17 with a Fight Minutes spread of 27.25-28.75.

Saturday night then sees a strictly British affair, but one that has its own interesting links to Khan’s bout, as IBF Welterweight champion Kell Brook defends his title against Frankie Gavin at 10pm at the O2 Arena on Sky Sports Box Office. Like Khan in New York, Brook is the heavy favourite going into the fight in London, odds on favourite at 1/11 compared to Gavin’s 13/2 (with 28/1 for a draw). Brook won the IBF Welterweight title in California against an unbeaten Shawn Porter in August 2014, a victory made all the sweeter due to his heavy underdog status going into the fight. Yet instead of being able to enjoy the first British world champion win on American soil for 28 years, Brook was quickly plunged into a career-threatening injury after he was stabbed in the leg in altercation in Tenerife.



However Brook made a remarkable recovery in the following months, one that culminated in an impressive victory over Jo Jo Dan at the Motorpoint Arena in March. Unbeaten at 34-0 Brook has a 50-25-10 spread of 31.5-34.5; he will also be very interested in the outcome of Khan’s fight, as if Khan is looking to fight Mayweather, then then Brook has the Bolton boy in his sights. If Khan loses, then a fight between the two British welterweight rivals could be brought forward; if he doesn’t, then Brook will be even keener for a win to keep the pressure on ‘King Khan’.

Like Algieri in New York, Birmingham-born Frankie Gavin is going into his first ever world title attempt as the underdog. At 22-1 Gavin’s first defeat came against Leonard Bundu back in August 2014 on a frustrating split decision, a loss that also caused him to hand over his Commonwealth Welterweight title. Whilst Gavin has since then beaten Mate Hornyak, Bradley Skeete and Bogdan Mitic, he is still at a low 50-25-10 spread of 2.5-5.5 as the focus remains firmly on ‘Special K’. This leaves Brook favourite at a 10-3 Supremacy spread of 13-16 with a Fight Minutes spread of 27.25-28.75.