By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com recently reached out to former WBO 140 pound champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4) in the wake of Top Rank CEO Bob Arum's recent announcement that he would like to match his fighter Terence Crawford (28-0) against Provodnikov in the summer.
Crawford just successfully defended the same 140 pound title on Saturday when he stopped Hank Lundy in 5 rounds in a HBO televised main event. Provodnikov said that he is very interested in facing Crawford and revealed that he hasn't ever been offered a fight against the Nebraska native.
"Of course I want to take my title back," said Provdnikov who said he didn't watch the fight. "I'm interested in the fight and I have been interested in facing him for a while. I was not offered the fight for February."
Provodnikov hasn't fought on HBO since last April when he lost a razor thin decision to Lucas Matthysse in an exciting fight. He took a stay busy fight in Monte Carlo in November after scraps against fighters such as Brandon Rios, Jessie Vargas, and rematches against Matthysse and Bradley were turned down by their handlers.
Even with the difficulties in securing a big fight, the native of Russia has stayed positive and believes a big fight is right around the corner for him.
"It's a little frustrating but I believe that if the networks and my representation want a fight to happen it will happen, so I'm not blaming the fighters," Provodknikov told BoxingScene.com.
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