Philadelphia (April 20, 2015)-- This past Saturday night, boxing fans witnessed a classic bout that saw Lucas Matthysse eek out a close majority decision over Ruslan Provodnikov in a 12 round -junior welterweight clash in front of a sold out crowd at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. The bout, which was televised by HBO Boxing After Dark, has already jumped to the head of the list for 2015 Fight of the Year. Much of the post fight talk has centered around the courage of Provodnikov, as he fought eleven of the twelve rounds with a severely cut left eye that was due to an accidental headbutt. With blood streaming down the left side of his face, and his eye closing, Provodnikov fought heroically to come back and hurt Matthysse several times during the bout, and in round eleven he landed a left hook that nearly sent Matthysse to the canvas. Many at ringside, including The Bleacher Report, HBO's Harold Lederman, Steve Kim of UCNlive.com, & Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, scored the bout even at 114-114. "I could not be any more proud of Ruslan, said Banner Promotions Promotions Artie Pelullo. "Saturday night showed that he is the toughest and most compelling fighter in boxing. Saturday's fight also solidified that Ruslan is the most television friendly fighter in the sport hands down, and there will be many more big fights for Ruslan in the near future."
Heroic effort but he needs to learn how to box. Some guys rely too much on their power and get outboxed. Adapt or die.
He should find a new trainer. No head movement, no jab at all. If he learns how to box, he could be a huge huge threat at 140 and 147. And I think also one thing that is having difficulty in managing Ruslan is because of language barrier.
He reminds me of Danny Garcia, in the sense that they can't handle boxers and are so one dimensional.
No boxer who fought lucas ever tried to go out fully slug with him apart from molina who got stopped RUSLAN just kept coming forward eating 400 power shots and never even wobble glass chin garca got wobbled with only one shots from lucas and you can tell by his face he was worried and always grabbed
Lucas felt that insane power and decided to box ruslan when lucas boxes you than you know you can crack
He put up an effort. Let's not go crazy. If he'd put up a heroic effort he would have won. Also, it wasn't a classic bout. It was an alright bout, and a bit of a let down considering what we were promised.
Provodnikov simply doesn't throw enough punches, and has no sense of timing. He's a chin waiting for someone to get tired, bless his huge heart.
I agree he needs to develop a jab . By now you would think all this time with Roach , he would have at least a decent jab in his ****nal . I don't completely agree with the comparision between Swift and Ruslan . When you put a boxer in front of Ruslan , hes very effective against them and brutalizes em . When you put a boxer in front of Danny , he flatout gets dominated . Its a bit of a difference .
very good point he even does much better with boxers than garcia ruslan also hits much harder and has a much better chin