By Dan Ambrose: Light welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs) is really looking forward to his April 18th fight against former WBO 140 pound champion Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York.
The Matthysse-Provodnikov fight will be televised on HBO Boxing After Dark. The tickets will be on sale starting this Thursday on 2/26. Compared to the incredibly expensive tickets for the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, the Matthysse-Provodnikov tickets are quite affordable with them going for $75, $50 and $25. This will enable the average boxing fans to purchase them.
“Provodnikov is a warrior that never stops throwing punches and his style suits me very well. I’m confident that I will win, and since Danny Garcia doesn’t want to fight me again, this fight will prove that I am one of the best fighters in the world,” Matthysse said.
Matthysse wants to get a rematch against WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia, who defeated Matthysse by a 12 round decision in September of 2013. Matthysse has been after Garcia ever since looking for a rematch, but Garcia has been taking it easy since then in facing Mauricio Herrera and Rod Salka.
Garcia is now scheduled to fight former Matthysse knockout victim Lamont Peterson in his next fight.
Provodnikov has yet to be knocked out before, so this could be a first for him. In his fights against the likes of Chris Algieri, Mike Alvarado and Tim Bradley, Provodnikov took a lot of damage to his face in both fights. With the way that Provodnikov gets beaten up in his fights, he’s going to take a lot of punishment against Matthysse.
What’s disappointing about the Matthysse-Provodnikov fight is that it won’t be for the vacant WBO light welterweight title. Instead, Terence Crawford will be the one fighting for the WBO 140 pound title. He’ll be moving up in weight from the 135 pound division.
“I’m glad that this fight is finally done. This is the fight I have been waiting for a long time. I think that this fight will be nominated for either ‘Fight of the Year’ or ‘Knockout of the Year’,” Provodnikov said.
I don’t think the Matthysse vs. Provodnikov fight will be a ‘Fight of the Year’ or ‘Knockout of the Year’ candidate. Matthysse can actually box, and I think he’s not going to want to reinvent the wheel when he faces Provodnikov. Instead of standing in front of him and looking to slug for 12 rounds, Matthysse will very likely look to out-box Provodnikov the way that Chris Algieri did in their fight last year in June. Provodnikov is mainly good if his opponents choose to forget their defense and slug with him.
If they choose to box the way that Tim Bradley, DeMarcus Corley, Mauricio Herrera and Algieri did against Provodnikov, then the Russian fighter struggles badly.
“I only want the biggest fights against the best fighters and this fight between Provodnikov and I, will surely be ‘Fight of the Year,’” Matthysse said.
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