Boxing: Ruslan Provodnikov Needs to Be More Than Entertaining This Time

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In boxing you can get away with losing, as long as you look good and entertain, as long as you’re a willing warrior who can accept being hit in the face as part of the brutal game -- just so long as part of the condition is that you’re able to punch back. That is Ruslan Provodnikov.

“The Siberian Rocky” has always fit the criteria of a crowd-pleasing fighter. It’s as if it’s part of his DNA to be able to absorb being punched in the face. He just hasn’t won that consistently lately. Well, that might be a bit of stretch. How about four years? It has been four years since Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KOs) has won two straight fights. The junior welterweight contender and former WBO super lightweight champion will have his chance against weathered John Molina Jr. (28-6, 23 KOs) this Saturday on Showtime at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York.

Now, Provodnikov finds himself in a position where just being entertaining is not enough. He’s going to have to start winning some of these fights, and that could start against someone like Molina, who is 4-5 over his last nine fights and 1-3 over his last four. His tailspin includes losses to Adrien Broner, Humberto Soto and Lucas Matthysse -- the latter in the Boxing Writers of Association of America’s 2014 “Fight of the Year.”

“Every fight is very important for me and every fight I go into with the idea of going in to win every fight,” Provodnikov said. “This fight is no different. I don’t think there should be any serious problems for me in this fight. Molina is a pretty good fighter who’s a little awkward and a little dirty at times, but we’re prepared for that and we’ll be ready for any type of fight Molina wants to make it.

“I don’t know if you’ll see anything new from me,” he added. “The way I fight comes from within. It’s part of my character and it’s why I made my style. It’s the way I fight. My last two camps I’ve added some things and improved some things, but my style is my style and that’s not going to change. I’m going to be aggressive with Molina, as I am always in every fight. I’m not able to act differently. It’s just not who I am. I fight the way I fight, and it’s the way I’ll fight on Saturday.”

This fight does wear a loser-goes-home tag. If Molina losses, his status as a contender is over. He’s far closer to the end than Provodnikov, which could make him far more desperate and unafraid to take even more chances than he usually does. If Provodnikov losses, at 32, with the damaged, thin skin around his eyes from the myriad cuts he has endured, he may be looking at the possible end as a major attraction, too. That’s what is going here.

“I can’t see myself losing [to Molina],” Provodnikov said. “I see myself right now getting through this fight and won’t look too far ahead. By the end of the year, I want to get back a world title again. We’ll see.”

Provodnikov is also taking a page out of Manny Pacquiao’s political book and is running for deputy Senator in his region in Russia.

“If everything goes well with this fight, I’m pretty sure we’re going to have another fight in the fall,” said Vadim Kornilov, Provodnikov’s manager. “Things are being discussed, and there are a lot of big names at 140 and 147 [pounds]. Right now, we can’t talk specifics until we get closer to that time. For now, our whole team is focusing on Molina.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.