Roach: We [Provodnikov] want a rematch against Algieri in a neutral venue

By Boxing News - 06/15/2014 - Comments

provodnikov67777By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach is having a hard time coming to terms with his fighter Ruslan Provodnikov’s loss to Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KO’s) from last Saturday night, as he’s insisting that Provodnikov should have been given the decision by the judges at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Roach thinks that Algieri, who lives in New York, was given a hometown decision by the two judges that scored it 114-112, 114-112 in his favor. For this reason, Roach wants a rematch between Provodnikov and Algieri in a neutral venue like Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We’d like a rematch in Las Vegas or someone where in a neutral area,” Roach said at the post-fight press conference. “I’ve love a rematch, that’s what I want.”

When asked if Roach had any regrets about the fight in terms of things that Provodnikov failed to do, Roach said “No, because we won the fight.”
Algieri’s promoter wants to match him against Manny Pacquiao next. So if that fights there, they’re going to take it rather than fight Provodnikov again in a needless rematch. Algieri has nothing to prove in fighting Provodnikov a second time because he clearly beat him last Saturday night in the minds of many fans.

This failure on Roach’s part to see the things that Provodnikov was doing in the fight, such as not throwing combinations and not throwing body shots, means that the chances of Roach improving Provodnikov in the future slim. When you have a trainer who has their mind made up about their fighter looking better than they actually did, then they don’t fix the mistakes that they made.

In this case, Roach will be making a mistake if he doesn’t teach Provodnikov to stop loading up on single shots to keep him to throw combinations or body shots. Provodnikov threw very few body punches in the fight, and had he done that, he would have had a higher connect percentage.

Roach needs to teach Provodnikov to throw body shots without having his feet set, because against a moveable target like Algieri, Provodnikov needed to throw punches without having his feet set. Former Mexican slugger Julio Cesar Chavez Sr was able to do this and still fight with a great deal of effectiveness, but Roach hasn’t taught Provodnikov how to fight this way and he needs to.

“I thought we did everything to win the fight. The power shots were there,” Roach said.



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