"Ruslan is a great fighter and a great champion. It's a real honor to be in there with him. I have seen him fight before. I'm actually a fan of watching Ruslan fight. He's a pressure fighter. He comes forward. He's super tough, very durable. He's a good strong puncher and he maintains his pressure throughout the bout. He moves his head when he needs to and crosses the line and he closes the distance very well. Those are the things that my team has been studying to work on," stated undefeated jr. welterweight Chris Algieri, who shared his thoughts on WBO jr. welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov during a recent conference to promote their upcoming June 14 clash at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"Just based on past fights, there is a weakness with dealing with a jab and a boxer and movement, but really those are the things that we've been trying to work most on. But, at the end of the day it's a fight. Ruslan is going to press the action. I'm going o have to stand and fight at times. So, we'll be ready for that as well," Algieri explained. "I think I've fought a couple of guys who were pressure fighters and big punchers. My last opponent Emanuel Taylor was a very, very well-known knockout puncher. He had one-punch power. He also threw a lot of very tight short punches. I fought a fighter, a Puerto Rican fighter, Jose Peralta, who is a shorter, stockier pressure aggressive guy as well. So, I feel like I've dealt with similar, but not quite like Ruslan-type fighters in the past."
Algieri added, "We've got to go out there and be a master boxer. This is a boxing match. It's not a barroom brawl. So, I've got to go out there and use my skills. And as much as Ruslan is a come forward and pressure fighter, it takes a certain amount of skills. And I know him and his team have been working on -- I'm sure working on more boxing skills and trying to work their game plan. So, it's not just a fight. This is a boxing match. And we're both going to go out there with our strategies. And, you know, a big part of mine is going to be trying to be a master boxer."
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