By Vadmin Pushkin
Former WBO junior welterweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-5, 18 KOs) is not officially retired, but he's also not thinking about a comeback.
Provodnikov has been pursuing a lot of other ventures. He secured a political position in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (West Siberian region).
The 33 year-old boxer has been out of the ring since losing a twelve round upset decision at the hands of John Molina last June in a Showtime televised main event. That contest was the Showtime televised debut of Provodnikov and it was going to be the start of a long-term pact with the network.
Afterwards, Provodnikov felt that his body needed some time off to recover from the long stint of tough fights throughout his career. The brawler also revealed that he felt mentally exhausted during the fight with Molina and the motivation to go that extra mile was missing.
From 2013 to 2016, Provodnikov had very grueling battles with Molina, Lucas Matthysse, Timothy Bradley, Chris Algieri and Mike Alvarado. He's gone 4-4 in his last eight fights.
"Right now I have a lot of other work, so I've had no time [to dwell on a ring return]. The decision has yet to be made [regarding the future of my career], because who knows ... If there is a fight that's interesting and makes sense, it would be possible [to get back in the ring]. I have never been in it for money, but for the glory in the ring - but it's not my only motivation in life. Right now there are a lot of other interesting things, so I do not want to get hung up on just one thing," Provodnikov told Basil Konov.
Provodnikov's manager, Vadmim Kornilov, stated a few months ago that there is still heavy interest in his fighter, with offers being presented to have him return - but none of the offers have been interesting enough to persuade Provodnikov to fight again.
2023-10-18 22:10:23
