By Ryan Burton

Former WBO champion Ruslan Provodnikov was initially disappointed when he was unable to reach an agreement for a fall fight on HBO. Several potential opponents turned down the opportunity to face the "Siberian Rocky" which prompted his team to set up a November 28th fight in his homeland of Russia against an opponent to be determined.

Provodnikov recently spoke to BoxingScene.com and said that he is excited to fight at home but expects to be back in the United States in 2015. While he would like to fight for a title, securing the biggest fights possible is what is most important to the Russian and he said said that he is open to moving up to the welterweight division for the right opportunity.

"I am definitely open to the biggest fights out there when I come back to the US in the beginning of next year.  I don't care if it will be for the title, I just want to fight the best.  It's been so difficult to find guys to fight me even after my loss and I hope that my team and HBO can figure out how they can get the champions and stars of both the 140 and the 147 division to fight me," said Provodnikov.

Provodnikov has fought his last two fights in his natural 140 pound weight class but fought Tim Bradley at 147 last year and mentioned the names of Luis Carlos  Abregu and Mauricio Herrera as opponents he would be willing to go up in weight to face.

 

"Of course I can fight Abregu and Herrera and anybody else who is offered to me and I will not avoid any fight but I hope that I can fight the best in the divisions because I think that I have proven that I deserve those fights with my previous performances like the Fight of the Year against Timothy Bradley. 

"I fight my heart out every time I get in the ring so I think it's best for me and for my fans that I'm in the ring with the best opponents every time!" Provodnikov told BoxingScene.com.

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