By Keith Idec
Ruslan Provodnikov isn’t worried about not having Freddie Roach in his corner when he faces Lucas Matthysse.
As long as Roach can continue helping him prepare for that difficult fight on a daily basis at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Provodnikov is more than comfortable taking instruction from Roach’s assistant, Marvin Somodio, on fight night, April 18, in Verona, New York. Provodnikov’s confidence stems from his impressive victory over Mike Alvarado 17 months ago in Broomfield, Colorado, where Somodio worked Provodnikov’s corner in Roach’s absence.
“Everything is all right,” Provodnikov said on a conference call Monday. “This is not the first time that Freddie was not in the corner. For me, what’s important is Freddie is with me throughout the camp and we’re working together as a team to come up with the right strategy and get ready for this fight.
“It’s not a big deal. Marvin Somodio is Freddie’s right-hand guy and he’s going to be there for me. And I know that Marvin knows what I need to do in the ring, and that’s all that’s important. For me, that’s not a problem.”
Roach won’t work Provodnikov’s corner April 18 because his highest-profile client, Manny Pacquiao, will be immersed in training camp for the biggest fight of his career – a May 2 showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas. The Hall-of-Fame trainer is devoting plenty of time to Provodnikov’s preparation, though.
“Ruslan’s very important also,” Roach said. “I work with him every day in the gym. Me and Marvin have a good rapport together. Marvin knows what to do. He’s a very professional corner man. He went out to the fight in Denver by himself, without me, and they came through. They understand what I want … Ruslan will still fight his fight and Marvin will make the adjustments right away. It will be no problem whatsoever. It’s not the first or last time this has happened in my life.”
The highly anticipated, 12-round bout between Argentina’s Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs, 1 NC) and Russia’s Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) will headline HBO’s split-site “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader April 18 from Turning Stone Resort Casino. In the opening bout from Arlington, Texas, Terence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, is scheduled to battle Puerto Rico’s Thomas Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs) in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBO super welterweight title.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
