Former WBO 140-pound champion, and Long Island native, Chris Algieri (24-3, 9 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since the beginningof the coronavirus pandemic, against Mikkel LesPierre of Brooklyn (22-2-1, 10 KOs). Algieri-LePierre will be a ten rounder at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This all-New York battle takes place on the undercard of a Michael Hunter vs Mike Wilson heavyweight bout, and will be aired on Triller Fight Club and Fite.tv.

 

Algieri-LesPierre is promoted by DiBella Entertainment in association with Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing. 

 

Algieri won his the WBO title in 2014 in a thrilling fight against Ruslan Provodnikov that saw Algieri come back after being down twice in the first round, with one eye completely shut. Algieri would go on to challenge, and lose to, legend Manny Pacquiao in Macao China, and then return to New York to face the likes of Amir Khan and Errol Spence, Jr., also losses. 

 

Algieri has fought and won his previous two bouts at The Hulu Theatre at MSG, first defeating fellow New Yorker Danny Gonzalez (on 1/18/19) by unanimous decision, followed by a dominating victory over Britain's Tommy Coyle (on 6/1/19), as Coyle could not come off the stool for the eighth round. 

 

Opposing Algieri, is Trinidad and Tabago born, Brooklyn raised southpaw, Mikkel LesPierre, who made a name for himself  when he challenged Maurice Hooker for the WBO 140-pound title in 2019. While falling short, LesPierre took Hooker the full twelve rounds. During the day, LesPierre is a data specialist in the ENT department at Mt. Sinai Hospital. 

 

This bout has major implications for both Algieri and LesPierre, as a victory over the other will bring the victorious fighter one step closer to another world title challenge. Both men are set to tip the scales today at 1PM at MSG ahead of tomorrows fight night.