2. Box
Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime
Another key for Lucas Matthysse to win this fight is to plain and simply box Ruslan Provodnikov.
Provodnikov is not a good technical boxer, although he can be considered an expert at brawling. Matthysse can box and brawl and if he goes out that night and boxes Provodnikov, he will make it difficult for the Siberian Rocky to adjust. Instead of brawling every minute of every round, Matthysse’s ability to box can help to put him ahead on the scorecards.
As we have seen before in Provodnikov’s recent fights–including his loss to Chris Algieri–Provodnikov can be out boxed.
Matthysse has to be careful while doing this because he could frustrate Provodnikov who then could force him to go toe to toe. Matthysse has to rely on good movement to keep Ruslan off balance and avoid brawling the whole fight.
