Spoiler It was a very interesting fight. Though Provodnikov floored Chris in the first round once and then he also took a knee and instantly had an eye that was quickly swelling from the left hook that landed, Algieri was still MUCH faster and gave Provodnikov a boxing lesson, while the heavier punches were landed by Ruslan, they were much fewer than the higher percentage of over 900 punches that Algieri threw vs. Ruslan. At the end the judges had it 114-112 for Algieri twice and 117-109 for Ruslan. The scores were interesting as obviously two of the judges liked the boxer more than the amateurish looking brawler. Algieri showed excellent movement and was able to tie up or pivot away from the ropes and peppered Provodnikov with excellent speed, double and triple jabs and hooks that kept Ruslan guessing and very much off balance and frustrated. Provodnikov admitted at the end that he doesn't like to fight "runners", but guys that would stand there and fight him. The problem with that is that this is BOXING and to be a champion means that you must be able to deal with any and all styles that might come your way. This was Provodnikov's first defense of his 140 lb title since pounding Mike Alvarado into submission in his last fight. That was good, maybe I should be a writer? lol
I told you months ago I thought your posts better than 90% of articles I was seeing on BR - especially since Jack Slack no longer writes there. I didn't see the fight, or any fights over the last few weeks - been relocating house.
well thanks man... I do try to call it like I see it. Problem is, most people still tend to let bias get in the way.. even if it's not on purpose. Yeah, moving just sucks. Did a lot of it when I was a kid and my parents split up. When you get a chance, just watch it on youtube ... it should be there by then. Spoiler The rumor that I hear is that this guy man now be a possible next opponent for Manny. I'll be honest though, I don't think I like that fight for him. This guy is 5'10, uses his height as an advantage by not hunching over to much, he guards his chin well, he's very fact... like deceptively fast. Counter punches well. Manny is only about 5'6 (depending on where you look at his stats), and doesn't have a long reach. Algieri also uses the ring extremely well. He kept Ruslan at the end of his jab and when he got to close, he would either pivot out, use more lateral movement, or just tie up and let the ref break them and get back into position. I'm not typically impressed by new fighters that I am watching, but this kid had no hype or anything behind him. He was a guy that was supposed to get stomped.
Did you agree with the decision? Spoiler I was stunned when I heard that Algieri had won - even by split decision. I didn't think it'd be a walk in the park (for Provo) as so many others had but I did not expect a win for Algier. Still have yet to watch it. Im pumped up to see it.
Spoiler Well... it was one of those fights where I felt like he made an excellent account of himself and yes, he could have won the fight. He started right out with a 10-7 round though, so he had to climb out of that. It goes back to the boxer vs. the brawler. However, Ruslan is not an intelligent fighter. He's a 1 dimensional slugger and that's it. Algieri put on a boxing master class on how to avoid pressure and stay out of range with a long jab and showed a great arsenal of punches. Andre Ward felt that Algieri also won the fight. He's the guy I'd trust over Max Kellerman's opinion who felt the fight went the other way. My question was, did Algieri do enough to take the champion's title? It's one reason why I would NOT give the fight to him if I had to go by the traditions of boxing. Did he win the boxing match? Not by a mile... but 10 miles. Did he get caught with some shots here and there? Yes, but never went down or was in trouble after rd. 1 while Ruslan landed some punches, but not effective enough for me to say he won this or that rd. I'll just put it this way, you could see who has a whole lot of talent, and who has very little.
