Benn dumps Algieri in dangerous fashion
By: Sean Crose
19-0 undefeated Conor Benn stepped into the ring in Liverpool, England on Saturday night to face his biggest test to date, former middleweight champion Chris Algieri, 25-3. Although he is said to have passed his prime at the age of 37, Algieri is the epitome of battle-oriented fitness. The New Yorker have also won their last four games in a row and have only been beaten by the bigger names of the game: Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence and Amir Khan. The welterweight bout was scheduled for 12 rounds, but didn’t last a third of that time.
Benn immediately lunged at his men as the opening bell rang and began a clean landing. Algieri, a famous veteran of the pro game, hit back hard, but it was clear that Benn’s strength was the dominant factor of the round. The second is a much tighter affair…until Benn places Algieri on the carpet in the final seconds of the chapter. Algieri stood up quickly and assumed it was not a punch that knocked him out, but the referee thought otherwise.
Algieri was competitive in the third round, but he didn’t seem to have enough strength to overtake the stronger Benn. Things remained relatively tight for part of the fourth season, with Algieri joining in with some effect. However, after Benn was able to get to Algieri with a rope, a piston-like double hit knocked Algieri unconscious before he hit the carpet. It was a knockout of the five materials and it gave Benn the win.