Algieri’s promoter: If no Pacquiao fight, we’ll give Provodnikov a rematch

By Boxing News - 06/15/2014 - Comments

algieri455By Chris Williams: Joe Deguardia, the promoter for newly crowned WBO light welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KO’s), says that he’s open to giving the beaten Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KO’s) a rematch for later this year if they don’t get a big fight against Manny Pacquiao in November.

That’s the first choice that Deguardia wants for Algieri, and he feels confident that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank will agree to put together a fight between the Filipino star and Algieri. DeGuardia believes that a fight between the two of them would be a huge fight due in part to Algieri’s background.

“That’s the fight [Algieri-Pacquiao] that’s out there. Bob Arum spoke about it,” Deguardia said. “He [Arum] saw the potential of a Pacquiao-Algieri fight. Huge…I’d love to see a rematch [between Provodnikov and Algieri] take place. Obviously, I’d like to see the Pacquiao fight take place first. I think Chris beats him easier the next time.”

A Pacquiao-Algieri fight would bring in a great deal of interest on the East Coast of the United States due to Algieri living in New York. It’s a fight that would be easier on Pacquiao than it would be for him to take on some dangerous punchers at 140 or 147, There wouldn’t have to be a catch-weight handicap for Pacquiao like there would be if he were to fight Miguel Cotto or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and it’s a fight that would be pretty easy and straightforward for Arum to put together. Algieri is articulate, and that would help in the build up to the fight because there wouldn’t be the language barrier slowing things down.

If Algieri were to get the Pacquiao fight, it would mean that he would beat out the other contestants – Juan Manuel Marquez, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Garcia, and Miguel Cotto – to get the fight. Algieri already eliminated Provodnikov from the running for the Pacquiao fight by out-boxing him by a 12 round split decision last Saturday night in their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

It might not be in Provodnikov’s best interest to try and fight Algieri a second time, because he seemed to figure out Provodnikov’s style after the 1st round and he was able to get out of the way of most of his attempts to land his left hook after that round. Provodnikov can’t afford to lose a second time to Algieri, so he should move on and find a tailor-made opponent like Brandon Rios or Marcos Maidana for him to fight next.

I personally think Maidana would destroy Provodnikov, and I think Rios would give him a lot of problems too with his combination punching. But those are definitely guys that are made for his style. Whether he has the talent to beat them is another thing. If he loses to Rios and/or Maidana, he would have to come up with another excuse instead of the ‘I don’t like to fight guys that run.’



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