Ruslan "The Siberian Rocky" Provodnikov's loss to Chris Algieri in June was a bigger setback than many expected. In 2013 Provodnikov made a name for himself by nearly knocking out Timothy Bradley, then clubbing Mike Alvarado into submission in his own hometown to take away his WBO junior welterweight title.
Provodnikov seemed set to run over Algieri as well after putting him down twice in Round 1 during their clash at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Algieri recovered though, and outboxed Provodnikov to a split decision victory. Provodnikov lost his belt, and became a less desirable opponent for other big name fighters.
Provodnikov hasn't fought since dropping the Algieri bout, and his manager, Vadim Kornilov, says that a number of name fighters are refusing to step in the ring with him.
"Every opponent that we wanted including Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley, Chris Algieri, Jessie Vargas, Danny Garcia, and numerous others were not going to fight us according to the networks and our promoters," Kornilov said.
Last year Bradley admitted he would prefer not to step in the ring with Provodnikov again, unless it was for a major payday.
"At the time I fought him, I was in a different position than I am now. I'm looking for big fights, and I know this rematch would be a huge fan favorite or whatever," Bradley said in November 2013.
"But they're going to have to pay me a whole lot of money. They're going to have to pay me a whole lot of money to get back in the ring with that animal. That dude is a beast."
In light of the opponents declining to take on Provodnikov, he has a fight scheduled for November 28 against an opponent that's to be determined.
"Since Ruslan has not fought in Russia in over three years, we decided it is the right time for him to go to Moscow so all his fans at home can enjoy one of his fights live, because obviously not all of his Russian fans can get a visa and afford a trip to the U.S.," Kornilov told BoxingScene.com.
"I'm sure that in the beginning of next year Ruslan will be back on HBO in a big fight."
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