We are half way into 2015, and this year has been a break out year for boxing. The sport has featured more television bouts in it’s first 6 months, then any other year in the last decade. With the debut of “Premier Boxing Champions” the sport has seen a rise in rating, and exposure, as boxing has returned to Network tv, appearing on NBC, CBS and the Spike channel.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” interview with Antonio Tarver, I get his thoughts on the recent Spike Television bout he commentated on that featured Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri. Tarver talks about Amir Khan’s performance and why he believes it was a tougher then expected bout for Khan. Tarver also shares his views on Khan’s future for Amir Khan, if he thinks Khan did enough to get a Floyd Mayweather bout and what direction he believes Mayweather will go next. Here is what Antonio Tarver had to say.

Jenna J: You recently called the Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri fight. Can you talk about that fight?

Antonio Tarver: Man, that was a very exciting fight. It was a great fight for PBC on SPIKE, both fighters delivered. Personally, I didn’t think we would get that much excitement out of that fight. I didn’t think Chris Algieri would fight that aggressive but you can tell he did his homework and he really put it out there, he wanted to win. He made that fight a lot tougher than a lot of people gave him credit for.

It was a great fight to see Chris Algieri step up and also to see Amir Khan holding him off. I think the fight was a lot closer than the two scorecards had it but nonetheless the fans got what they wanted and at the end, that’s all that matters, that the fans got their money’s worth. It was a hell of a fight.

Jenna J: Do you think this fight was a case of people underestimating Chris Algieri or a case of Amir Khan underperforming?

Antonio Tarver: No, I just think styles make fights. It’s that old saying that holds true, styles make fights. A lot of times the experts or so called ‘purists’ sometimes we just get it wrong. We always forget that fighters have a chance to change and get better and improve. You can’t underestimate experience, being in the ring with a guy like Manny Pacquiao, you can’t help but get better. That’s experience that you can’t buy.

Of course, coming off of the Pacquiao fight, he was ready for it and then the inclusion of John David Jackson who if you look at both of those corners, they had great work in both corners. I love to see that, when a guy has gone out and equipped himself with the very best trainers and gave himself the best chance to win. Amir Khan trained for the best Chris Algieri because if he hadn’t, he would have surely lost that night.

Jenna J: This fight was supposed to be an audition for Amir Khan to get a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. Do you think he did that with his performance?

Antonio Tarver: You gotta give the guy credit but like I say, styles make fights. He could have a style that could give Floyd Mayweather some problems. Floyd fought Manny Pacquiao and somehow he was able to neutralize his speed but Amir Khan is one of those young, hungry fighters. There’s a lot of bodies out there for Amir Khan.

I don’t know how an Amir Khan vs. Floyd Mayweather fight will sell right now, I don’t know if it will be anticlimactic coming off of the Manny Pacquiao circus of media. When you look at it from a media standpoint, it doesn’t get bigger than that. Anything that Mayweather does will probably fall short of that, but you really never know what Mayweather is feeling or what he’s thinking. He probably wants to do the biggest thing out there.

Jenna J: What is the biggest fight possible that Floyd could make with the available opponents right now?

Antonio Tarver: He could probably take a calculated risk and fight somebody that people may not feel that he probably would choose to fight, somebody that on paper would be a risky fight for Floyd. I don’t know if that’s Amir Khan or not.

I thought Amir needed an exceptional performance because he put himself under that light by saying, “I want you to draw comparisons between me and Manny Pacquiao going in here fighting Chris Algieri.” He put himself under that scope. Did he beat Algieri more convincingly than Manny Pacquiao? Of course not, nowhere close.

Styles make fights and the kid (Amir Khan) had to dig deep, he had to change his style midway through, he made adjustments and I think he won the fight convincingly. It was closer than the scorecards but I think he won, I don’t think there was any controversy in the decision. I think the best fighter won that night, but he did have some tough spots in there, he got hot with some big overhand rights.

Chris Algieri is not known to be a big puncher but at the same time, everybody says Amir Khan has a weak chin. I guess he proved to some people that he can take a punch if he gets hit solid, but Chris Algieri is not a puncher. Amir proved a lot again and he moves on. The Floyd Mayweather fight, I’m not sure, that’s up to Floyd Mayweather.