1. Finish the Job
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There was a common theme in Ruslan Provodnikov’s two most recent losses to Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri. Provodnikov had both men seriously hurt, but failed to finish them off and as a result allowed his opponents to take the fight away from him and ultimately sway the judges to rule in their favor.
Provodnikov must be a shark in that ring. When he senses even the slightest hint of blood, Provodnikov must open his jaws wide and bite away any life left in the Argentine fighter.
In his fight with Bradley, Provodnikov walloped him so hard in the first round that Bradly clearly didn’t know what hit him. Although the first-round knockdown was called a slip by the referee, the damage was done. Bradlely managed to stand, but was out on his feet.
Provodnikov hurt Bradley again in the second round with heavy right hands that almost ended the fight. But almost doesn’t count. Provodnikov allowed Bradley to get back in the fight and he was taking rounds away from the Ruslan.
Somehow the fight managed to get to the 12th round and Provodnikov allowed himself to be in a position where he needed a knockout to win.
Provodnikov used his left hook to knock Bradley from one side of the ring to the other and eventually scored a knockdown with just 15 seconds left in the fight. Bradley got up and took home the win–and a concussion.
In his fight with Algieri, which was supposed to be a tune up/showcase bout to get him in front of Manny Pacquiao, Provodnikov scored two early knockdowns only to end up losing a split decision.
Provodnikov blasted Algieri with a left hook and then a vicious uppercut to badly injure Algieri’s right eye swollen shut. Through it all, Algieri weathered the assault and out boxed Provodnikov and won the fight.
Neither Bradley nor Algieri ever really hurt Provodnikov, but in the case of Lucas Matthysse where 34 of his 36 wins have come by way of knockout, if Provodnikov gives him an inch the Argentine is libel to take a mile and knock his head off in the process.
There is no disputing Provodikov’s pure punching power. They key to winning this fight is apply the same pressure he did when he dismantled Mike Alvarado and beat him into submission.
If Provodnikov does not finish the job then he will allow Matthysse to do it for him; and unlike Bradley and Algieri, “The Machine” will not be doing it on points.
