When he stopped rolling, referee Harvey Dock started the count. Swelling started immediately, both below and above the eye socket, causing fears that this fight was going to end early. Those fears were fed when seconds later, Chris went down again. This time it was much less violently as he took a knee. It seemed Chris needed to do so to get a moment to gather his senses. He squinted a little too in an attempt to work the eye lids, making sure they were still there.
Provodnikov appeared to have the fight in the bag in the 1st round when he put Algieri down twice on the deck with big power shots. The first was a left hook that caught him on his right eye to drop him. The second knockdown was from a right hand to the head. Algieri’s right closed up fast from the left hook, but to his credit he was able to make it through the entire fight despite losing sight out of the eye in the 12th.
Algieri reminded me a lot of Floyd Mayweather Jr with the way that he was moving around and switching hands to hit Provodnikov with. It was pure class.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO) If you’re looking to witness a boxing match that’s defined by the differences that exist between the two combatants, then you’d be well served to watch the upcoming WBO Jr. Welterweight bout that’s scheduled to take place this evening between Ruslan Provodnikov and Chris Algieri. For, in terms of their background, as well as in terms of their fighting style, these two present about as stark a contrast as a boxing fan could ever hope to find.
The champion, Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is a stocky, barrel-chested Siberian with facial features that appear to have been hewn from pure granite. He looks to be the very epitome of the term “battle-hardened warrior”, and in this case appearances aren’t the least bit deceiving.
2013 was a tremendous year for boxing and rise of Ruslan Provodnikov was well documented in the media with the most notable example being HBO’s 2 days. If scripted, his real life Rocky story would be hard to believe a few years ago when Ruslan was a crude one-dimensional fighter vying to become a contender at 140.
Teaming up with world renowned trainer Freddie Roach, has helped Ruslan sharpen his strengths offensively becoming a force to be reckon with for anybody at the junior welterweight division.
After losing a closely fought dual to Mauricio Herrera, Ruslan managed to string together five straight wins in a row setting up an opportunity of a lifetime. Timothy Bradley was put through hell in his FOTY war with Provodnikov. When the smoke cleared it didn’t really matter to the fans how judges had it scored.
The co-main event will feature undefeated WBO junior middleweight champion DEMETRIUS “Boo Boo” ANDRADE making his first title defense, against No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger BRIAN “The Lion” ROSE.
These four gladiators boast a combined record of 87-3-1 (44 KOs)– a 96 percent winning percentage, with more than half of their total victories coming by way of knockout.
After winning the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship by stopping heralded tough guy and incumbent title holder “Mile High” Mike Alvarado in the reigning champ’s hometown of Denver, Colorado, on October 19th of last year, most fight fans would have guessed that big fight opportunities would be easily attainable for undefeated Russian native Ruslan Provodnikov in 2014.
With sledgehammers for fists and an iron chin to match, the irresistible force at 140 pounds always displays violent drama in the ring whenever he graces the light blue canvas…the kind that brings enthusiasm to arenas and excites fight fans around the world.
The 30 year old champ represents the kind of warrior that most avid boxing enthusiasts are willing to support.
So with a fan friendly style and a piece of coveted hardware around his waist, why is the HBO featured title holder still searching for a suitable challenger?
After having been passed over by Top Rank for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao on April 12th, WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is in a really tough spot in terms of him trying to land a big fight or even an just a halfway interesting fight. Provodnikov’s No.1 challenger Juan Manuel Marquez isn’t interested in fighting him, and feels that it’s not a fight that would be great challenge for him due to Provodnikov having a title that he recently had in his possession.
Provodnikov’s other options is a fight against Brandon Rios, but that’s something that likely won’t happen due to Rios’ suspension. Rios isn’t ranked in the top 15 at 140 any longer, so that’s not an option for Provodnikov.
According to a recent report by WNB.com, Team Provodnikov is interested in getting Ruslan and Brandon in the ring.
This would no doubt be an attractive action packed match, as both Rios and Provodnikov are an explosive pair. Provodnikov’s close call loss to Timothy Bradley didn’t seem to affect his state of mind, as he still believes that the victory belongs to him. Beating a very tough opponent in Mike Alvarado in October of last year, adds that much more confidence for Ruslan in his proposed fight against Rios, as it was Alvardo himself that delivered Rios a loss in March of 2013.
Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is expected back in the ring next May against possibly WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Rios is waiting to find out which fighter Manny Pacquiao will take on for his April 12th fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Pacquiao selected Tim Bradley, then Rios will be looking to fight Provodikov for his World Boxing Organization 140 lb. title. If Pacquaio selects Provodnikov to fight, then Rios could be fighting Tim Brady for his WBO welterweight title.
The criticism that would come from Rios fighting for a world title against Provodnikov or Bradley stems from the fact that Rios has lost his last two fights and isn’t ranked in the top 15 at either 140 or 147. For Rios to get a title shot off of consecutive defeats and with him being a 2nd tier fighter, it would definitely run a lot of people the wrong way. However, you can bet that the WBO will come to the rescue or Rios once talk begins for him to fight Bradley or Provodnikov.
If Bob Arum of Top Rank is interested in having Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) fight one of his stable fighters Mike Alvarado or Ruslan Provodnikov next then he’s going to need to really work hard to try and sell those fights to Marquez because he has no interest in fighting either of those guys. Marquez only wants a rematch against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, who beat him by a 12 round split decision last October in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Marquez is clearly bothered by the loss to Bradley, because he feels he should have got the decision. But Marquez also believes that he can do a better job in a rematch if he works on his power.