In front of a huge crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, “The Pride of Huntington, New York” Chris Algieri shined in a twelve round split decision over WBO Junior Welterweight titleholder Ruslan Provodnikov. In the televised co-feature WBO Junior Middleweight titleholder Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade was dominant in his first title defense, stopping mandatory contender Brian ‘The Lion” Rose of England at the 1:19 mark of the seventh round.
Now 20-0 with eight knockouts, Algieri talked on Sunday about the fight. “Ruslan’s whole plan was to run right through me, after the first round I just boxed smartly and stuck to my game plan. I get the sense he didn’t have a plan B me.”
“I took the knee in the first just to check on my eye and although he did crack me in the ribs while I was down I think it was inadvertent. It was never a dirty fight, no low blows or anything.”
Despite being knocked down in the first and also taking a knee in the same stanza, Algieri boxed beautifully throughout the duration of the fight winning a split decision by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 109-117.
About giving Ruslan a rematch if requested and his future plans, Algieri stated, “He didn’t want to fight me in the first place, I doubt he’d want a second fight. Bob Arum had mentioned he’d like to promote a fight between Manny Pacquiao and myself. I’m ready to go straight into that fight for the fall.”
“These last couple of years I’ve move exponentially to the right fights, last night was a continuation of that and going forward that’s the plan I want to keep.”
“It was one of the biggest nights in Star Boxing’s 22 years. We knew Chris was in a very tough fight against Ruslan who is one of the sport’s most aggressive, hard hitting fighters,” said DeGuardia. “But Chris and I accepted the fight right when it was offered because we knew Chris had the skill set, as he showed last night to defeat Provodnikov and win the world title.”
“And Demetrius truly defended his title in style. He rose to the occasion and showed the world why he’s the best junior middleweight in the world. No hesitation whatsoever, he will fight anyone next at 154.”
Making the first defense of his world title earned by defeating Vanes Martirosyan in November, Andrade improved to 21-0 with 14KO’s by dropping Rose hard in the first and third rounds. Relentlessly keeping the pressure on and scoring at will, Andrade earned the stoppage when Rose’s corner smartly threw in the towel.
