Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike returned to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday night, and in the main event, Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) scored a hard fought unanimous decision over Chris Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs). In the co-feature, Javier Fortuna (28-0-1, 20 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Bryan Vasquez (34-2, 18 KOs).
AMIR KHAN
“I thought I worked well inside. I’ve never done a lot of work in the pocket like that and I plan to do more of that in the future.
“I give Chris a lot of credit. He came forward a lot more than we thought he would and he had a big chin tonight.
“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.
“Everyone knows I want Floyd (Mayweather) next after all the talk about it, but when you wait and hope for something for this long it can set you back. I don’t want to overlook any other fighters, including Chris.
“My first show with PBC has been great. The New York crowd was awesome and really got into it. The promotion was excellent and I’m proud to be a part of this team.”
CHRIS ALGIERI
“I thought I pressured Khan well and got my touches. He definitely didn’t like it when I got into his body.
“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.
“I think PBC is fantastic. The focus is on the fighters, not the politics or the promoters. This is helping bring the sport back to boxing’s glory days of primetime events for the fans.
“I haven’t thought much about after this fight. I’m disappointed, but I’ll watch the film from this fight and we’ll go from there.”
JAVIER FORTUNA
“I’m very surprised that the fight went the distance. Vasquez is a strong fighter. After the fifth round, I was boxing to score points.
“I was never really hurt by Vasquez, but I hurt my own hand on his head.
“Vasquez didn’t really affect me throughout the fight. The swelling on my eye is from a headbutt.
“The biggest key to my success tonight was my training. Before this I didn’t have the stamina that I needed. However, after my work with Hector Bermudez leading up to this fight I was more than ready.
“Becoming a champion here in New York is huge for me. I’m very proud of my performance tonight.”
BRYAN VASQUEZ
“My style is to box and then move. Fortuna fought a smart fight tonight. He wouldn’t engage me and fight.
“Fortuna used his head and elbows a lot tonight, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I tried telling the referee, but nothing was done.
“I worked very hard for three months of training to get to this fight. I hope I won over some fans today because I fight to please them.
“Hopefully I get a rematch because this is not the end of my career, and I’d love the chance to take that belt from Fortuna.
“I want to thank PBC for this opportunity. It was great being a part of this show and I hope they’ll think of me again in the future.”
