Ruslan Provodnikov looked like he was going to cruise to victory Saturday in Brooklyn against Chris Algieri, but things changed pretty quickly.
After Provodnikov got two knockdowns in the first, Algieri rebounded and outworked the Russian the rest of the way. He won a split decision, winning by scores of 114-112 on two of the judges’ cards. Though Provodnikov got the early knockdowns, he admitted after his fight that Algieri’s style was not for him.
“I have to admit, runners are not my style,” Provodnikov said in a post-fight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman, according to a translator. “He’s just jabbing and touching me. I can’t feel any of that, but it’s not my style. I like guys that stand there and fight me.
“This is the worst style for me,” Provodnikov complained.
Kellerman, who like Jim Lampley and Andrew Ward thought Provodnikov won the fight, pressed the Russian on the issue. Provodnikov had the same response.
“I said it before — it’s just not my style. He just ran and he just touched me. He just jabbed and touched me. I didn’t feel any of that, but obviously I have trouble with that style.”
Based on those responses from Provodnikov, I think we can safely cross a rematch with Algieri off the list of his potential fights. We can also safely scrap any plans for Provodnikov to move up in weight to face Manny Pacquiao, too.
