Ruslan Provodnikov called out Juan Manuel Marquez again and challenged him to a showdown for his WBO junior welterweight title later this year.
Provodnikov, who rose to prominence when he snatched the title from Mike Alvarado in October, has been challenging Marquez since winning the welterweight crown, but was quiet about it in the past few weeks.
The Russian champion was in the mix for the next fight of Manny Pacquiao, while Marquez was campaigning for a rematch with Timothy Bradley, who defeated the Mexican via split decision in their showdown in October.
But now that Pacquiao and Bradley decided to have a rematch on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Provodnikov said that Marquez has no other choice but to fight him.
The 30-year-old native of Beryozovo in Russia pointed out that there's no other attractive fight for Marquez, who is planning to fight two more times before hanging up his gloves. Provodnikov said that Marquez is afraid of him if he doesn't agree to face off with him sometime this year.
"Marquez now knows that Bradley is not fighting him until maybe the end of the year, and Marquez is not getting any younger, so I know that the only possible pay-per-view fight for Marquez that will draw is against me, and if he doesn't agree to the fight now I am sure he is just afraid of me," Provodnikov told BoxingScene.
Provodnikov also wanted to face Pacquiao in a showdown in April, but the fast-rising star expressed sigh of relief even if he was not chosen for the Filipino boxing icon's next fight. Provodnikov could have been forced to look for a new trainer had Pacquiao's camp decided to arrange a showdown with him.
"I am very relieved that the fight for Manny is finally finalized. I am glad that in my next fight I will have my trainer Freddie Roach and the rest of my team in my corner that is very, very important to me," the Russian brawler said.
When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming Pacquiao-Bradley rematch, Provodnikov said that it will be a difficult fight for Pacquiao if the former pound-for-pound king will not show aggressiveness and desire to knock his opponent out like he did during his previous bout against Brandon Rios.
"I think that the Pacquiao versus Bradley rematch will be interesting but it might be very similar to their first fight. Unless Manny decides to be more aggressive and take risks, it will be hard for him to defeat Tim Bradley on the scorecards," Provodnikov said.
