Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO
We are now roughly 24 hours away from the anticipated clash between former titlists Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov. Both fighters made the junior welterweight limit and look to be in the excellent shape. There isn’t any doubt about the punching power each man possesses. The glaring question mark going into Saturday night is who will prove to be more resilient in the face of hellacious punishment?
MATTHYSSE: 139
PROVODNIKOV: 139.5
PREDICTION: A lot of people are picking Provodnikov based on the fact he’s proven to be more “durable.” Although neither man has been stopped, we’ve never seen Ruslan discouraged or tentative to press through punishment like we saw Matthysse in his loss to Danny Garcia.
When this fight was first announced, I was among those who favored the Siberian Rocky. But now I’ve switched allegiances to The Machine. First, Matthysse is flat-out the more skilled fighter. He’ll never be confused for a defensive wizard, but he’s far from a face-first brawler and you can expect him to mix up his attack between countering off the backfoot and coming forward with massive power shots. Matthysse is much better at cutting off the ring, timing his counters and dictating distance. Give Provodnikov any semblance of movement and his effectiveness greatly diminishes, as we saw in his outings with Tim Bradley and Chris Algieri.
Second is the experience factor. Matthysse has already survived against punchers like Garcia and John Molina (the latter being the 2014 Fight of the Year). For as much as we talk about Provodnikov’s power, Matthysse is by far the biggest puncher he’s ever faced. Yes, Ruslan’s one of the toughest active fighters in the game. But he also wide open to get teed off on. It’s one thing to eat power shots from Bradley and Algieri — if Matthysse lands anything near what those two did, and it’s no stretch to believe Provodnikov’s chin will finally be cracked. MATTHYSSE TKO8
CRAWFORD: 139.8
DULORME: 139.2
PREDICTION: The co main event will be the 140-pound debut of Terence Crawford. He faces the talented Thomas Durlorme, who just squeezed by Hank Lundy a few months back. Dulorme is a talented offensive fighter when he’s allowed to fight comfortably at a moderate pace without pressure. Unfortunately for him, I expect the southpaw Crawford not to give Dulorme any chance to rest mentally nor physically.
Crawford is a sharp puncher and a few flush shots from that left hand will put Dulorme in a shell. By the mid rounds Dulorme will be mentally broken. CRAWFORD TKO7
[Youtube https://youtu.be/Np9OR5LCJyk%5D
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 