Huntington, LI, native Chris Algieri understands just about everyone expects him to take a beating Saturday night at Barclays Center when he challenges hard-punching Ruslan Provodnikov on HBO for his WBO junior welterweight title.
Undefeated WBO junior middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade of Providence, RI, makes his first title defense against Brian Rose of England in the co-feature. Seanie “Irish” Monaghan of Long Beach, LI, and Heather “The Heat” Hardy of Brooklyn are also on the card.
Algieri earned his shot at a title with an undefeated record of 19-0 with eight knockouts. But Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KOs) has become a quick fan favorite because of his Rocky Balboa-style of boxing. His slugfest with Tim Bradley was the Boxing Writers’ Fight of the Year in 2013 and the Russian captured his title by destroying Mike Alvarado in nine rounds last October.
Algieri is known as more of a boxer without much power and is a huge underdog. But that hasn’t shaken his confidence.
“We’ve got to go out there and be a master boxer,” Algieri said. “This is a boxing match. It’s not a barroom brawl. So, I’ve got to go out there and use my skills.”
It’s a huge fight for Provodnikov. Along with being his first title defense, it’s his first as the marquee fighter, carrying the promotion. A victory also would put him the conversation for a fight with Manny Pacquiao.
“Definitely it’s a big responsibility for me,” Provodnikov said. “Most importantly because now I’m a world champion and I’m defending my title, I have to fight like a world champion.”
Algieri is a former kick-boxing champion, and also holds a bachelor’s degree in healthcare science from Stony Brook and a Masters from the New York Institute of Technology. He’s a clinical nutritionist who works with private clients, but says boxing is his passion.
“Yes, I’ve got options with my degree,” he said. “I don’t have to fight, but I don’t think that should be a factor in wanting to win any less. I’ve wanted to be a world champion since I started boxing and I want to win just as badly as Ruslan does.”
Provodnikov’s Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach, insists he and his fighter aren’t taking Algieri lightly.
“We definitely have to pressure him and cut the ring off and control the ring,” Roach said. “Chris is a very good boxer with long arms. And we have to break him down and get inside early, set traps and we need to really control the ring. That’s what we’ve been working on quite a bit. Ruslan’s getting very good at controlling the ring and keeping himself in the best spot. So, I think that’s the big key to the fight is who’s going control the ring.”
Roach is well aware that should Provodnikov win, he could be matched against Pacquiao in the near future, forcing Roach to choose which fighter he would train. No doubt it would be Pacquiao, but Roach has invested a lot of time in Provodnikov since he showed up at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
“Manny is my number one guy,” Roach said. “But Ruslan’s very close to me, and Ruslan’s been a very hard worker. But the demand is getting closer and closer, so with the win here it could happen. Manny is running out of opponents right now.”
First Provodnikov must get past Algieri.
“We know what he’s going to do,” Provodnikov said.
“They all try to box me and they try to move and jab. But I’m going to follow my plan and break him down from a distance, from up close and from anywhere.”