It was bound to come at some point and Chris Algieri finally got a taste of victory when he fought in one of the undercards of the Daniel Jacobs vs. Peter Quillin match held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York last Saturday.
Algieri snuck back into the win column after scoring a unanimous decision win over a stubborn Erick Bone in their welterweight matchup, banking on his experience to waylay his foe that was highlighted by an eighth round knockdown.
That proved to be enough for the judges to score the match in favor of the former world champion, 98–92, 97–93 and 96–94.
The win improved his record to 21–2 which includes eight knockouts, while the Ecuadorian saw his record fall to 16–3, also with eight knockouts.
Algieri didn't have a walk in the park against Bone. It was a hotly contested battle whose direction was swayed only by that eighth round knockdown.
It was a fitting redemption for Algieri who was entering the fight on a two-fight losing streak dating to last year.
He was knocked down six times by Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao when both met in Macau, China in a lopsided match in Nov. 2014. He eventually opted to replace his trainer Tim Lane with John David Jackson after that match.
The fruits of that change didn't immediately pay dividends, with Algieri suffering yet another defeat at the hands of British boxing champion Amir Khan last May via unanimous decision.
Even though Bones is not exactly the kind of high profile fighter that Algieri can boast of, it does get him back on the winning track.
Jackson has been trying to develop the power behind Algieri's punches and it seems that such was evident against Bones when he worked on the Ecuadorian's body.
Per Compubox, Algieri connected with 247 punches compared to the 185 by Bone. But it was apparent that Algieri has improved power game, holding a 206–158 advantage in power punching department.
