Amir Khan won in an unanimous decision tonight over his worthy opponent, Chris Aligieri, in a closely-fought boxing match held on Friday night in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center, televised on Spike TV. Though the judges’ score cards all were for Khan, 115-113, 117-111, and 117-111, Aligieri gave Khan all he could handle, and then some, though Khan ended up outlasting and defeating him.
With his hard-fought victory, Amir Khan improves his record to 31-3 with 19 of his wins coming by knockouts. He has stated his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr., next, and he just might get the chance to do it, as a preliminary to a potential Mayweather re-match against Manny Pacquiao, assuming that the champ can defeat Khan.
Though Amir Khan attempted to use what many considered to be his superior speed against Aligieri, throughout much of the fight, it was the challenger, Aligieri, who was more aggressive. For the first half or so of the boxing match, Khan seemed, in general, fine with fighting from the outside of the ring and trying to both evade Aligieri’s punches and wear him down.
Previous to the fight vs. Amir Khan, Aligieri had a pretty respectable record of 20-2, with 8 KOs, though in November, he suffered a rather lopsided defeat against Pacquiao. His new trainer, John David Jackson, helped him come out more aggressively against Khan, though his efforts did not prove to be enough to secure a victory for him.
The second half of the boxing match was pretty clearly Khan’s, though he had to make up for some lost ground, due to Aligieri’s performance in the first half of the match. Amir Khan’s apparent strategy of wearing Aligieri down seemed to be working as the boxing match continued into the later rounds, and Khan was able to pull out an eventual victory, though Aligieri went the distance against him.
In his post-fight interview, Amir Khan called out Floyd “Money” Mayweather, and said that he wants to fight against him, next. He declared “let’s make it happen.” However, he might find himself in a similar situation that Aligieri was in, fighting him; namely, trying to take the fight to him, while Mayweather evades him and tries to wear him out in the early rounds.
Khan praised Aligieri’s performance against him. He stated “Chris gave it his all tonight. This is the best Algieri we’ve seen in a long time, and if he’d have fought Manny (Pacquiao) that way he might have won.”
Ailgieri said, following the fight, “I thought I hurt him several times, but Khan’s a cagey fighter and he spins off. I guess the judges liked that tonight. I would think the cleaner, harder shots would get a little more respect.” 
In one of the fights leading up to the Khan vs. Aligieri match, the vacant WBA Junior Lightweight Championship title was on the line and up for grabs. That made the match an interesting one, as Javier Fortuna battled against Bryan Vasquez and won in an unanimous decision in a close boxing match. The judges’ score cards were one scoring Fortuna winning 116-112, and the other two cards had him winning the fight 117-111.
With his victory over Vasquez, Fortuna’s record now stands at 28-0-1, with 20 of his wins coming by KOs. Much of the boxing match, Vasquez tried to take the battle to Fortuna, by chasing after him, but that strategy only wound up tiring himself out, though many of the rounds were very close. Whenever Vasquez drew near enough to Fortuna, the two fighters both exchanged several solid jabs.
The undercard fight before the main event, of Amir Khan vs. Chris Aligieri, featured a boxing match between Brooklyn’s Heather “The Heat” Hardy vs. Noemi Bosques. Though the outcome was a split decision, Hardy ended up victorious, remaining undefeated. One judge scored the fight 75-77 for the challenger, but the other two judges scored the fight for Hardy, with score cards of 77-75 and 79-73.
The boxing match went eight tough rounds. Hardy improved her overall record to 13-0 with two of her victories coming by KO. She is well on her way to getting a shot at the world title in the featherweight division.
In the main event boxing match of the night on Spike TV, Amir Khan outlasted and eventually outfought the tough challenger, Chris Aligieri, to defeat him by unanimous decision. It ended up being an exciting and close boxing match, one that proved Khan worthy to fight the champ, Floyd Mayweather Jr., possibly this coming September. Whether Khan can employ the same winning strategy against “Money,” though, remains to be seen.
Written By Douglas Cobb
Sources:
Bleacher Report: Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri:
Live Round-by-Round Results and Highlights
Heavy: Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri: Result & Highlights
Daily Mail: Amir Khan vs Chris Algieri fight LIVE: Follow round-by-round boxing action from the Barclays Center in New York
Photos of the Khan/Aligieri Fight Courtesy
Spike TV and Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment
Photo of Fortuna vs. Vasquez Fight Courtesy Spike TV and
Lucas Noona/Premier Boxing Champions
