MATTHYSSE AND PROVO WAR - RESULTS FROM LAST NIGHT AND A LOOK AT UPCOMING FIGHTS
by Robert Earle Stanton
Author of "Selling the Pain"
After the final round not only did HBO's
unofficial judge Harold Lederman have the Matthysse vs Provodkinov fight scored
114-114, it was said people started tweeting the same.
If you looked at the two boxers it would
seem hard to believe. Matthysse, being held up, Argentina fans
cheering in victory, and for most of the fight, Ruslan Provodnikov, a crimson
mask.
The first two rounds started as I would
expect, Matthysse winning, yet he was pulverising Provodnikov, with hard shots.
Provodnikov would come back the next two rounds - I don't know of any
boxers at 147 (these are two Jr Welterweights) that could have withstood the
pulverizing punches Lucas Matthysse laid on Ruslan Provodkinov those first two
rounds. Yet Provodkinov, as we've seen before, showed his mettle.
My interpretation of this fight prior to
it happening was Ruslan Provodnikov bullying his way in and cutting the ring
off, smothering Lucas, and beating him into submission. Yes, I'm speaking as if
this was an MMA fight - well, you're not talking Gatti vs Ward here, with
all due respect, Matthysse held the interim WBC Jr Welterweight title, and in
2013 lost to Danny Garcia, for the World Jr Welterweight Championship.
Ruslan Provodkinov fought Timothy Bradley, at the time, the WBO
Welterweight Champion (Bradley coming off his controversial victory over Manny
Pacquiao) and even dropped Bradley for the first and only time of Bradley's
career, in what would be deemed FIght of the Year 2013. He would go on to
win the WBO Jr Welterweight Championship from Mike Alvarado in 2014 - the year
Lucas Matthysse was in The Fight of the Year with John Molina Jr, who dropped
Matthysse twice, as Matthysse would get up and stop Molina Jr. So we were
looking at two guys who parook in the past two year's Fights of the Year.
Not to mention, prior to last night Ring Magazine had Matthysee ranked
number 1 at Jr Welterweight, as Ruslan Provodkinov was ranked number 3.
This was a huge fight in the Jr. Welterweight division that surprisingly,
in this day and age, was not for a title.
Matthysse seems to be more of a well
rounded boxer than the Lucas we saw in 2010 and 2011 losing two close SD losses
(some would argue he won, dropping both opponents in Zab Judah and Devon
Alexander) Last night it seems he would have not only have completely dominated
any other boxer, but definitely stopped them. The beating he put on
Ruslan Provodkinov was incredulous and due to an early accidental headbutt
Provodkinov had a very deep gash over his left eye that was blinding his
vision. The referee could not have done a better job in a fight like
this, standing mostly out of the way in a Steve Smoger fashion.
Now as Matthysse was banging up
Provodnikov bad, Ruslan had his moments. The guy who dropped the
then, 20-0 Chris Algieri last year and gave him an eye that looked as if it
would not recoup, lost track of Algieri, and lost a close SD, losing his title.
So both of these guys have had trouble with movers, and don't move, and are
hard punchers - another reason we tuned in. Yet one thing is for sure,
Matthysse is not a mover like Algieri, and his logic is also that of a fighter,
which kept Provodkinov in the fight, coming at him, trying to close the
distance, and it won him some rounds. Harold Lederman had him down the
most at two rounds during a fight which seems ridiculous, yet if you went round
by round you may not come up with the biggest argument - Compubox had Matthysse
landing 755 of a yes, 1,034 shots thrown, as Provodkinov only landed 201 of 327
thrown - yet people forget boxing rounds aren't scored by Compubox.
Judges are not given the stats after the rounds. As it looked at
times like Provodnikov could not get inside those long arms of Matthysse, there
was feeling he was coming forward and landing some hooks that were
powerful.
Matthysse’s corner was telling him he was
miles ahead on the cards while he wasn't - in the 11th we're looking at a close
fight as Provodnikov would buckle Matthysse’s knees with a hook, and almost
drop him. All three judges gave the 12th to Provodkinov in what could
very easily be Fight of the Year yet our expectations for this fight may
diminish it.
Lucas Matthysse won a Majority Decision.
