Errol Spence, Jr. (Photo : Twitter)
A former victim of Manny Pacquiao will take on a fighter anointed as the next Floyd Mayweather.
The legacy of those two retired boxers still haunt the welterweight division as boxing seeks its new icons.
Errol Spence has the undefeated record of Floyd Mayweather, as well as the Olympic experience. Will he reach the same heights (and collect the same paycheck) that Money did?
On April 16, Chris Algieri, a former champion who wants to regain his lost glory will cross paths with Spence, a fighter on the way up. Algieri's last fight was against Eric Bone, but his major fights were against Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao.
Algieri's claim to fame was the upset of the year he scored against Ruslan Provodnikov and it earned him a shot against Pacquiao who handily beat him via unanimous decision. He did improve in his fight against Khan and actually believes he won the fight despite the unanimous call by the judges.
While this is not a title shot for him, beating a hyped fighter in Errol Spence may get him in the conversation for a top welterweight ticket or maybe a Khan rematch.
"We have a great game plan for fight night and it will show from the opening bell," said Algieri to Fightnews.com (h/t Boxing News 24). "I have been here before. Spence hasn't. He [Spence] hasn't been tested yet in the pros, and has not been in with anyone who poses, or is even supposed to pose him with any problems. It is my job to go out there and do that."
The winner of the bout will become the mandatory challenger for Kell Brook, as the welterweight division continues to thrive even with the retirement of its primary antagonists.
For Spence, boxing fans anticipate a knockout. Algieri is not known as a puncher but relies on his boxing skills to wear down an opponent, as he only has 8 knockouts. In contrast, Spence has 16 KOs in 19 matches.
He displays Mayweather-like swagger in his statement to Premier Boxing Champions.
"I definitely feel like I'm that new guy and that new face that's emerging on the boxing scene," Spence says. "A lot of these guys, like Danny Garcia and the rest of them, they've been pros since around 2007. I'm the new face of the [147-pound] division, and I'm ready to make my presence known."
Algieri is not an easy target, though. Pacquiao knocked him down six times but he managed to escape the count. In fact, Algieri has not been knocked out-his two losses coming in via decision.
Spence wants to achieve what Pacquiao didn't, and take out Algieri. His trainer Derrick James bared, "Errol wants to make a statement. He wants to beat this guy more convincingly than Manny Pacquiao did. And the only way to do that is to knock him out."
