By Dan Ambrose: #2 WBO light welterweight contender Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) will be back in the ring in the next three months on March 28th in a fight that will take place at a still to be determined venue in the United States.
Provodnikov, 30, is hoping that he can get one of the following fighters to agree to face him: Marcos Maidana, Danny Garcia or Lucas Matthysse. The problem is that those fighters are managed by Al Haymon, and it’s highly doubtful that Haymon will bother setting them up for a dangerous fight against a slugger like Provodnikov when there’s not much of any upside.
Provodnikov lost his WBO 140 pound title earlier this year in getting beaten by Chris Algieri by a close 12 round split decision last June. While the fight was close, there’s no mistaking the fact that Algieri out-boxed Provodnikov in the second half of the fight to earn the decision.
Further, Provodnikov didn’t look that great in beating 40-year-old Jose Luis Castillo last week in stopping him in the 5th round in Moscow, Russia. To be sure, Provodnikov eventually got the stoppage, but he still showed the same problems that he did in his loss to Algieri. Even Castillo directly in front of him for most of the fight, Provodnikov was missing a lot with his shots, and looking very limited.
You’d have to favor Maidana, Garcia and Matthysse over Provodnikov if a fight against him where to happen. Those guys can punch just as hard as Provodnikov if not harder, and they’re much better at putting their punches together than him. Maidana now has an excellent jab that he uses, and he’s capable of out-boxing limited sluggers.
Matthysse does everything that Provodnikov does but a lot better. He’s like a better version of Provodnikov. Danny Garcia is simply at another level than Provodnikov in my view, and I think it would be a one-sided fight if he were to agree to fight him.
Garcia would likely have zero interest in fighting Provodnikov now though, because he’s looking for big fights against the big names. Provodnikov isn’t a big name, and it’s not going to give Garcia the kind of payday he’s looking for.
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