Provodnikov willing to fight Bradley again on Timothy’s Terms

06/28/201406/26/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Both Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov have suffered losses in their last fights.

Bradley wasn’t able to solidify his first victory against Manny Pacquiao which he claimed in June of 2012, and lost the rematch in April of this year via UD.

Provodnikov, who was considered a possible next opponent for Manny Pacquiao, lost that opportunity by losing his last fight to Chris Algieri via SD.

Now that both Bradley and Provodnikov are looking to reclaim their momentum, what could possibly be a better way than to offer the boxing fans a rematch between the two of them? After all, their first fight, which Bradley had won, was impressive and highly entertaining; with part of the boxing community still suggesting that Provodnikov should have been announced the winner that night.

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Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney are fighting on the same night and same card in Riga, Latvia

06/18/201406/16/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

The term ‘crowd effect’ is a very powerful thing, and it has been for centuries. Anyone who spent their lives under constant spotlight, being the target of praise, popularity, fame and of course colossal earnings, will never want to live without it. Just as there are physical withdrawals from drugs, there is an equal amount of psychological withdrawal from lack of constant attention.

There comes a time for every fighter, when there more boxing fans suggesting retirement, than clamoring for the next fight. Of course it is much easier to suggest, then to do. For Roy Jones Jr., this has been the case for a considerable amount of time now. Jones has not faced a highly rated opponent since 2011, when he was knocked out by Denis Lebedev in Russia. Since then Jones was able to accumulate three victories against less known competition, and is planning on keeping his boxing career afloat.

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Freddie Roach changes his mind, would be in Pacquiao’s corner in Pacquiao vs. Provodnikov

06/15/201406/14/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

It was just last week that Freddie Roach was quoted saying that he would not participate or help in any way if Manny Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov ended up facing each other. Roach suggested that in such an event, he would watch the fight on TV from home.

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Miguel Cotto gifts boxing fans a thrilling future

06/10/201406/09/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Sometimes boxing hands its fans surprises, outcomes that open doors to more exhilarating fights, and this is something that every boxing fan can appreciate and treasure. There are too many people out there, claiming that boxing is a lost sport, bringing less entertainment and claiming a miniscule number of new fans. While sometimes even I start believing such rumors, its fights like Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez that change my mind, bringing my thought back to where they belong: appreciating the sport and seeing it flourish.

Weeks leading up to the fight, it was clear that the majority of boxing community expected Sergio Martinez to win the fight. Why? Some claimed that he was simply a fresher fighter, with better footwork and ring generalship. Truth be told, I was one of those people. Rummaging through various forums, I found that loads of boxing fans wholeheartedly believed that Cotto was simply too old and had been through too many wars. Some suggested that he was now devoting too much time to the business aspect of his career, and that maybe it would be wise for Miguel to hang up the gloves and dive into his promotional endeavors.

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Cotto vs. Martinez: Will Martinez float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?

06/07/201406/06/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

When a fight like Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez is right around the corner, boxing fans brace themselves for not only a tremendous fight, but a bloody war as well.

Both fighters are thrilling, both have a burning desire for victory, and both are willing to fight each other’s fight. Having said that, there are some clear stylistic and strategic differences in both men, and I believe that it will be the style of boxing that will win this fight for Sergio Martinez.

While we all know Cotto to be an extraordinary warrior with a heart unmatched my most, he is still the type of boxer that requires there to be a brawl, or at least a few power exchanges now and then. Don’t get me wrong, he is as experienced and smart as any, but his hunger and aggression often belittles everything else.

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Freddie Roach would watch Pacquiao vs. Provodnikov on TV from home

05/29/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

It is no secret that most, if not all boxing trainers would prefer not have their fighters face each other. Aside from having the difficulty of choosing which one to train, it is a mental burden knowing that you could have potentially ended one of your own client’s careers.

The idea of Ruslan Provodnikov vs. Manny Pacquiao has been slowly gaining ground, although no official talks ever taken place. Still, the two explosive styles would most certainly make a crowd friendly event. It would most likely turn out to be a non-stop action from bell to bell, with one of the fighters probably leaving the arena with a KO loss on their record.

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Bernd Boente suggests Klitschko vs. Stiverne for the sake of history

05/28/201405/27/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

For the heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, finding a formidable foe which not only fits contractual parameters but pleases the fans as well is no easy task.

While Wladimir steps inside the ring on a regular basis, his opposition is not always as exciting and competitive as we would like.

Lately, boxing fans have been asking for Klitschko vs. Kubrat Pulev, and while there have been some rumors surrounding the possibility of this fight happening, it seems as though team Klitschko would rather face Bermane Stiverne.

“The only reason that Wladimir wants to face Stiverne instead of Pulev, is because he wants to make history.

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Wladimir Klitschko’s Business and Opponent Approach Compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s

05/06/201405/06/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

When it comes to making money, it seems like there is simply no parallel to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Whether it’s a guaranteed paycheck, record PPV numbers, or his ability to run Mayweather Promotions, Floyd is a genius when it comes to raking up dozens of millions of dollars thanks to his self promotion and boxing talent.

There have been countless debates about who else compares to Mayweather Jr. in that department. Some have suggested that Manny Pacquiao is a good rival when it comes to cashing in, but after looking at the numbers, this is simply not true. If not Pacquaio, than who?

According to James Ali Bashir, Wladimir Klitschko’s co-trainer, Wladimir and Floyd are very similar in their approach to the financial process of their fights.

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Mayweather Jr. vs. Maidana: Did Floyd really gift Maidana and the fans the toe-to-toe action?

05/05/201405/04/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

It’s no secret that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a virtuoso when it comes to moving, defending, and making his opponent look inadequate. Sure he fights word class champions, and many of them are truly deserving of that opportunity, but aside from Castillo way back in the day, there has not been a challenger that made Floyd work harder than a routine sparring session.

Yesterday, Marcos Maidana did just that. Forget the fact that he came out swinging and did not run of ouf gas until the last second of the last round, and forget his stunning ability to walk through and keep pressing no matter what he himself gets hit with, in his fight against Mayweather Jr. what surprised me, was just how indifferent he looked and performed when facing someone as elusive as Mayweather Jr.

Talking before the fight is one thing, and even trying to persuade the people watching the fight by showing off, sticking out one’s tongue, or even in some cases humping their opponent in the ring, but when it comes to making Mayweather look vulnerable, everyone failed without any glimpse of hope.

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Marcos Maidana: “I think I can knock him out, but I also think I can beat him by decision”

05/01/201405/01/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

When it comes to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his opponents, we have learned over the years that their promises are simply meaningless. Not to say that Floyd’s rivals don’t believe their predictions and guarantees, as a matter of fact, most wholeheartedly do.

The difficulty in persuading the boxing community when facing Mayweather Jr., is that over the years, we have heard the entire spectrum of combinations of pledges, and none of them crossed the necessary threshold to make the boxing fans consider that despite coming up short, they almost did it.

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