Ruslan Provodnikov: “The Bradley Fight Changed My Life, I’m Willing to Die in the Ring Oct. 19th!”

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Not many people were given Ruslan Provodnikov a shot this past March against Timothy Bradley when they both stepped into the ring together. Most experts and fans considered Provodnikov and ESPN level fighter and thought he had no business even sharing the same ring as Timothy Bradley. But it’s just something about The Home Depot Center (now known as The Stub Hub Center) and boxing that equals magical nights.

Bradley didn’t fight his typical Bradley fight and went to war with the Russian for 12 rounds. There was plenty of action packed rounds that had the blood thirsty fan quenching their appetite. Provodnikov even forced Bradley to take a knee in the 12th round almost stopping the welterweight champion.  Even though Provodnikov lost a close decision, he won new fans and more importantly won over HBO.

“The fight changed my life,” Provodnikov said via his advisor Vadim on Tha Boxing Voice Radio Show. “It made a big change for me. I’m getting a lot more attention, HBO is paying a lot more attention to me and I’m thankful for me and very lucky to be where I am.”

Where he was just a few fights ago was on ESPN2. It wasn’t too long ago people were calling him the flagship fighter for ESPN2 and he could never challenge the elite if he couldn’t get a past a Mauricio Herrera. Now it’s his second appearance on the network even being invited to HBO’s dinner of champions when other fights who are champions were not invited. Provodnikov credits Freddie Roach and his team for that.

“I said it before. I’m very lucky that I met Freddie and train with him. He gives me a lot of mental strength and confidence and the way I got today has a lot to do with my team and my trainers. HBO is my dream. I’m grateful to be fighting and hopefully I won’t disappoint the fans, I know I won’t,” stated Provodnikov.

So how did he end up with Mike Alvarado? It wasn’t that long that Ruslan (or a member of his team) took to social media and called out Alvarado. Alvarado had also been rumored to being shelved for the rest of the year. But the fighter says he’ll fight anyone and when the Alvarado fight came to him, it was simple.

“It was not my decision. I told my team I would fight the best in the 140 or 147 weight class. I was told that Alvarado was a fight that was being offered, so send me the contract and I agreed to the fight.”

One might wonder how his last fight has affected him and how Provodnikov will go from one fight of the year to another fight of the year type of fight as so many people feel it will be. It certainly affected Tim Bradley, his last opponent but Provodnikov feels he’s just fine.

“I heard that Bradley was having memory issues but I hope it’s nothing serious, he’s a great warrior and great champion.  He’s going to come back and look great and he could still have a lot of great fights in his career. As far as for me I’m very very blessed. I came into the Bradley fight and I was ready to die in the ring. Now I have my second chance and I’m ready to die in the ring on October 19th because I know there might not be another chance.”

 

For Full Audio Of The Interview Click Here: http://thaboxingvoice.com/mitchell-vs-arreola-preview-plus-ruslan-provodnikov-sadam-ali/18182