By Edward Chaykovsky

Newly crowned WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) said he was blind in his right eye by the end of the fight with Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KOs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Algieri captured the belt with a twelve round split decision.

Algieri had to survive two knockdowns in the first to win. His right eye was injured from a the blow that cause the first knockdown and it swelled up very quickly within a few rounds.

"It was a great fight. The big thing was getting out of the first round to start with. He hit me with a pretty good shot. I took a knee the second time because my lip was numb, I wanted to clear my head and see how my eye was. It wasn't anything he hit me with," Algieri said.

"I could see pretty well until the eighth round but by the time we hit round twelve, I was blind in that eye. But I was able to anticipate his left hook throughout the fight. I was able to figure out his rhythm. That was the key to my success."