Can The Challengers Succeed Tonight At Barclays’ Center?

ByRichard Eberline

Two world titles are on the line tonight at Brooklyn’s Barclays’ Center with two two challengers stepping way up to world class for the first time.

Can the aspiring pair make the jump successfully?

WBO light welter champ Ruslan Provodnikov, 23-2 (16), meets local ticket seller Chris Algieri, 19-0 (8), in a genuine boxer vs. puncher matchup.

Provodnikov has proven himself to be a legitimate top class light welter over the last year, absolutely battering Timothy Bradley in a failed WBO welter title bid that he somehow was judged to have lost before halting Mike Alvarado in October for the WBO 140 lb belt.

Algieri has not yet had the chance to do the same, having been handled by his backers with kid gloves and now must make a massive leap to face Provodnikov without every having been placed in an intermediate level bout.

Which is not to say that Algieri can’t successfully navigate the passage to world level but if his climb is unsuccessful and he is rudley received by Provodnikov, the Long Island man may never be the same fighter again.

If Algieri proves to be a master boxer, he’ll lift the WBO belt but that’s what it will take for him to turn back Provodnikov.

Brian Rose, 25-1-1 (7), is also untested at top level, but has had to come back from being KO’d at domestic level in his native England, and that could help him in his bid to unseat WBO light middle champ Demetrius Andrade, 20-0-0 (13).

For a world champion, Andrade is pretty green himself, having the same backers as Algieri, with the same effect, having defeated fellow prospect Vanes Martirosyan controversially in November for the title.

Southpaw Andrade probably has too much skill for former British champ Rose but the American’s defense isn’t all that great and if the challenger can slip the jab and power shots on the way in, he’ll have Andrade on the move and fighting off the back foot.

If Rose can hold a shot and outwork Andrade, he’ll probably land enough shots to win this but if he stays on the outside and gets caught by the quicker champion, Rose has no chance here.