Provodnikov is Open To Facing Crawford-Dulorme Winner

By Ryan Burton

On Saturday evening Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse will collide at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in upstate New York. The sure fire Fight of the Year candidate will be broadcast by HBO as part of a split site doubleheader that will also feature Terence Crawford facing Thomas Dulorme for the vacant WBO 140 pound title.

Provodnikov's promoter Artie Pelullo recently told BoxingScene.com's Steve Kim that the venue is adding more seats and this will be their first ever sellout for boxing.

Provodnikov was pleased to hear this news saying, "That's good to know. I feel great! I am very positive and I am very much looking forward to the fight!"

On a recent media conference call for the Crawford-Dulorme fight, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said that the winner of Provodnikov-Matthysse would definitely be in the running to face Crawford provided he wins. Provodnikov once held that WBO title and said that he would be interested in fighting for it again but that he isn't thinking about that right now.

"I will worry about the next fight after this one is done with. I am currently only focused on Matthysse.  I am ready to fight anybody in the future and my team will work that out soon," Provodnikov told BoxingScene.com. 

As for the May 2nd mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the Siberian Rocky's Wild Card Training partner Manny Pacquiao, Provodnikov simply said, " I will be rooting for Manny."

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter