If Ruslan Provodnikov is, as he calls himself, "The Siberian Rocky," then in Chris Algieri he apparently found his unlikely Clubber Lang. After a breakout 2013 campaign in which he excelled in the underdog role and emerged as one of boxing's most in-demand fighters, Provodnikov found himself heading into his first fight of 2014 in the unfamiliar role of betting favorite and television star. Perhaps those designations didn't agree with him, or maybe Algieri, though wholly unproven coming into the fight, is just a better boxer than we might have imagined. At the very least, the Long Island native has a bigger heart than anyone could have known, rallying back from two first-round knockdowns and a grotesquely swollen eye to win a shocking split decision in front of 6,218 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
