By Ian S Palmer
The Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York, is the site of the welterweight clash between Lucas Matthysse of Argentina and Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov this Saturday, April 18. The 12-round bout can be seen live in North America on the HBO network while fans in the UK can catch the action on BoxNation. This matchup should produce plenty of action and fireworks as both boxers are extremely fan friendly when it comes to excitement.
The 32-year-old Matthysse will be entering the ring with a record of 36-3 along with 34 Kos while the 31-year-old Provodnikov is 24-3 with 17 Kos. Height-wise, Matthysse has a half-inch advantage over his 5-foot-6-inch opponent and also has a three-inch reach advantage at 69 to 66 inches. Their pro experience is almost exactly the same as Matthysse has 154 pro rounds under his belt while Provodnikov has gone 153.
Both of these guys have tremendous power to go along with fine chins and that’s what makes them so much fun to watch. Matthysse has a slight edge in the power department and Provodnikov has a slightly sturdier chin, making this an excellent matchup that could even go the distance. Both boxers have faced some top-10 opponents during their career and have come up slightly short in some of them. Matthysse has lost close decisions to Devon Alexander, Danny Garcia and Zab Judah while Provodnikov dropped decisions to Mauricio Herrera, Timothy Bradley, and Chris Algieri.
Matthysse typically establishes a strong jab and then digs in with solid combinations. Most of his opponents can’t stand up to him and usually end up on the deck at one points or another. However, if he can’t put his opponent away he can be outboxed. The same can be said of Provodnikov. But fans aren’t expecting a boxing match here they’re looking for a brawl. Matthysse might be wise to try and outbox his opponent though as points could be crucial here if Provodnikov manages to stay on his feet.
Both boxers can be hit and Matthysse has also been on the canvas himself a couple of times when John Molina dropped him last year. This is why we might see him try to use his slight reach advantage by jabbing and then getting in and out as soon as possible rather than digging in the trenches and going toe-to-toe. Provodnikov has a hard time when his opponents are fleet of foot and possess superior boxing skills.
Matthysse will need the room to extend his arms while Provodnikov would like to be right on top of him. He’s also got faster hands than the Russian and along with controlling the distance he needs to get off first and punish Provodnikov when he gets within firing range. Provodnikov will need to use his superior strength to get inside and stay there and lean on Matthysse whenever possible. He will need to dig to the Argentine’s body as well as his head.
Prediction
Matthysse and Provodnikov are two of the toughest hombres in the sport and that makes this such a hard fight to predict. It’s always possible that one of them gets caught cold early on, but it’s more likely that these two guys will trade punches for several rounds. I can see it going the distance since they both have good chins and if it does go all 12 rounds Matthysse should have a slight edge due to his better boxing skills. However, any outcome is possible in a fight like this.
