CHRIS ALGERI has been to the summit of the sport. He won the WBO’s super-lightweight world title, he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2014, Amir Khan in 2015 and Errol Spence the year after that. Then he vanished from the sport for two years.

Now he’s back and he insists he can get back to the top.

Speaking to Boxing News, Algeri explained, “I had some injuries to deal with that were bothering me towards the end of my career in those last couple of training camps and fights. Also some promotional contract disputes that were keeping me out of the ring for a while. I wanted to get everything in order. I wanted to revamp my team. I was managing myself for all those big fights and it was just taking up too much of my time. So now I think the best version of Chris Algeri is yet to come.”

In November he took a 10 round points win over Angel Hernandez and will box again on January 18 when he will box Danny Gonzalez at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. “I felt really good [in the comeback bout]. The things that guys worry about from being out; timing, rhythm, speed, visually being able to see things, those were all the things I really excelled at, which was really a surprise for me. I feel like I’m back 100 per cent. Got off that little bit of ring rust walking into the ring and what not. So I think it’s only up from here,” he said.

Manny Pacquiao vs Chris Algeri

“Everything’s going great right now,” he continued. “At this point I’ve been out of the ring for two and a half years so I want to just get busy in early 2019 and then look to see who’s got the titles, where we’re getting ranked. But I’m here to be a world champion. I want to fight the top of the sport and get my belts back.

“I’ve been to the top of the mountain. So everything here is looking downhill. So I’ve got a lot of experience with that kind of stuff. I’ve also now been in other camps so I’ve had a different vantage point. I’ve been in four camps with Danny Jacobs, I’ve been in one with Sullivan Barrera, three of those were world title fights, big stages, so at this point I’m ready for my time.”