"There's no shortcut to the top. I just have to keep winning, and advancing on all levels of the game."
These are the words of Huntington's own , a professional boxer who fights Saturday night against Winston Mathis (7-4-1, 2 KOs) at the Paramount Theater.
Algieri (13-0, 6 KOs) knows what it takes to succeed. After a stellar career as captain of the St. Anthony's wrestling team, he went on to capture numerous pro kickboxing championships, a Masters degree in nutrition from NYIT, and now has maintained his undefeated record while studying for the medical school entrance exam.
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It doesn't take long to associate his success outside the ring, with the unblemished resume inside.
"I think I've used my power to think moreso than other prospects in the region, and that's what has kept me undefeated," Algieri said Thursday. "I'm always thinking of ways to exploit opponents' weaknesses, and it shows, as I haven't really had close fights, but I've had close rounds."
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The 28-year-old fighter recently returned from a camp in California where he trained alongside some of boxing's biggest names.
"I especially enjoyed working with Robert Garcia, a world-class trainer, and I sparred about five rounds with Brandon Rios, an undefeated champion at lightweight" Algieri said. "They are all excellent people, there were so many things I learned from Robert that I used throughout training, and I hope to use in the ring Saturday night."
Garcia, best known for training fighters Antonio Margarito, Nonito Donaire and Kelly Pavlik, had some good things to say about the Greenlawn native."He had a good camp and got good sparring," Garcia told USA Today. "He's one of those fighters that works hard and wants to get better. I see the potential in him and we want him back."
While training in Oxnard, Algieri was approached by popular boxing journalist Elie Seckbach, who asked the visiting boxing whom he'd like to match up with in the future.
"I didn't necessarily call out Amir Khan," Algieri explained. "I think we'd match up well, but I'm not at that point just yet. I've got a good, solid opponent I must defeat Saturday night at the Paramount, and like I said, there's not shortcuts in this game, I've got to keep working."
Tickets are still available for Saturday night's bout through Ticketmaster, Star Boxing or the the box office.
