19/04/2015
- This fight will have fireworks. It's between two punchers that bring mean intentions with every fight. What's not to like?
- Matthysse has only lost one fight in my mind, but the record books show he has three losses. The one legit loss was against Danny Garcia. His eye was badly swollen and closed. Garcia was fighting dirty the whole fight and has refused a rematch.
- Matthysse isn't just a puncher, although 34 ko's in 36 shows he has serious power, without doubt. He smashed the durable Lamont Peterson into submission in 3 rounds in 2013. His skills are underrated and I believe this will be the difference in the fight.
- Provodnikov is a bull. He is severely lacking in the skill department, but makes up for it with his heart and determination. He seeks and destroys. If he can't get to his opponents chin, he is in serious trouble. He has no jab to speak of.
- There will be moments when these two slug it out, but I feel that Mattysse will rack up the points, give as good as he gets in the mini wars throughout, and take the fight. Provodnikov isn't a one punch ko artist, so he will have to be pretty dominant to score a ko.
- Algieri showed exactly how to beat Provodnikov. Box and move. He had a few sticky moments, to say the least, but got through. As I said, Prov doesn't have one punch ko power, so even if he lands clean, he's unlikely to stop Matthysse. Mattysse out boxed slicksters Judah and Alexander. He has more than enough to do the same here.
- Odds of 1.91 are extremely healthy. I already backed this on my twitter account (@Win2Nil) when it was 1.75.