On June 11, Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KOs) will fight John Molina Jr. (28-6, 23 KOs) ?at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY as part of the Hall of Fame festivities?
On paper, this one looks to be an evenly matched affair. Neither fighter has been known to give an inch nor has both become timid when wounded. These two are fan-friendly, all-action guys in the mold of Katsidis and Gatti, but that?s the rub.
Provodnikov has never really been beat up and even his losing effort against Timothy Bradley in October 2013, left ?Desert Storm? sluing and concussed for several weeks. Ruslan followed that up with a crunching win over Mike Alvarado (34-1) and then lost a highly controversial decision ( and his WBO title) to Chris Algieri in June 2014. After dispatching Jose Louis Castillo in Moscow, he lost another razor thin decagon to Lucas Martin Matthysse, but came back to stop undefeated Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez in Monaco.
The heavy-handed and game Molina has lost 3 of his last 4 bouts but the Mattysse defeat might have been career altering. Here are the thrilling highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUX4X2xaQ_Q
Molina is the type of fighter who has to be saved from himself. Provodnikov is the type of fighter that you need to be saved from. This does not bode well for John Molina.
