By Daniel Hughes: #13 WBO Chris Algieri (20-0, (8 KO’s), overcame not just a torrid first round to claim the WBO light-welterweight title from champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KO’s) by beating him by a 12 round split decision in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center on Saturday night.
The Algieri story is a fascinating one with him being a former kick boxer turned pro boxer. He’s really has bucked the system in many, many ways.
The fallout from Saturday’s fight with Algieri getting off the canvas twice in the opening stanza to claim the title on points, showed that Algieri has a tremendous heart, determination and no little boxing ability. The views may be split on who won not only by the judges, but by writers and fans alike. The one point that hit home to me more than any other for Algieri is that he proved excellent ring nous in being able to get back into a fight he looked like he was going to be blown away in. For many fighters that face a crisis in any fight, let alone a world title fight you can go to the memory bank of experiences you may have encountered in the amateur ranks let alone the professional one.
Algieri, at 30-years-old, with zero amateur boxing experience to becoming a world champion, is really a remarkable achievement and to make the late transition from kickboxing even more so.
The fight was close no doubt, with the matador Algieri able to withstand and negate the bull-like rushing attacks from Provodnikov. The more skillful work of Algieri versus the pressure style of Provodnikov and even as a fan of pressure fighters the contest to me hinged on the fact Provodnikov just didn’t look to set anything up and became predictable.
If you didn’t know the fighters history’s you would be amazed to know that Algieri was the fighter who had no amateur pedigree because of his style. He certainly has adapted a style that he deserves a lot of credit for, the simple reason being the skill set he displayed Saturday night he has acquired in such a short time. He has really shown a natural talent to be able to learn and transform skills picked up in the gym into the actual ring. Many have tried to crossover from kickboxing and have failed miserably.
The boxer beat the brawler Saturday night. The debate about the scoring will certainly be a subjective one. The one about how Algieri deserves a tremendous amount of kudos for being able to come from obscurity should not even up for discussion. You can’t learn heart and determination to succeed in pro boxing no matter what your credentials on the way up are. Algieri living proof.
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