Official Matthysse vs Provodnikov Fight Thread

[Tom Cruise]

Just caught up with this fight.

Man oh man. Good fun fight.

I'm not convinced by Lucas on the back foot, he was serviceable and it was a great strategy for this fight, but it definitely doesnt look natural. A lot of the big shots he caught caught with were when he was on the outside, in the pocket where he is comfortable his defence was on point.

HBO's coverage was annoying. They tried so hard to make it seem like a razor close fight. Lederman will literally give rounds to whoever is moving forwards sometimes.

[-=Shade=-]

i can't fucking believe you? a headbutt? did you see matthysse 3 punch combinations banging ruslan's head from one place to another? lol

To be fair they have the butt clearly on replay so there's no debate there.

If this makes any sense, I think it was a 10-8 fight for Matthysse, but I scored it only 7-5 for him. Though a draw or even 8-4 are 'sane' scores as well, IMHO. The rounds Matthysse won he tended to win wide. For what it's worth, I though Provo would get a KO by luring Matthysse into a war-- I was wrong, but the fight was great.

[KRITKL]

Just watched the fight. Lucas did what he needed for the win, Ruslan just can't deal with movement, but his chin is solid.

[Dean_Razorback]

To be fair they have the butt clearly on replay so there's no debate there.

If this makes any sense, I think it was a 10-8 fight for Matthysse, but I scored it only 7-5 for him. Though a draw or even 8-4 are 'sane' scores as well, IMHO. The rounds Matthysse won he tended to win wide. For what it's worth, I though Provo would get a KO by luring Matthysse into a war-- I was wrong, but the fight was great.

i just saw the headbutt, they didn't put show the replay here (argentina), i'm watching the hbo broadcast right now. lucas beat ruslan really bad in the sixth, no 140 pounder would have survived that round with lucas.

[Weebler I]

I'm not convinced by Lucas on the back foot, he was serviceable and it was a great strategy for this fight, but it definitely doesnt look natural.

Agreed, he pulled it off but it definitely doesn't look natural for him. Fortunately for him, Ruslan is probably the only fighter he will ever have to go backwards against.

[IR0NFIST]

Were it not for the headbutt in round three I believe Ruslan could have edged enough rounds to win the fight, that cut definitely threw his game off, but he did have a mean left hook going for him. Both guys displayed immeasurable heart and granite chins, Lucas's corner kept advising him not to exchange and I don't blame them, he was getting hit repeatedly with left hooks and even buckled at one point, but he stuck to the game plan and it won him the fight.

Despite fighting through a cut, Ruslan still managed to take a lot out of Lucas, he walked through hell to get to where he was in the last two rounds. Seeing him eat a 4-piece, nod, and just reset was unreal, I wouldn't be surprised if he tested positive for adamantium, the guy is not human.

With that being said, I scored the fight 7-5, 116-112 for Lucas with two rounds going either way.

[joesaiditstrue]

Just caught up with this fight.

Man oh man. Good fun fight.

I'm not convinced by Lucas on the back foot, he was serviceable and it was a great strategy for this fight, but it definitely doesnt look natural. A lot of the big shots he caught caught with were when he was on the outside, in the pocket where he is comfortable his defence was on point.

HBO's coverage was annoying. They tried so hard to make it seem like a razor close fight. Lederman will literally give rounds to whoever is moving forwards sometimes.

disagree. i thought lucas boxed beautifully while moving, it looked natural to me. he boxed the right way, compare it to what peterson did and why he lost the fight to danny.

[Weebler I]

disagree. i thought lucas boxed beautifully while moving, it looked natural to me. he boxed the right way, compare it to what peterson did and why he lost the fight to danny.

any word on Matthysse's hand? broken or not?

[jas]

Nah. Not even a little.

You were wrong again, what's new. Quoting yourself. Hilarious.

War Jas!!

Lol so what . a lot of what I said actually came true

At least I broke the fight down

Ruslan didn't jab, body punch or move his head doe

Ruslan can be outboxed

But I don't think even Lucas can outfight him

I say his chin and relentlessness see him to a stoppage victory

Lucas will be the favourite going into the fight though

Ruslan has a better chin

So I pick Ruslan in a fight where Lucas is told to box by his trainers but he'll eventually trade with Ruslan and Ruslan is the better brawler

Lucas does have better skills and shorter punches

I'm thinking Ruslan stops him late

Gets to him. Lucas won't be able to help himself but to get involved in a brawl.

Ruslan is tougher. Yes Lucas is tough as nails too but I'm telling you man, Provo is mentally demented /twisted. He wil get hit by Lucas and smile and keep coming. That's what I invisage. Lucas doesn't react as well when he takes a big shot.
And Ruslan not being able to get to algeiri doesn't have anything to do with winning a brawl



Ruslan almost KO'ed Bradley late and stopped Alvarado late. He didn't fade vs Alvarado. He started getting to him more and more. Yea his face swells up but Lucas does mark up too

I'm excited.

Ruslan by ko

Lucas was going life and death with Molina for goodness sakes

I truly believe Danny and Lucas took a part of each other

Ruslan by ko. He'll get to him.

Ruslan does punch very hard. And if he uses a jab for once and goes to the body then I don't see anything other than a Ruslan victory.

Ruslan hasn't faced big punchers but I would hazard a guess that he has a helluva chin and is more durable than Lucas

Ruslan has gassed in fights so I'm presuming he's gonna pace himself in this one.

I envisage a slower start And then they will both start to exchange middle rounds and i see a late stoppage for Ruslan

Lucas didn't look good to me At the weigh in and apparently Ruslan had an amazing camp

how do you figure that? based on herrera, bradley, and algieri being murderous punchers?

lucas has proven he has one of the best chins in the division against harder hitting opponents. provo's chin is still up for debate.

Look at my last post

My heart and soul tells me so as does my mind

It shall be proved tonight

I'm sorry but Ruslan is the tougher guy

They are both tough but Ruslan toughness is off the richter scale

Let's not forget , Lucas was thinking of retiring after Danny fight

He's tough. He fought a lot of that fight with one eye and still almost won

But Ruslan is crazy tough. He's a rare breed.

watch ruslan use his jab for once

and pace himself early

[Tom Cruise]

disagree. i thought lucas boxed beautifully while moving, it looked natural to me. he boxed the right way, compare it to what peterson did and why he lost the fight to danny.

I dunno man i think it all looked awkward to me. He still delivered punches well because he is a great puncher and Provo has no defence. But when he was throwing he was very open to being countered. I might gif some of the moments im talking about later. I thought Provodnikov looked confused as to what to do even on the inside where people thought LM would get bullied. I just think Matthysse is a better fighter all round tbh.

Like I say i think it was fine for this fight becuase it pretty much stopped Provodnikov doing what he wanted to do for the majority of the rounds. Against anyone else I hope he still uses his old style. I dont see Crawford or Herrera for example finding it difficult to fight Matthysse when hes on the backfoot.