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In a recent interview with BoxingScene.com's Chris Robinson, WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin stated that WBO 140-pound king Ruslan Provodnikov had absolutely "no chance" to defeat eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao, who returns on April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Provodnikov is one the two fighters being considered to face Pacquiao on the April date.
EBU cruiserweight champion Grigory Drozd (37-1, 26KOs) of Russia is training in Miami, Florida with Cuban coach Pedro Diaz, who handles super bantamweight king Guillermo Rigondeaux, heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis and previously trained former three division world champion Miguel Cotto. Drozd makes the first defense of his title on March 15th in Moscow against Jeremy Ouanna (14-8, 3KOs). Drozd captured the title in October, when he stopped previously undefeated Mateusz Masternak in eleven rounds on the Klitschko-Povetkin undercard.
WBC cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19KOs) is heading over to the United States to have a two-month training camp. Lebedev is coming off an eleven round knockout loss to Guillermo Jones last May. Negotiations are now ongoing to finalize a date and location for a mandatory rematch with Jones. The fight is being targeted for a date in either March or April.
No decision has been made as to who Manny Pacquiao will face on April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two frontrunners are WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov or WBO welterweight king Timothy Bradley. According to Provodnikov's manager, they have no problem at all if Pacquiao selects a rematch with Bradley. Provodnikov's preferred fight is a showdown with Mexican star Juan Manuel Marquez. But, Marquez is pushing for a rematch with Bradley.
WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16KOs) says the "Fight of The Year" twelve round decision loss to WBO 147-pound king Timothy Bradley, which took place in March 2013, was the moment that generated the most joy in his career - not the fight that followed, in October 2013, where he stopped Mike Alvarado to captured his current title.
Former heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (26-1, 18KOs) is being pursued by Russian businessman and promoter Andrei Ryabinsky. Povetkin's promotional contract with Sauerland Event expired on December 31. The Olympic gold medal winner was last seen in action on October 5th in Moscow, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko.
Vadim Kornilov, manager of WBO junior welterweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov, says Juan Manuel Marquez is still their first option for 2014. But if they can't reach an agreement with Marquez, then a fight with Manny Pacquiao is very likely for April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. While initially against the fight, Provodnikov (23-2, 16KOs) changed his mind about facing Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38KOs). Initially he rejected the opportunity, because the two boxers are friendly, have sparred several times in the past and are both trained by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach. Provodnikov will be forced to hire a new trainer if a Pacquiao deal is made.
Russian promoter Vladimir "красивый" Hryunov plans to have a meeting next month with UFC President Dana White to discuss the possibility of a cross-sports fight between 44-year-old former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. (57-8, 40KOs) and 30-year-old former MMA champion Nick Diaz (26-9). Jones was looking to face former UFC champion Anderson Silva (33-6 in MMA, 16-2 in the UFC). And Hryunov was focused to stage the fight in Moscow, Russia as the main event of a huge UFC event.
Russian businessman Andrey Ryabinsky, representing WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebdev, is shocked that he hasn't been able to close a deal for the rematch with Guillermo Jones, after offering $800,000 to Jones' promoter Don King. The purse bid has already been pushed back to January 6th, and the promoters plan to ask for an additional extension to January 26th.
According to Russian promoter Vladimir "красивый" Hryunov, former two division champion Ricardo Mayorga (29-8-1, 23KOs) wants him to handle his career. After a stint in MMA, Mayorga is ready to return to the sport of boxing, but he's been inactive since 2011. Hryunov wants to match him against undefeated middleweight prospect Dmitry Chudinov (12-0-2, 8KOs), who holds the WBA's International title at 160, but Mayorga falls short of the requirements for a title fight under the rules of the World Boxing Association.