In a bout that was anticipated as a Fight of the Year candidate, Ruslan “Siberian Rocky” Provodnikov (23-2, 16KO’s) and Mike “Mile High” Alvarado (34-2, 22KO’s) did not disappoint, as the two stood chest-to-chest for the majority of their WBO light welterweight world championship bout.
Ultimately it would be Provodnikov, 29, who would walk away the victor, scoring a knockout at the end of the tenth round.
Alvarado, 33, was making the first defense of his newly won world title in front of a sold out hometown crowd at the 1STBANK Center in Denver, Colorado.
As the bell sounded to open the first frame, Provodnikov, who was coming off an action packed loss to welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, charged forward, pressing the fight while throwing thunderous combinations, starting to the body then working to the head.
The tone would change in the second round as Alvarado started to box and move, picking angles and finding a distance where he could land and evade the heavy punches of the title challenger.
In the early rounds, Alvarado seemed to switch nearly every round from boxing and moving one round, to standing and brawling the next.
As the fight wore on, it appeared Provodnikov’s power, especially when thrown to the body, was starting to take its toll on the hometown hero.
In the eighth round, Alvarado was clearly hurt by a solid body punch. Provodnikov would make no mistakes, following up with a barrage of wild punches upstairs, forcing Alvarado to crumble to the canvas.
It was the first knockdown of his career, but was not the last, as he would once again fold in the same round, after a similar body-head combination.
It may have been his heart, it may have been his legs or it may have been the thousands of screaming hometown fans, but Alvarado somehow found a way to survive the round following the second knockdown.
He would also survive the ninth round as Provodnikov was swinging wildly, looking to land a finishing blow.
Alvarado would continue on the back-foot through round ten. In the final 30 seconds, he found himself on the ropes badly hurt, eating knockout-quality punches.
He would survive the round, hobble back to his corner where his team suggested stopping the fight. He half-heartedly disagreed until referee Tony Weeks got a look at the swollen face of a beaten man.
Weeks had seen enough, he called off the fight giving Provodnikov the biggest win of his career and his first (and very unexpected) reign as world champion.
The win gives the new champion the credentials to go with his popularity amongst hardcore boxing fans. For years Provodnikov was a mainstay on the ESPN2: Friday Night Fights’ series. But on this night under brighter lights, Provodnikov is not only a winner but also a champion.
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