Ruslan Provodnikov

Ruslan Mikhailovich Provodnikov (Russian: Руслан Михайлович Проводников; born 20 January 1984) is a Russian professional boxer who held the WBO junior welterweight title from 2013 to 2014. Nicknamed "The Siberian Rocky", Provodnikov is well known as a highly aggressive pressure fighter who possesses formidable punching power and an iron chin.

Personal life

Early life

Ruslan Mikhailovich Provodnikov was born in Beryozovo, a small village in western Siberia to an ethnic Russian father and an ethnic Mansi mother, but identifies himself as Mansi.^[1] In an interview, Provodnikov was translated to have said, "I had a lot of trouble as a child so my father introduced me to boxing when I was ten years old".^[2] In another interview, Provodnikov was translated to have said, "I got into boxing just because I'm in a small town. There was no boxing there before at all. I get, I use to get punished for fighting, so when I was small my dad took me as soon as a boxing trainer appeared and there was a class. My dad took me there, and I got rewarded for fighting, so that's how I loved boxing."^[3] He would regularly make a 1-day trip to train at a gym that was something closer to what a professional boxing gym should be.^[4] As an amateur he won 130 of 150 fights.^[5] He was discovered in Ekaterinburg by his current promoters and managers, who brought him to the U.S.

Learning English

In an interview, Provodnikov was translated to have said, "Sometimes I feel like it would be helpful to learn a little English. You know, sometimes I have the temptation. Uh, during training camp, I'm actually, it feels better to not know English, because it gets me, uh, a little secluded from everybody and more focused on the training instead of, you know, talking to everybody a lot, and I think that's, that has developed me a lot with my focus, but, uh. During regular life, I would love to communicate more and speak English more. So, you know, it's hard. It's hard to find the time, but hopefully one day I will learn the lang, the language. I would like to do that, definitely."^[6]

Other sports

Provodnikov said that he enjoyed playing soccer and playing basketball.^[7]

Life for his son

Provodnikov said that he wanted to provide for his son and give his son options in life. Provodnikov said that he was having his son grow up in the same place where he grew up, and he said that he wanted his son to experience the way he lived. Provodnikov said that he wanted his son to play sports and watch less TV and use the internet less.^[7]

Life saved by boxing

In an interview, Provodnikov was asked, "What career path would you have chosen for yourself if you were not a boxer?" Provodnikov was translated to have said as a response, "It's really hard to say or predict. Um, I don't think that if I was in box-, if I wasn't in boxing I don't think that you would have ever known that there's such a person exists by the name of Ruslan Provodnikov. The way I look at it, I would probably be in jail or maybe not even alive, if I was not a boxer. Maybe I'd just be somewhere drinking my life away. Um, that's what most people do in the, the place where I live, and, you know, I think boxing saved my life."^[8]

Eating meat

Provodnikov said that he enjoyed eating raw meat such as raw moose liver and raw fish, and he said that he believed that eating meat made him strong.^[9]

Professional career

Early career

Provodnikov fought several times on ESPN 2's Friday Night Fights and developed a reputation for being an exciting, come forward, pressure fighter. He scored a decision win over Demarcus Corley and lost a controversial decision to Mauricio Herrera.

Provodnikov vs. Bradley

Provodnikov lost a close unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley on March 16, 2013, for the WBO welterweight championship. Provodnikov was considered an easily beatable opponent for Bradley, who was looking for a confidence booster after beating Manny Pacquiao in what was deemed one of boxing's worst decisions. Bradley came out on the attack early, fighting in an uncharacteristically aggressive fashion. Provodnikov made him pay, however, tagging him with hard shots in the first round, and staggering him in the second. Bradley said after the fight that he was concussed by a shot Provodnikov hit him with in the second round.^[10] Bradley boxed more conservatively as the fight wore on, winning most of the middle rounds. In the last round, Provodnikov badly hurt Bradley again but Bradley took a knee with just seconds remaining, beating the count and hanging on to win the fight on points. Bradley was impressed by Provodnikov's power and will, saying "he's going to be a world champion someday".^[10] The fight was named "2013 Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America.^[11][12]

Provodnikov vs. Alvarado

Moving back down to junior welterweight to fight Mike Alvarado for the WBO Junior welterweight belt. Provodnikov defeated Mike Alvarado by 10th-round stoppage on October 19, 2013, at the FirstBank Center in Denver, Colorado. Provodnikov was ahead on all three scorecards and had knocked Alvarado down twice in the eighth round. Alvarado then elected to not come out for the eleventh round.^[13]

Provodnikov vs. Algieri

Provodnikov faced little-known American Chris Algieri in the first defense of his title on June 14, 2014, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Provodnikov connected with a left hook in the first round that knocked Algieri down and formed a large swelling under the challenger's right eye. Despite scoring two knockdowns in the opening frame, Algieri's footwork and boxing skills prevented Provodnikov from getting into range to land his shots. Provodnikov would go on to lose a controversial split decision.^[14]

