On Saturday night, HBO and Golden Boy will be live from Verona, NY in Turning Stone Casino as Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse will be squaring off against Ruslan Provodnikov in what many people are already predicting will be the fight of the year. The Vacant WBO Junior Welterweight title will also be on the line when these two men enter the ring. This will be part of a split co-main event that HBO will be televising with the other fight taking place in Arlington, Texas.
The 32-year-old Argentinian, Lucas Matthysse is a big fan favorite that has a record of 36-3 with 34 stoppages. His best wins have come against Lamont Peterson and Humberto Soto while his losses were to Devon Alexander and Zab Judah, both in very close split decision that could have gone either way, as well as Danny Garcia two years ago as the top undercard fight on the Floyd Mayweather vs Canelo Alvarez card. He has improved his boxing skill over the last 2-3 years, but he has to get better at adjusting to different styles and adjusting mid-fight.
Matthysse has wanted a rematch with Danny Garcia ever since the unanimous decision was revealed. Surely if he watched the Danny Garcia vs Lamont Peterson last week, he would have a different strategy
if they were to fight again. Matthysse tried to box Garcia the way he has fought his last couple fighters, by using the jab and going for the one punch KO. If there was a rematch, which isn’t likely in the 1st place, he would have to go back to his earlier career-style of throwing more punches and trying to get inside to Garcia’s chest with pressure. But, as I said, will we ever see that?
Ruslan Provodnikov, the man nicknamed the Russian Rocky, will be entering the ring Saturday night with a record of 24-3 with 17 stoppages. His high pressure, in your face, style has made him extremely hard
to replicate in sparring as well as to defend against when actually in the ring. Provodnikov holds no punches and doesn’t mind getting hit to connect on one of his own. He can be a scary monster in the ring and it is very hard to explain a way to beat him. Somehow you have to box him to keep him off, but also be winning to get hit with some shots, and you just have to survive.
Provodnikov’s best win in the ring came against Mike Alvarado, but that hardly tells the story of the 31-year-old Russian. Two of his losses, against very good opponents, came in controversial fashion. His loss
to Timothy Bradley was legendary and elevated both fighters after that fight. Despite getting knocked down, I had Bradley winning 114-113, but it could have gone either way. His loss to Chris Algieri setup Algieri for a fight with Manny Pacquiao. I had Provodnikov winning that fight 114-112, because of his two knockdowns of Algieri in round one, yet it was another tough loss. Provodnikov also lost to Mauricio Herrera earlier in his career. Will this finally be his moment?
I concur with everyone’s sentiments that this could easily end up being the fight of the year. Both guys are big time punchers and strong competitors. Matthysse is the better boxer of the two, but Provodnikov may have the better chin and seems to be more willing to take the punishment just to deliver some of his own. It’s probably one of the evenest fights you can have, but despite his impressive fights in losing efforts to Bradley and Algieri, Provodnikov has seemed to have some trouble finishing people off.
I think logic would say, both are willing to brawl, Provodnikov is the better brawler, he will win. However, if you look deeper into it, how many hard punchers has Provodnikov faced?
Algieri and Bradley are not known for their power. Alvarado can punch, but was that fight the start of the downfall of his career? Matthysse is arguably the biggest puncher that Provodnikov has faced, so this maybe the real test of how much he can bang. Because of this unknown question, I’m picking Matthysse by 6th round stoppage. The best thing about this fight is, you won’t have a lack of action, it’s not a PPV, and someone’s likely to get knocked out. How do you get better than that?
Enjoy the fights.