The first scorecard read 114-114, as the other two read 115-113 in favor
of Matthysse.
Matthysse ups his record to 37 wins with
34 knockouts, and 3 losses. Provodnikov who said through an interpreter,
"He was the hardest hitter I've ever faced" goes to 24 wins with 17
knockouts, and endures his 4th loss. He seemed very disappointed.
Should we have realistically been as
excited about this fight as we were from a Provodnikov who came in going 2-2
his last 4 fights? A guy who lost to Herrera in 2011, Timothy Bradley in 2013,
and most incredibly to an unknown Chris Algieri last year and coming off a
victory over a 41 year old Jose Luis Castillo?
Should we have held that much interest in
this fight as we did for Lucas Matthysse? A guy that lost two decisions to Zab
Judah and Devon Alexander - yet most recently lost going for the crown vs Danny
Garcia, getting knocked down? As he got dropped twice by John Molina Jr even in
victory?
Yes, we should have, as I mentioned, two
former title holders, ranked 1 and 3 in a division filled with stars like Danny
Garcia (who is 30-0 probably moving up to Welterweight) and Lamont Peterson,
who gave him a great fight last week - names like Adrien Broner, undefeated
boxers such as Viktor Postol, Jessie Vargas, Jose Benavidez, with guys also
like Chris Algieri and do not forget about a Mauricio Herrera who if it were
not due to what some claim, bad Judgement, may have been Fighter of the Year in
2014.
This was a huge fight between to top Jr
Welters a week after we saw the two Jr Welters with all the titles go at it in
Garcia and Peterson. So what does the future hold? Matthysse called out
the winner of Floyd vs Manny which seems like the thing to do, as he would be
going up to 147 (as GGG said he would go down in weight to fight the winner of
the match, as Khan and Cotto were back up plans for Floyd and Manny) as I do
think Lucas' size and punching power could let him flourish at 147. I would
love to see him fight a guy like Bradley. I would love to see Ruslan
fight a guy like Broner. Yet most of all, I'd like to see a Rematch.
However, in these days it's rare we even got this fight. Again, it
was not for a title and the winner would obviously want a big pay day. I
hope the money can be put up for these two to get in the ring again.
After Gatti vs Ward trilogy, we had the pleasure of seeing a Rios vs
Alvarado one, even though the third took a while to come off. We got to
see Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez fight four times, as Manny Pacquiao and
Juan Manuel Marquez did. I would love to see a rematch of a fight this
close, or, as many others would say, not close at all and claim that Lucas
Matthysse won the fight easily. Nonetheless, as fan it was brutal, and
refreshing.
The opening fight last night, in the same
division was Terrence Crawford, moving up in weight, on an incredible three
fight winning streak now, stop Thomas Dulorme for the vacant WBO Jr
Welterweight title. Maybe Crawford will be looking at a Matthysse or
Provo.
Last night Julio Cesar Chavez Jr would
lose his first fight at Light Heavyweight against Fonfara, as he did not come
out for the 9th round.
UPCOMING FIGHTS
Next week on Friday night we are looking
at Anthony Dirrell defend his Super Middleweight title vs Badou Jack. On
Saturday Night on HBO we are looking at North Philadelphia's undefeated
Heavyweight Bryant “Bye Bye” Jennings fighting Wladimir Klitschko in will what
be a homecoming of sorts as Wladimir will be fighting at the MGM in New York.
May 2nd, of course is Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao and the week after
that we see what could definitely be a another brawl in Canelo vs James
Kirkland. On May 16th Gennady Golovkin returns to the ring facing Willie
Monroe, Jr. Also that night is the comeback of Gold Medalist Andre
Dirrell, Super Middleweight, who is fighting for Froch’s vacant title vs James
DeGale. May 29th, Amir Khan vs Chris Algieri as the next night in the UK
Kell Brook is fighting Frankie Gavin, also on that card, Evgeny Gradovich vs
Lee Selby. June 6th Miguel Cotto makes his first Middleweight title
defense against Daniel Geale. On June 20th the return of Andre Ward as an
opponent still has yet to be named, and it looks as if Adrien Broner has a date
that night, also against TBA and on July 18th we will see Arthur Abraham and
Robert Stieglitz finish their trilogy.
