Sharif Bogere speaking from Johnny Tocco’s Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada during Live Sparring Exhibitions (Photo: Chris Robinson)

By Chris Robinson

The first time I recall seeing Chris Algieri in person was sometime in late 2013 or early 2014 ahead of his victory over Emmanuel Taylor.

I knew right off hand that the Huntington native was a tough guy simply because of who he was in the ring with, as Algieri could be found slugging it out with rock solid Ugandan contender Sharif Bogere inside of the Long Life Fit Gym (now called ‘Long Life Fighter Gym‘).

Algieri and Bogere went at each other pretty tough and Sharif seemed genuinely surprised that Algieri didn’t perform better in his last outing, a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao this past November.

“I sparred with him a lot of times,” noted Sharif of his time with Algieri. “He’s a talented, tough guy. I expected more from him.”

Algieri was rocked throughout his matchup vs. Pacquiao, ultimately hitting the canvas on 6 occasions, before suffering his first professional defeat.

“Pacquiao, he was more experienced than Chris,” Bogere explained. “Chris, his game plan didn’t work out. Pacquiao was too fast, too experienced for him. Chris couldn’t handle him.”

For the 26-year old Bogere, Pacquiao facing off with Floyd Mayweather is a scenario that still makes great sense.

“That’s the fight we’ve been waiting for, for how many years?” Bogere noted. “I think if that fight ever happens it will be one of the greatest fights in boxing and people will buy it all over the world.”

*** Check below for the FULL interview with Bogere, where he discusses other aspects of his own career

Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com