Lucas “La Máquina” Matthysse vs. Ruslan Provodnikov: The Slugfest of the Year? By M.DeTyrone

Lucas “La Máquina” Matthysse vs. Ruslan Provodnikov: The Slugfest of the Year?

By M.DeTyrone

This one of those fights in which the winner will in all probability obtains a pyrrhic victory if it doesn’t end quickly. Lucas “La Máquina” Matthysse 36-3 (34KO) is one of the most brutal one punch KO artists in boxing and Ruslan Provodnikov 24-3 (17KO) is one of the most fearless power bruisers in boxing today. This fight is a casual boxing fans wet dream and those boxing fans that enjoy KOs.

At one time Lucas Matthysse aka “The Machine” was one of the most hyped boxer in the business with the boxing media fully behind him and crowing him the best Jr. Middleweight in the world not so long ago. However, been dropped 3 times in his last three fights and most recently won a controversial TKO victory due to the stupidity of a referee. Ruslan most recent defeats were against the pure-boxer Chris Algieri and Timothy Bradley, and his most recent win was against an old faded Castillo in Russia. One thought-provoking comment that came out of that fight was Castillo’s comment that Ruslan was not the hardest puncher he’s ever faced.

Matthysse in his last 6 fights has a record of 5-1 (5KO) vs. opposition of a combined record of 164-6-3.

Ruslan in his last 6 fights has a record of 4-2 (4KO) vs. opposition of a combined record of 185-18-4.

Matthysse scores 91% of his 34 KOs within the 1^st 6 rounds and 9% of his 34KOs after the 6^th round.

Ruslan scores 76.5% of his 17 KOs within the 1^st 6 rounds and 23.5% of his 17 KOs after the 6^th round.

The rounds to look out for…

Round 1: Matthysse has scored 29% of his 34 KO’s.

Round 2: Matthysse has scored 26% of his 34 KO’s.

Round 4: Matthysse has scored 18% of his 34 KO’s.

However it must be noted that many of Matthysse’s KO have been in Argentina vs. subpar opposition.  Will Ruslan break down the Machine and win via a late KO? Or will the Machine quickly KO Ruslan? I reserve giving any sort of prediction about this fight.  If this fight goes past the 6^th round both have equally chances of knocking the other out it will depend on a slower Ruslan’s ability to withstand the quick counters of Matthysse and the power which he delivers with each punch. There’s no quit in Ruslan and if he succeeds to systematically beat down Matthysse who has been dropped 3 times in his last 3 fight this could end up being an exciting fight. I don’t believe that this fight goes past the 8^th round. A very hard fight to pick a victory but the winners will be the casual fans and those which enjoy KO’s.