In the end, Matthysse, the tough and gritty former champion hailing from Argentina, was declared the victor of the bloody battle at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino. Matthysse edged out his Russian counterpart via a majority decision. Judges John McKaie and Glen Feldman overruled Don Ackerman’s scorecard of 114-114 (draw) by scores of 115-113 (7 rounds to 5) twice. Maxboxing.com saw it the same as McKaie and Feldman. Although the fight was close numerically, Matthysse was able to distance himself from his gutsy foe, distinguishing himself as the superior fighter technically.

“He [Matthysse] was the better man tonight. He is the hardest puncher I have ever faced,” Provodnikov said, now 24-4, (17). “I wanted to win the fight no matter what. I just fight to the end, every time I come to the ring. I tell my trainer never to stop the fight.”

Provodnikov’s chief second, Marvin Somodio contemplated calling a halt to the action. Matthysse threw over 1,000 punches in the 12 round affair in which he landed with 327 of them.

“I thought of stopping the fight,” Somodio revealed, who was filling in for head trainer Freddie Roach. “He [Provodnikov] said don’t, I said what’s the point. He said that he would work his way back into the fight. And he did.”

The 32-year-old Matthysse, improved to 37-3, (34), with the victory. In doing so, he demonstrated excellent ring generalship, and executed a great game plan that he adhered to for most of the scrap. Matthysse fired powerful 1-2 combinations (left jab-straight right hands) against the flat-footed and defenseless Provodnikov, who’s threshold for pain is unparalleled to anything that the 4,500 in attendance have ever witnessed, Matthysse included.

“It surprised me how he [Provodnikov] was able to take some of those shots I hit him with,” Matthysse said. “He has the best chin of all the opponents that I have fought before. I was asking myself, how is he taking these shot? How is he not going down? Momentarily, I thought he eventually would. Then I quickly realized that he wasn’t, and that he was going to go out on his shield instead.”

The fight got off to a quick start, immediate spontaneous combustion. Both Matthysse and Provodnikov were on the offensive. Matthysse fired hard and fast shots down the middle, while Provodnikov looked to get on the inside to work the body. In the second frame, both Matthysse and Provodnikov clashed heads, opening a cut over Provodnikov’s left eye. In the middle rounds both fighters exchanged heavy leather in which the pair resembled the rock’em sock’em robot toys of the late 70’s.

As the fight progressed, the 31-year-old Provodnikov appeared to be falling behind on the scorecards by a wide margin, not mentioning that his face was becoming a grotesque mask. Towards the end of the eighth round, Provodnikov mounted a rally strong enough to create a shift in the momentum, that slightly altered the direction in which the fight was originally heading in. Provodnikov swept the 10th, 11th, and 12th round on the judges’ scorecards. The 11th was huge for Provodnikov. Referee Benjy Esteves called for time when the tape on Matthysse's glove became loose. When Esteves called for the action to resume, Provodnikov, making the most his additional 2 minute break, landed a left hook against Matthysse’s dome piece that left him on a wounded knee. Unfortunately for Provodnikov there wasn’t sufficient time for him to finish what he started.

"I feel very happy about this win,” Matthysse said. “This is what I know, Ruslan is one tough fighter. He took everything I threw at him and I respect him so much."

As oppose to touching gloves, the 12th round opened up with both fighters embracing in the middle of the ring. Leading one to believe that they have a huge appreciation for what they have put each other through. But only to close the show with such style and grace.

Provodnikov’s promoter Artie Pelullo indicated to Maxboxing that there was no rematch clause in the contract.

“It was a great fight that lived up to the expectations,” Pellulo said. “The outcome of the fight was determined by a single point. I thought Ruslan won, HBO had it a draw, and the judges had Matthysse winning by a point. I don’t have a problem with that. It was a very close fight. Let’s do it again. Wouldn’t you want to see that again?”

It didn’t seem that Oscar De La Hoya and the rest of the staff at Golden Boy Promotions was interested. Even with Pelullo going as far as offering $10,000,000.00 and televising it on pay-per-view.

"I said before the fight that Lucas deserves the big names, like Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao next," De La Hoya said at the post-fight press conference. "Right now, we will explore our options, see what we can do. But with all due respect to Provodnikov, we aren’t doing a rematch.

"I'm ready to take on the next great fighter,” said Matthysse. “I am ready to take on the winner of [Floyd] Mayweather- [Manny] Pacquiao."

If you follow boxing, you know very well that this scenario is highly unlikely. Especially if Mayweather wins, Matthysse doesn’t bring enough to the table financially, in order to qualify for Mayweather’s farewell fight. However, Top Rank and GBP may have set us up for a potential showdown in the not too distant future between Matthysse and 2014’s fighter of the year Terence Crawford. This past Saturday, Crawford stopped Puerto Rican contender Thomas Dulorme in the sixth round of a decent scrap. In the opening bout of the HBO split-site broadcast from Arlington, Texas, Crawford captured a vacant junior welterweight title.

