Ruslan Provodnikov vs. Chris Algieri & Demetrius Andrade vs. Brian Rose RBR

He won it going away.

Someone on Twitter just posted "if he fought the prime Muriqi of the early 2000's he would have lost..." but that is just bull**** IMO.

Muriqi was always tough and full of heart but a very one-dimensional straight B kind of fighter. Monaghan is actually quite similar but a little better overall, more like B+, and his current prime self would likely edge out any version of Muriqi (though maybe not drop him and pitch a near shutout)

 

Official cards:

99-90
99-90
99-90

UD for Sean Monaghan

 

:yep

Now, the Monaghan of today versus the Antonio Tarver of 2007 (who actually was given a handful by Muriqi, probably due to underestimating him and under-training...and with his confidence very low after getting whooped by Hopkins...) is an intriguing time-machine match-up.

 

:deal

 

I will say this - Monaghan only had to deal with the adversity of that cut (did we ever figure out if that was from a punch) for about six minutes worth of action.

Had it opened up earlier, how might this have looked? Especially considering that pretty much the entire 2nd half was a great deal closer than was the 1st half? :think

It probably wouldn't make enough of a difference to change the outcome, but maybe it could have been a lot closer.

We shall have to wait until another night to see Monaghan tested under long-term duress, however.

 

BOO!

(no, I'm not cheering on "Boo Boo" Andrade; I am booing this match-up. Javier Maciel ought to be getting this world title shot...)

:bart

 

Nope, about to. They are showing a Brian Rose hype piece on HBO.