Provodnikov Confident Someone Will Get Drilled in Denver

By Keith Idec

Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov were very respectful of one another Tuesday during a news conference to officially announce their highly anticipated junior welterweight title fight.

Alvarado (34-1, 23 KOs) and Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KOs) are well aware, though, that they’re headed toward a night of inevitable brutality that’ll leave one of them way worse for wear Oct. 19 in Broomfield, Colo., near Alvarado’s native Denver.

“I can confidently say that we’re both going to create a war,” Provodnikov said, “and I’m pretty sure that one of us is probably going to remain laying in the ring after the fight.”

Alvarado and Provodnikov probably will have a tough time topping the stunning slugfest between Provodnikov and Timothy Bradley, which Bradley won by unanimous decision March 16 in Carson, Calif. Though Alvarado boxed more effectively during his rematch against Brandon Rios, their aggressive styles still should make for an all-action battle that prompted promoters to talk about possibly replicating the legendary first bout between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward in May 2002.

“It’s going to be a spectacular fight,” said Art Pelullo, whose company, Banner Promotions, represents Provodnikov. “And it’s like I’m telling you what you already know. I mean, it’s just going to be an unbelievable fight. If these two young fellas do what we all expect them to do and show up the way we expect them to show up, you’re going to see a fight that will be living around in the ages, a terrific fight.”

The Alvarado-Provodnikov fight, which will mark Alvarado’s first defense of the WBO junior welterweight title, will be broadcast by HBO from 1STBANK Center. It’ll be packaged as a “World Championship Boxing” doubleheader with the replay of the Bradley-Juan Manuel Marquez WBO welterweight title fight, scheduled for Oct. 12 at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“Everybody knows what these guys are about,” Pelullo said. “[Alvarado] is a great young fighter. So is [Provodnikov]. They have no quit, they have no back up. It’s the most fan-friendly fight in a long, long time. And like [Top Rank president] Todd [duBoef] just said, the loser will not lose. It’s a great opportunity for both of them. Right now, they are at the top of what they do.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.