Ruslan Provodnikov

Childhood

Ruslan Provodnikov was born in 1984 in the village of Berezovo. Only about 7 thousand people live in this small town. Ruslan grew up a rather problematic child and constantly fought with his peers on the street. At the age of 10, his father decided to take him to the boxing section in order to calm his ardor a little and direct his activity in the right direction. Ruslan himself repeatedly recalled that at that time, in the 90s, it was very difficult for his family to fight with him. He tried alcohol, cigarettes early and was even a substance abuser. All his friends led the same lifestyle. In addition, the Guides by nationality Mansi and he were often teased because of their appearance. I had to defend my honor in street battles. Ruslan's parents were constantly called to school because of his behavior and tricks.

Provodnikov's first coach was Evgeny Vakuyev. It was he who taught the boy to love sports and boxing, and also accustomed him to strict discipline, without which it is impossible to conduct classes and trainings. At that time, Ruslan had mixed feelings – after all, he was fighting, and he was praised for it, and he was given gifts at competitions. Provodnikov admits that he was registered in the children's room of the police and if it wasn't for the coach and boxing, then his fate of the ball is predetermined.A good relationship has developed between the boy and the coach, who was able to find an approach to a difficult teenager. But soon the Provodnikov family moved to Izvitinsk, so Stanislav Berezin became Ruslan's new coach.

Early career and professional fights

Ruslan achieved his first victory in 2000. He became a participant in the junior amateur tournament, which was then held in Greece. It was not difficult for him to beat his rivals in points and skill. In 2005 Ruslan got to the Boxing World Cup tournament among oil countries. The competitions were held in Nizhnevartovsk. After a series of victories, he was defeated in the quarterfinals. This fact did not upset him in any way, but on the contrary gave him motivation to strengthen his training.Provodnikov entered professional boxing only in 2006. His first opponent was his compatriot Kirill Artemyev, who, like Ruslan, held his first fight at a higher level. At the end of all rounds, Provodnikov became the unanimous winner. A couple of months later, he was standing in the ring against Dmitry Toropchin. In one of the breaks between rounds, Dmitry simply refused to enter the ring and continue the fight.At the age of 22, Provodnikov changes his coach and Buddy McGirt becomes his new mentor. Together they move to the USA and Ruslan's subsequent fights were already in America. The fighter carried out one fight after another and each of them ended ahead of schedule with his victory already in the first rounds. According to this scenario, 15 fights of the athlete took place.Provodnikov became one of the most successful fighters among professionals. However, like many in Ruslan's career, a period of trials has come. Provodnikov prepared very responsibly for the fight with Mauricio Herrera, but he never won, losing in the 12th round. After analyzing the fight, Ruslan himself saw the reason for the defeat in the gaps in the defense. He drew the right conclusions from what happened and over the following months directed all his efforts to bring the protection technique to perfection.

The loss did not knock Provodnikov out of their usual sports rhythm and soon he was already standing in the ring in his native village of Berezovo. There his opponent was Vyacheslav Yakovenko, who went to the knockout in the third round. Feeling an unprecedented rise in strength and self-confidence, Ruslan flew back to the USA to meet the invincible Mexican boxer Ivan Popoka in a fight. This fight took place in 2011 and lasted only 8 rounds. Provodnikov left the ring the winner.

Soon the boxer met with Demarcus Corley, who previously held the title of world champion. The duel took place in Yekaterinburg and became one of the most difficult for both athletes. The American showed the full level of his preparation for the fight and tried to strike from a distance, not letting Ruslan get very close to him. Towards the end of the confrontation, Provodnikov missed a blow and received a cut near his eye. But having gathered all his will into a fist, Provodnikov was able to defeat his opponent.At the beginning of 2012, Ruslan received the title of international champion in the welterweight category. It happened after the victory over David Torres. And it is during this period that Provodnikov again decides to change the coach. As a new specialist, the boxer chose Freddie Roach for himself. First of all, the new coach set himself the task of preparing an athlete to receive the title of world champion. To do this, Freddie, using his connections, arranged for Provodnikov to go to Manny Pacquiao's training camp.In the same 2012, two more important fights took place in Ruslan's career. The boxer was able to win ahead of schedule over David Torres and Jose Reynoso. This allowed Ruslan to become the WBO champion. Seeing the success of the athlete, Timothy Bradley turned his attention to him. And a year later, both fighters were facing each other in the ring. That evening, the fight lasted 12 rounds. During the fight, Timothy was close to defeat several times, but in the end he left the ring victorious. Provodnikov suffered a lot in that battle. He was taken away from the ring with a dissection of his eye, and a little later his condition worsened and doctors had to be called. He was hospitalized in a clinic, where he was diagnosed with concussion and amnesia.In the fall of 2013 Ruslan fully recovered his health and was able to return to fighting again. After the hospital, Provodnikov met Mike Alvarado in the ring. Rigidity and pressure helped the Russian to win. After the 10th round, the American boxer refused to enter the ring and the victory was awarded to Provodnikov.In the summer of 2014, Ruslan entered the ring against a little-known boxer Chris Algieri. The first rounds of the Conductors were objectively stronger than the opponent, but Chris won more rounds in total. The decision was up to the judges, who, after a long meeting, came to give the victory to Algieri. This result was not expected or deserved, but the judges decided so, and Ruslan did not challenge their choice, although many did not expect such a final.After Ruslan lost his title, he took part in several more fights. In 2015, ot defeated Jesus Rodriguez. And after a while he was defeated in a fight against Lucas Matisse. Moreover, it is worth noting that this particular fight was the most difficult in Ruslan's career.After thinking and analyzing many points of the Guides, I decided to leave the sport for myself, but finally entered the ring against John Molina Jr. That evening, he could not leave the winners' ring and considers his defeat absolutely deserved.

Personal life

All friends and relatives of Provodnikov note the natural modesty and kindness of the boxer. In his interviews, he smiles modestly and with gratitude and trepidation tells the moments of his childhood and life in his native village. In addition, Ruslan is very respectful to his colleagues and has a positive attitude to everyone with whom he entered the ring, regardless of the result.Ruslan is a true connoisseur of Russian poetry, and his favorite authors were Vysotsky and Yesenin. The boxer rarely talks about his personal life, as he does not want excessive publicity in relation to his relatives. But from the few data that the media has, he is an exemplary husband and father. Together with his wife and son, Provodnikov lives in Berezovo, which is located in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.Now Ruslan, though he does not enter the ring, but the sport has not been abandoned and continues daily training, although they are not as long in time as during active sports activity. Provodnikov enjoys life in his beloved village and appreciates the time he spends with his family now. They admit that the days when he got up in the morning and did not know what he would feed his family are long gone and now he can afford to build his day as he wants next to his loved ones.Back in the spring of 2020, he received an offer to return to the ring. While the boxer has not given an exact answer, he himself has not fully decided whether he needs it.

Ruslan works as a deputy of the Duma of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and admits that this work is quite difficult for him personally. Provodnikov is a very conscientious person and sometimes meets with unfair situations that he cannot influence. This moral dissonance is very frustrating for an athlete. One day he gave his car and his wife's car to a developer who could not pay for building materials for a school in the village. At the same time, Ruslan does not regret what he has done and believes that material values do not bring happiness.