Lucas Matthysse feeds leather to John Molina during their fight at StubHub Center on April 26, 2014. (Getty)
Former world champions Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov will face off on Saturday April 18 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
The fight will be televised by HBO Boxing After Dark at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. Box Nation has it in the UK, time TBD.
Odds of Winning
Ruslan Provodnikov on the hunt agasinst Mike Alvarado. (Getty)
Lucas Matthysse enters the fight a slight favorite in Vegas and on online sportsbooks. But with numbers like these (see odds below), and these two bloodthirsty maniacs battling out in the ring– it’s a real pick’em.
Hard-hitting fan-favorite Ruslan Provodnikov, 31 years old, was one-half of ‘Fight of the Year’ bout with Timothy Bradley in 2013. A knockout win over Mike Alvarado that year also earned him the WBO super lightweight world title.
Provodnikov (24-3, with 17 KOs) was last in the ring with a KO win against veteran Jose Luis Castillo in November 2014. The fight against rickety has-been Castillo was a make-me-look-good matchup coming on the heels of the “Siberian Rocky’s” upset defeat to then-unknown Chris Algieri in May of that year.
Watch the entire Algieri-Provodnikov encounter here:
Lucas “La Máquina” Matthysse (36-3, with 34 KOs) will enter Saturday’s fight coming off back-to-back wins over Robert Ortiz and John Molina Jr. Matthysse’s bout against Molina was voted ‘2014 Fight of the Year.’Prior to that 32-year-old Matthysse had suffered a loss to super lightweight champ Danny Garcia in September 2013.
Sporting an 85% knockout ratio, all of Matthysse’s last 13 wins have come by way of stoppage.
“I’m glad that this fight is finally done,” said Provodnikov. “This is the fight I have been waiting for a long time. I think that this fight will be nominated for either ‘Fight of the Year’ or ‘Knockout of the Year’.”
Let’s take a look at the betting numbers:
bet365: Ruslan Provodnikov +100 Lucas Matthysse -125
skybet: Ruslan Provodnikov +110 Lucas Matthysse -137
betway: Ruslan Provodnikov +105 Lucas Matthysse -133
Winner: Ruslan Provodnikov +105 Lucas Matthysse -133
Saturday’s fight is part of a split site doubleheader. Co-featured, undefeated WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) faces Puerto Rican Thomas Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs).