Provodnikov: How could Algieri win by running?

By Boxing News - 06/15/2014 - Comments

provodnikov034By Chris Williams: Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KO’s) still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he was out-boxed by a master boxer last night in his 12 round split decision defeat to Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KO’s) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Brandon Rios, a fighter with a very similar style as Provodnikov, predicted a head of time that Algieri would beat him last night because he saw him as being too skilled for Provodnikov to deal with. As long as Algieri stayed on the move, he’d beat Provodnikov, Rios said. And he turned out to be correct, because that’s what happened last night.

“To me it just seemed like he was running all night and grabbing,” Provodnikov said at the post-fight press conference. You see how he looks and how I look. I don’t see how you can win a fight running all night.”

The judges scored it 114-112, 114-112 for Algieri, and 117-109 for Provodnikov.

Provodnikov may not understand it, but it’s called boxing. It’s the art of hitting and not getting hit in return, and Algieiri did a better job of that last night compared to Provodnikov. It may seem like Algieri was running to Provodnikov, but that was because he as in the ring with him and not watching the action from ringside or on television. For fans watching the fight, they mostly saw Algieri putting on a boxing clinic in exposing Provodnikov and making him look like a limited fighter.

“Runners are not my style,” Provodnikov said. “He was just jabbing and touching me. I like guys that will stand there and fight me.”

If Provodnikov is going to need to be put in with fighters that only stand in front of him to trade, then he’s not going to have much of a career because there aren’t too many of those guys out there. Top Rank did Provodnikov a favor in his last fight by feeding him slugger Mike Alvarado.

That was the perfect opponent for Provodnikov to look good against. And in his previous fight against Tim Bradley, we saw Bradley give Provodnikov a handicap by electing to trade with him instead of using his boxing skills to win an easy decision. Bradley didn’t respect Provodnikov’s ability enough for him to box him instead of slugging with him. But after the Bradley and Alvarado fight, guys are no longer going to trade with Provodnikov anymore. They’ll all going to treat him the same way that Algieri did by out-boxing him.



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