In his MSG debut, Huntington’s Chris Algieri beats Tommy Coyle in dominating fashion

Turning back the clock to his days at the Paramount in Huntington, Chris Algieri defeated Tommy Coyle to retain his WBO International Junior Welterweight Championship inside Madison Square Garden. It was a TKO win after eight refreshingly dominant rounds.

Under the bright lights of New York City, Algieri (24-3) fought on the undercard of Anthony Joshua v. Andy Ruiz Jr. and didn’t disappoint. While he sustained plenty of damage, he gave it right back to Coyle (25-5), who was on a three-fight win streak prior to Saturday’s fight. Algieri can now check “fighting and winning inside Madison Square Garden” off of his bucket list.

The Huntington native started the first round hot, hitting shot after shot to Coyle while playing it safe. Rounds two and three belonged to Coyle as he was moving in and attacking Algieri, while the latter didn’t showcase his typical power. It almost felt like his fight with Danny Gonzalez a few months back; a restrained Algieri.

And then something clicked.

Round four saw Algieri pop a hook to the side of Coyle, knocking him down, if only for just a brief moment. Algieri attacked like a shark, nailing jabs to the side and head of Coyle. From rounds five onward, Algieri was winning the fight. The body shots he was hitting before were coming into play as Coyle looked slower. Algieri started to block some major shots while also moving closer and closer to the distant Coyle.

Algieri’s body shots were key here, as was his defensive capability.

“My (good looks) will be back in a few weeks, don’t worry about it,” Algieri stated after the fight. “They knew I was coming with the jab and they countered it really well. They got with me some great overhand rights in the first few rounds. There was a lot of in-fighting. Tommy is a tough, young guy. If you can come out of a fight with Tommy Coyle and not have some bruises and marks, well then, I tip my hat to you. But I went in there and got the stoppage I wanted to make a statement. A little different than going and out-boxing a guy.”

In round eight Coyle hit Algieri with a few stiff shots that buckled him down for a bit. However, Algieri did not give up. While Coyle looked like he had the advantage towards the end, the judges were scoring them in favor of Algieri. As the eighth round was about to begin, Coyle’s corner called for the end and the referee obliged.

On a three-fight win streak, Algieri is on a quest to reclaim the title he never truly lost. The Star Boxing fighter is after Maurice Hooker, the current WBO Light Welterweight Champion. Have things really changed for him? Algieri believes he will be a different fighter compared to previous bouts against Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Errol Spence Jr.

“I would fight him (Hooker) completely different,” Algieri went on to say. “A totally different style. I have shown many different styles throughout my career. When I fought Amir Khan, a very aggressive guy, an in-and-out kind of guy, up-and-down. Now Coyle, a punishing guy who comes forward. Ruslan Provodnikov, I boxed my head off. Whatever needs to be done to win a fight, I am willing to do it.”