by David P. Greisman
Boxing promoter Artie Pellulo was involved with one of the best fights ever to take place, when Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo met in a lightweight unification bout in May 2005. Going in, Corrales-Castillo was expected to be a barnburner. It somehow surpassed those expectations.
Now Pellulo will be putting on the April 18 bout between junior welterweights Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov; he promoters Provodnikov. And as with 10 years ago, boxing fans and the promoters involved are anticipating a brutal battle.
“I believe it’s going to be Corrales-Castillo 1, which I had the good fortune of promoting with Bob Arum and Gary Shaw,” Pellulo said on a March 30 media conference call. “That’s what I think of the fight. Both guys don’t know how to do anything but put on TV-friendly and fan-friendly fights.”
Pellulo isn’t the only one with high expectations.
“I expect the same as all the fans,” Provodnikov said through a translator, his manager, Vadim Kornilov. “This is a very exciting matchup. This is going to be a great fight. For me it’s no less than for all the people watching. For me, it’s exciting as well. These types of fights are what’s important. For me, the title and the money, as I’ve said many times, are not No. 1.
“No. 1 is for my fights to be part of history. I think this is one of those fights that is destined to be part of history. That’s what I want to give my fans. That’s what I want to give my people back home, fights that people remember. Not all the fights that are world title fights are remembered. But the type of fight that can happen with Lucas Matthysse is a fight that’s definitely going to be remembered forever.”
Provodnikov has been in one recent classic, his pitched brawl with Timothy Bradley in March 2013, a bout that ended with Bradley taking a close unanimous decision. Matthysse, meanwhile, received recognition for his 11th-round stoppage of John Molina in April 2014, a bout that many boxing writers said was the Fight of the Year.
Matthysse is an offense-oriented fighter who has scored knockouts or technical knockouts in 34 of his 36 wins. So in his eyes, the fight will be entertaining so long as Provodikov fights in a certain way.
“If Ruslan comes forward and is aggressive and does the same thing, then yes, I’m going to seize that opportunity and try to take advantage of that and make it an exciting fight,” Matthysse said through a translator, Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions. “I think personally it can be a great fight, but it takes two.”
Provodnikov said there should be no question about it.
“I promise this is going to be the fight you are all waiting for,” he said.
And Kornilov left the call with a reminder of Provodnikov’s ability to take a shot, an ability he will need against Matthysse.
“Provodnikov’s never been on his knees,” he said.
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