Provodnikov vs. Matthysse

After dispatching of veteran Jose Luis Castillo in five rounds, in his home country. Negotiations began for a bout with fellow power puncher, Argentine Lucas Matthysse, there was a large amount of hype surrounding the fight coming in. It took place at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York on the 18th of April, and lived up to the hype as the two fighters went toe to toe from the opening bell in a fight of the year candidate. A headbutt caused a deep cut above Ruslan's left eye early in the fight and it begun to distract him straight away. Matthysse utilized his jab and superior boxing skills for most of the bout. Ruslan once again proved to have a granite chin as he took the hardest shots of Matthysse, who is considered to be the hardest puncher in the division and pound for pound one of the hardest punchers in the world. After being outboxed the first few rounds, Ruslan came back in the latter half of the bout, and begun to break down Matthysse, hurting him severely in the 11th round but failed to capitalize, or achieve enough early on and went on to lose a Majority decision. Matthysse broke his right hand in the fight. Provodnikov had a terribly swollen face afterwards, and a deep gash on his eye from the headbutt, he also had black urine (rhabdomyolysis), a result of being hit in his kidneys by the power puncher Matthysse.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
30	Loss	25–5	John Molina Jr.	UD	12	11 Jun 2016	Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, US
29	Win	25–4	Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez	TKO	4 (10), 1:40	7 Nov 2015	Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco
28	Loss	24–4	Lucas Matthysse	MD	12	18 Apr 2015	Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, US
27	Win	24–3	José Luis Castillo	TKO	5 (12), 0:50	28 Nov 2014	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia
26	Loss	23–3	Chris Algieri	SD	12	14 Jun 2014	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US	Lost WBO light welterweight title
25	Win	23–2	Mike Alvarado	RTD	10 (12), 3:00	19 Oct 2013	1stBank Center, Broomfield, Colorado, US	Won WBO light welterweight title
24	Loss	22–2	Timothy Bradley	UD	12	16 Mar 2013	Home Depot Center, Carson, California, US	For WBO welterweight title
23	Win	22–1	Jose Reynoso	KO	2 (10), 1:52	29 Jun 2012	Omega Products International, Corona, California, US	Retained WBO Inter-Continental light welterweight title
22	Win	21–1	David Torres	TKO	6 (10), 2:53	27 Jan 2012	Northern Quest Resort & Casino, Airway Heights, Washington, US	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental light welterweight title
21	Win	20–1	DeMarcus Corley	UD	12	5 Dec 2011	DIVS, Yekaterinburg, Russia	Won vacant WBC–ACBO light welterweight title
20	Win	19–1	Iván Popoca	KO	8 (10), 2:16	15 Apr 2011	Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula, California, US
19	Win	18–1	Vyacheslav Yakovenko	TKO	3 (6), 2:43	20 Feb 2011	Viktoria, Berezovo, Russia
18	Loss	17–1	Mauricio Herrera	UD	12	7 Jan 2011	Cox Pavilion, Paradise, Nevada, US	For vacant IBF North American light welterweight title
17	Win	17–0	Fayzullo Ahmedov	UD	6	16 Oct 2010	Trading-Entertaining Center "Alatyr", Yekaterinburg, Russia
16	Win	16–0	Emanuel Augustus	TKO	9 (10), 1:50	21 May 2010	Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas, US
15	Win	15–0	Javier Jauregui	TKO	8 (10), 2:10	21 Feb 2010	Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula, California, US
14	Win	14–0	Victor Hugo Castro	KO	2 (12), 0:30	28 Nov 2009	Sport CSK VSS, Samara, Russia	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental light welterweight title
13	Win	13–0	Mahsud Jumaev	RTD	2 (6), 3:00	24 Oct 2009	Sverdlovsk Film Studio, Yekaterinburg, Russia
12	Win	12–0	Esteban Almaraz	UD	6	20 Mar 2009	Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas, US
11	Win	11–0	Abdulaziz Matazimov	UD	6	21 Feb 2009	Tennis Centre, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
10	Win	10–0	Sergey Starkov	UD	10	3 Nov 2008	Berezovo, Russia
9	Win	9–0	Wang Jie	TKO	3 (8)	22 Aug 2008	Olympic Village, Beijing, China
8	Win	8–0	Brian Gordon	UD	6	16 May 2008	Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
7	Win	7–0	Jose Angel Roman	TKO	1 (6), 2:28	7 Mar 2008	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, US
6	Win	6–0	Vadim Sufiyanov	KO	3 (6), 1:07	31 Jan 2008	Casino Vodoley, Yekaterinburg, Russia
5	Win	5–0	Darren Darby	TKO	1 (4), 2:12	16 Sep 2007	Northern Quest Resort & Casino, Airway Heights, Washington, US
4	Win	4–0	Willie Diamond	TKO	1 (4), 1:46	23 Jun 2007	Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
3	Win	3–0	Antwon Barrett	KO	1 (4), 2:33	28 Apr 2007	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, US
2	Win	2–0	Dmitry Toropchin	RTD	2 (4), 3:00	1 Feb 2007	Casino Vodoley, Yekaterinburg, Russia
1	Win	1–0	Kirill Artemiev	UD	4	3 Dec 2006	DIVS, Yekaterinburg, Russia	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Ruslan Provodnikov from BoxRec