By Alexey Sukachev

While still not being announced officially, the huge Moscow event on November 28 is slowly being shaped up by Andrey Ryabinskiy and his minions at the “World of Boxing” fight team.

The card, which will take place at the same venue as Ryabinskiy’s latest promotion (Alexander Povetkin vs. Carlos Takam) – in Luzhniki, Moscow – will include up to ten bouts but not all of them are solidified at the present time, so that both a number of fights and a roster can be changed in the coming week.

The main event was announced beforehand (albeit without an official release) – it’ll be a long-awaited homecoming (in a wide meaning) of one of the Russia’s biggest entertainers as hard-nosed light welterweight Ruslan “The Siberian Rocky” Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KOs), rated #5 by the TBRB and #2 by the WBO, takes on veteran Mexican slugger and former two-time lightweight champion of the world Jose Luis Castillo (66-12-1, 57 KOs) over twelve non-title rounds. Provodnikov is seen as a clear favorite.

The undercard will feature a good share of Russian talent. Two stellar amateur fighters will make their pro debuts under the “World of Boxing” aegis and will not be matched all that lightly. One of the two is Russian National Dmitry Bivol, 23. Bivol is a three-time (2006, 2007, 2008) Russian Junior National champion, 2008 World Junior champion, 2012 Russian national gold medalist and has a number of other accolades. Super middleweight Bivol will be matched tough against 35-fight veteran Jorge Rodriguez Olivera (25-10, 12 KOs) of Uruguay over six.

Another stellar debutant is heavyweight Sergey Kuzmin, 27, who once vowed to put an end to the Klitschko’s hegemony. He will start from lower heights, however, making his first six-round appearance against Ugandan Nicolas Buule (3-0, 3 KOs). Kuzmin is 2010 European and 2010/2011 Russian heavyweight champion. Both Kuzmin and Bivol signed promotional agreements with the World of Boxing. They haven’t signed any managerial agreements at this point but are pretty close to striking a deal with Provodnikov’s manager Vadim Kornilov.

Another fighter of a steadily growing Kornilov Team is 2012 London Olympics gold medalist Egor Mekhontsev. The stellar light heavyweight (6-0, 6 KOs) will also make his appearance in the ring, fighting against tough-as-nails Ugandan Joey Vegas (17-9-1, 10 KOs) over eight.

Another announced fight can prove to be a coming-out party for 15-0, 15 KOs cruiserweight prospect Dmitry Kudryashov, who is rated #13 by the IBF and #14 by the WBC in the light heavyweight division. Kudryashov aims to put an end to a lengthy pro career of former WBC cruiserweight king and now WBC/WBA #8 Juan Carlos Gomez (55-3, 40 KOs).

The card will also see quick returns of former cruiserweight world title challenger Rakhim Chakhkiev (20-1, 15 KOs), who is rated #10 by the TBRB and is ranked in top-15 of all four major sanctioning bodies, and WBA #4 lightweight striker Eduard Troyanovskiy (19-0, 16 KOs). Other notable participants include WBO #3 rated super featherweight Andrey Klimov (18-1, 9 KOs) and 4-0, 3 KOs, ex-kickboxing star Sergey Lipinets – both in minor title twelve-rounders.

On a side note, the card will also see the curious (if not ridiculous) comeback of 61-year-old actor-turned-boxer-turned-actor-turned-boxer-again Mickey Rourke (6-0-2, 4 KOs), as the Hollywood star will pitted against someone named Elliot Seymour (1-9, 1 KOs).