By: Sean Crose
“The prodigal son will return home for the first time in over 4 years as former World Champion Chris Algieri returns to The Paramount on November 30th, making his long-awaited comeback at the venue where it all started.” With those words, Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing announced the return of Chris Algieri, who once held the WBO junior welterweight title before moving on to fight such top names as Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, and Errol Spence. New York’s Algieri lost those major fights (which all occurred after he rose up to welterweight), then stayed out of the ring for two and a half years.
Now, with long time issues with DeGuardia and company settled, the Long Islander is set to return to The Paramount, the place where he first earned his reputation as a fighter to watch. “I can’t express how happy I am to be back,” Algieri is quoted as saying. “It has been a long time coming and it is the perfect time to step back into the sport. I am looking forward to returning to the junior welterweight division and win another world title. There are a lot of good fights for me down the line and I can’t wait to be back in the mix on the world stage.”
“I look forward to Chris’ return,” said DeGuardia, “especially in the junior welterweight division, where he has never lost a fight. I am confident we will get him another world title fight very soon”. Algieri surprised many people when he got off the mat and went on to win a decision against the feared Ruslan Provodnikov back in 2014. This led to a major payday with Pacquiao, who thoroughly bested Algieri when they met in Macao later that same year. Algieri went on to battle Khan gamely before being wiped out by Spence in 2016.
Since that time, Algieri has gone on to earn a reputation as a nutritionist who works with other fighters, particularly middleweight heavy hitter Daniel Jacobs. “Algieri decided a couple of months ago that he was ready to make a comeback,” Star Boxing announced, “and re-signed a promotional agreement with his long-time promoter Joe DeGuardia and Star Boxing. The two agreed it was time to return to the roots of Algieri’s career and give back to the loyal Long Island fans.” Algieri has made it clear he’s particularly happy to return to the Paramount in Huntington, New York, where he has won at least eight of his professional bouts.
“I am thrilled to return to the Paramount where my last successful title run began,” he said. “The growth of my fanbase has always been an organically grown, grass roots approach; so it feels only right to give back to my hometown fans in this way”.