Off-Television Results

Patrick Teixeira, 25-0, (21) of Santa Catarina, Brazil faced off against Accra, Georgia's Patrick Allotey 30-2, (24) in a scheduled 10-round middleweight bout. Both fighters came at each other aggressively in the first round, they exchanged hard punches. Teixeira put an end to the fight in the second frame, when he delivered a devastating body blow to Allotey's. Allotey was down for the count of 10.

"I am very happy and feel emotional about my first fight with Golden Boy Promotions," Teixeira said. "I wanted to make sure I impressed them in my first fight, so I trained very hard to make sure I went the full 10 rounds. But I am very excited I got the knockout."

Teixeira isn’t related to New York Yankee first baseman Mark.

Vitaly Kopylenko, 25-1, (14) won an eight round unanimous decision over Lekan Byfield, 6-8-2, (1) in a middleweight contest. Kopylenko knocked down Byfield twice on punches that staggered the Atlanta native onto the ropes. Kopylenko cruised down the stretch of the fight to win by a wide margin of points. The scorecards read 79-72 across the board.

"I hurt my shoulder in the first round, but I was able to gut it out and land some good shots," Kopylenko said.

Washington, D.C native and prospect, Lamont Roach Jr., 7-0, (3) faced Jose Miguel Castro, 4-3, (2) of Carolina, Puerto Rico in a scheduled six-round bout in the lightweight division. Roach dominated the fight early, en route to winning a unanimous decision.

"It was my first six-rounder,” Roach Jr., said. "I think that I could have knocked him down or made him quit if I would have hit him harder in the beginning. But I trained for six rounds, and wanted to make sure that I could go the distance. I did want the knockout towards the end, but I didn't get it."

Lightweight Vitor Jones De Oliveira, 9-0, (5) won a six round unanimous decision over Guillermo Sanchez 15-14-1, (6). De Oliveira boxed well from the outside and countered the southpaw Sanchez effectively. The scorecards read 59-55 and 58-56 twice.

"It was a good fight. It took me a few rounds to get going but I am very happy with my performance and looking forward to my next fight," De Oliveira said.

Eddie Gomez 18-1, (11) of the “Boogie-Down” Bronx earned a TKO victory over Jonathan Batista 14-6, (7) of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Batista failed to answer the bell indicating the start of the 6th, in their scheduled 10-round fight in the junior middleweight division.

"I feel good, I'm satisfied with the win, but I wanted to show more," Gomez said. "I was just getting warmed up, showing my boxing and foot work skills, to prove I am ready for the 12-round championship fights."

Sidney McCow, 3-2, (2) scored a TKO1 over Paulo Souza. McCow of Manhattan, NYC, pummeled Souza, forcing the referee to call a halt to the bout at the 2:55 of the same round. Souza of Somerville, Massachusetts dropped to 0-8.

Jay Gon’s Ringside Tidbits

• The Turning Stone Resort and Casino has officially become a major player in the world of marquee venues. You can expect to see a lot more fights at this particular site. The Turning Stone is a beautiful hotel with an arena to match, surrounded by a pristine view of upper New York State. Not to mention that table games are legal in the casino. Also, the guests of the hotel have a true appreciation for the “Sweet Science”. This spot truly exceeded my expectations.

• Matthysse-Provodnikov is one of the better fights, that I have had the honor and privilege of covering throughout the better course of 10 years at ringside.

• On this particular road trip, I made sure to stop by the International Boxing Hall-of-Fame. It was spectacular, and that’s putting it mildly. I was honored and humbled to be in the presence of such greatness. It is a must for all fight fans.

• Singer Mariah Carey will be performing at the Turning Stone Arena this summer. Also, Tony Bennett performed the Sunday after Matthysse-Provodnikov.

• While up north, I took the time to visit Syracuse University. I recently learned that the Orangemen practice facility was renamed after Knick superstar and Cuse’ alum Carmelo Anthony. It’s just too bad it was closed. I was eager to see what it looked like inside.

• You know you’re going places in the business, when ESPN’s Bernard Osuna asks you for your twitter handle. In the words of Flavor Flav, “wow!” Shout out to the homie!

• Much love and congratulations to my former colleague at Maxboxing, Steve Kim. You are doing big things in the industry and I wish you continued success. Good seeing you too!

• This was the ultimate boxing weekend! I literally was in heaven. I hope when I am down in “Sin City” next week, it can be just as fun, if not better. I am not looking forward to the tightened security measures that the Las Vegas folks on the strip tend to take from time to time.

• Lastly, if you didn’t know this by now, then you need to get with it. I love my sport mi gente! When it’s done correctly, and represented appropriately, no other sport could compare. I am sorry! And you know I am being objective when I say this. Because I follow all sports.