Boxing: Errol Spence Jr. Set for Biggest Test of Career Opposite Chris Algieri

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Inside the Numbers: Spence, stepping up in class, averaged 70.4 punches thrown per round and landed 57.4 percent of his power shots. Opponents landed just 20.7 percent of their power punches against Spence. Algieri's 30.7 jabs thrown per round is No. 8 among categorical leaders: can he land against a southpaw in Spence? Algieri's opponents landed 38.7 percent of their power punches: No. 7 among his peers.

Errol Spence Jr. does a good job of insulating himself. Sure, the 26-year-old southpaw from DeSoto, Texas, hears the talk, but it sounds like he doesn’t listen. He’s more concerned with keeping his focus straight and attention fastened to the biggest challenge of his young pro career, as he faces Chris Algieri at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, as part of an NBC tripleheader from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Spence-Algieri 10-round welterweight fight will headline a Premier Boxing Champions card that also features what promises to be a great action fight: WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki (25-0, 16 KOs), of Poland, will defend the title for the first time against former two-time cruiserweight titlist Steve Cunningham (28-7-1, 13 KOs), of Philadelphia. In addition, rising prospect Marcus Browne (17-0, 13 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian from Staten Island, New York, will face Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (21-0, 14 KOs), a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina now living in Saint Petersburg, Florida, in a 10-round light heavyweight fight.

For Spence (19-0, 16 KOs), this can be a star-turning event. Everything is there for him: a national TV audience, a stout, crafty opponent and the perfect timing of possibly taking on IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook with a convincing victory over the 32-year-old Algieri (21-2, 8 KOs).

“A lot of people have been asking me when I was going to fight top competition,” Spence said. “When you look good in the ring, nobody wants to fight you. Established guys don’t want to fight you, so I want to thank Chris Algieri for taking this fight. It would be a major statement if I could stop Chris Algieri. He has been in there with hard punchers, so I’m looking to make a statement about my power. Especially for me being a young contender, it would just show everything I have in my arsenal and where I’m going in my career.

“I want to be great,” he added. “I want a world title this year. I want Kell Brook. I would definitely go to the U.K. I’d fight any of the champions, but I can’t look past Chris Algieri. I’m 100 percent focused on him. This is a very important fight. Chris Algieri is a tough fighter. All of his fights have been exciting, and we’re looking to make it exciting and one-sided. I’m looking to dominate the whole fight.”

Algieri, who hails from Huntington, New York, on Long Island, burst onto the national scene when he upset Ruslan Provodnikov -- he got up from two knockdowns in the first round -- to win the WBO junior welter title in June 2014. After the fight, a frustrated Provodnikov admitted he didn’t want to chase a mover like Algieri, who steadily boxed his way back into the fight after the disastrous first. Since then, however, Algieri has gone 1-2 over his last three fights, terribly exposed against the world-class Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao. Spence isn’t Khan or Pacquiao, yet, but he’s inching closer with each fight. Algieri is fighting for relevance, and that will make him dangerous.

“Every fight going forward is about winning and moving towards a welterweight title,” he said. “Every fight is one step closer to getting my opportunity. This win over Errol Spence Jr. will propel me into fights with the biggest names. I have to beat everybody who is in front of me. That’s what this fight is. I’ve always said I’m willing to fight the top guys in my weight class, and whether he’s the top guy now or will be one day, it doesn’t matter. Spence is just another guy in the welterweight division.”

Algieri may find out differently, and it could be a painful discovery.

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.