Ruslan Provodnikov vs Chris Algieri Weigh-In
Photos by Jason Costa for Hit First
by Sarah Deming
What got me out of bed and over to the Barclays Center for Friday’s weigh-in was the image of Ruslan Provodnikov in dinosaur Underoos. Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KOs) will defend his junior welterweight title against Chris Algieri (19-0, 8 KOs) in the main event of Saturday’s HBO card, and although most boxing writers have cast him as some kind of Siberian missing link, I still think he’s smarter than the average bear.
Ruslan recites Russian poetry during his ring walk, eschews materialism, and says he grew up sniffing glue. Even if his pull quotes are tweaked in translation, they still beat anything Chris Algieri says. [[MORE]]
Algieri, who is a clinical nutritionist, came in at 140 even.
“Ripped!” yelled his Long Island minions.
Ruslan was less cut and more solid at 139.8. When he let out a primal scream, his two Russian aunties in technicolor robes giggled behind ringed hands.
In the brief stare-down, Ruslan suddenly clasped Algieri’s hand, then reached up to ruffle his hair in a frank display of dominance that I was surprised Algieri tolerated. This might be Saturday’s fight in compressed form.
The co-feature opponent Brian Rose (25-1-1, 7 KOs) weighed 153.4 pounds and wore silky purple briefs of questionable taste: He is British.
Slick Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade of Providence came in at 153.8 for this first defense of his light middleweight world title. This stare-down had more vim, the two tall young men elbowing each other, then grinning as they locked eyes until forced apart.
Of special note on the undercard is Heather “The Heat” Hardy’s eight-rounder against Jackie Trivilino, the first women’s professional bout contested at the Barclays Center. May there be many more!
Hardy (9-0, 2 KOs) has steadily improved both her boxing and marketing skills, fully aware that she functions as a test case for the financial viability of her sport. Normally she sells $10,000 in tickets; for this show, she sold nearly three times that.
Hardy tipped the scales at 122.4 pounds in pink and purple underwear and glitter eye shadow.
“Look like a girl, fight like a boy,” she said.
Veteran contender Jackie Trivilino (9-7-3, 1 KO) of upstate New York works as a electrician with Local 910 and had the word “HARDCORE” tattooed across her lower abs. She weighed 119.8 pounds, surprisingly light given that Hardy told me the fight was to have been for a super bantam belt until Trivilino’s people demanded an extra pound of weight allowance.
Trivilino’s trainer Rick Sweeney said, “We asked for another five hundred dollars to make it a title fight, but they said it wasn’t in the budget.” Trivilino will make $3,000 on Saturday.
The two women stood far back from each other in the face off. Jackie Trivilino was much prettier than my Google stalking indicated. It was a waif-like, androgynous beauty that set off Heather’s blonde bombshell look.
After a moment, Heather leaned in and said, “I’m so bad at this.”
Trivilino recoiled, looking angry. “What?”
“I’m bad at staredowns,” Heather repeated.
Trivilino laughed. “I am, too,” she said.