The Russian boxer Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KO) and his promoter Artie Pellulo signed a multi-year deal with Showtime that will begin when he faces John Molina Jr. (28-6, 23 KO) on June 6th at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.
Provodnikov mentioned that he is very happy that his career is finally going to move forward so that he can have more frequent fights and not be inactive for as long.
"I have been waiting a long time to get back in the ring and give my fans another fight. The opportunity has finally arrived and I appreciate that Showtime sees me as a future star on their network, I won't let them down."
Showtime Sports General Manager Stephen Espinoza is very excited to see Provodnikov fight because his fight falls on the same weekend as the International Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony.
"We are very excited for Provodnikov's debut on the Boxing Hall of Fame weekend. It's going to be a great fight. I hope there will be a lot of fireworks."
Pellulo mentioned to HBO that they were the previous network that broadcasted the Russian boxer's previous fights. And he hopes that Showtime will give him several fights.
"HBO actually had nothing for Provodnikov and Showtime was interested. We talked about many things with Peter Nelson (HBO's executive vice president) and he had nothing for us. He told us more than once, 'Where will you go?'"
On the other hand, Vadim Kornilov (Provodnikov's manager) said that his pupil wants to fight in the United States again and that he deserves to be fighting on live television because he always delivers good fights.
"It's a great opportunity for us. Ruslan always becomes a contender for fight of the year whenever he fights. I believe the fans have been waiting a long time to see Ruslan back in the ring in the United States and he is also desperate to fight in the United States again.
"Showtime made a great move in the business by deciding to give Ruslan a chance to come back and give the fans a war like they haven't seen in a long time."
source:boxingscene.com