We are two weeks away from what many feel will be the fight of the year between Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse. Although Freddie Roach is preparing Provodnikov for Matthysse, he will not be making the trip to Verona, New York. He’s staying back in California to prepare Manny Pacquiao for Floyd Mayweather. Instead, it will be Marvin Somodio who will be the head man in Provodnikov’s corner. Last time that happened, Provodnikov upset Mike Alvarado in his hometown in Denver.
Roach wishes he could be there even as a fan.
“It’s like a fight that nobody wants to miss,” Roach told ThaBoxingVoice.com. “On paper, it’s the fight of the year, two great punchers, and two great fighters. They are both in their prime, it’s a big fight. Ruslan is really prepared for this. He’s been sparring with Frankie Gomez. Frankie Gomez is one of the future superstars of the sport. I think Ruslan will be a little bit stronger and has the better chin. I think we’ll get him out of there in the mid to late rounds. I don’t think this fights going the distance.”
Roach feels the key to winning the fight is the bodywork that he has been working on with Provodnikov. Roach has studied the tapes of Matthysse’s fights with Danny Garcia and John Molina. He doesn’t think this fight is going the distance and feels his man will break Matthysse down and get the stoppage.
“I look at those tapes. Danny Garcia is a very good puncher himself, not afraid to swing but a little bit wild. I think Ruslan has shorter shots. We want to break this guy’s body down. Nobody’s really gone after his body. We’re going to see how strong his body down. I think we’ll get the mid to late round stoppage.”
