New York: Britain’s Amir Khan took a unanimous decision victory Friday over American Chris Algieri in a welterweight matchup, then called out unbeaten Floyd Mayweather for a world title showdown.
Khan improved to 31-3 with his fifth victory in a row, which came by judges’ scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113.
Algieri fell to 20-2 with his second defeat in a row, the other coming last November at Macau at the hands of Filipino star Manny Pacquiao — who lost to treble world champion Mayweather in boxing’s richest-ever megafight earlier this month.
“Amir Khan wants to fight Floyd Mayweather,” Khan screamed in the ring. “I want that next. I’m number one World Boxing Council (challenger). He’s the champion. So let’s make it happen.”
That might be easier said than done. Khan thought he might fight Mayweather in May last year but the US star instead decided to fight Argentina’s Marcos Maidana.
Khan kept Algieri at bay much of the night, the American landing a strong combination early in the eighth round but unable to connect often enough to claim victory.
“He come to fight, wanted to win, had his home crowd, but I came here to win,” Khan said, adding he had to resort to “Plan B” to defeat the hometown hero.
Khan said support from the crowd helped him push to the finish and secure the decision. “The crowd really fired me up the last three rounds when Chris really came at me hard,” Khan said.
It was his fourth straight victory under trainer Virgil Hunter after back-to-back defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia brought a split from legendary conditioner Freddie Roach.
“Virgil Hunter has been great for me as a fighter and he’s helped me really understand the sport of boxing,” Khan said. “I’ve worked on my technique and my defence and really just everything.
“I’m focused on my opponent and I’m not going to make any mistakes.”
Algieri suffered the first defeat of his career last November — a six knock-down drubbing by Philippines icon Manny Pacquiao in Macau.
