Photos: Andrade, Algieri Visit South Bronx Middle School

Chris Algieri believes he can return to World title level in 2019 – but the returning ace knows that his dreams could be shattered by defeat against Danny Gonzalez on Friday January 18 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK. (photos by Ed Mulholland).

Algieri (22-3 8KOs) returned to action in November on his home patch of Huntington, Long Island, after two and a half years out of the ring, getting ten rounds under his belt against Angel Hernandez.

The 34 year old will step up his pursuit of regaining his World champion status at Super-Lightweight on January 18 but must see off dangerman Gonzalez (17-1-1 7KOs), his fellow New Yorker and Star Boxing promoted man, if he’s to tee up major fights later in the year.

Algieri and Gonzalez clash on a huge night of action in New York as Demetrius Andrade defends his WBO World Middleweight title for the first time against Russian Artur Akavov.

A second World title bout on the card sees Amanda Serrano (35-1-1 26KOs) gunning for history as she looks to land World honors in an extraordinary seventh weight class as she meets WBC and IBF World Super-Flyweight champion Eva Voraberger (24-5 11KOs) – the Austrian tasked with stopping Serrano’s bid for glory.

Former World Lightweight ruler Jorge Linares continues his comeback trail on the card when he meets Pablo Cesar Cano. Linares’ (45-4 28KOs) reign as WBA and Ring Magazine champion was ended in an epic clash with pound-for-pound star Vasily Lomachenko at Madison Square Garden in May, with Linares felling the Ukrainian star in the sixth before being stopped four rounds later.

Linares returned to winning ways in September with a third round stoppage win over Abner Cotto in September in California and starts 2019 with his 50th pro fight against Cano (31-7-1 21KOs), the Mexican former World title challenger who landed the WBC International Silver strap in his last outing in September – and Linares is joined by fellow Golden Boy Boxing star Alexis Rocha (12-0 8KOs), the 21 year old Welterweight talent ready to begin his charge for titles in 2019.

One of Matchroom Boxing USA’s rising stars tastes his first action in 2019 on the card as Reshat Mati (2-0 1KO) returns to the scene of his last outing in October where the ‘Albanian Bear’ went the four round distance in his second fight.