Provodnikov Wants Bradley To Beat Marquez, Eyes Rematch

By Ryan Burton

Junior welterweight/welterweight contender Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2) is currently training for his October 19th clash with WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado.  The fight takes place near Alvarado's hometown in Colorado and will be televised by HBO.

A week prior to Alvarado-Provodnikov, Tim Bradley will defend his WBO welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez on HBO pay-per-view.  Bradley narrowly defeated Provodnikov on March 16th in a leading candidate for "Fight of the Year" honors.  Provodnikov admits that he is pulling for Bradley to pull off the upset against Marquez and hopes to secure a rematch against the two-division champion.

"That is going to be a great fight and I can say that I am focused of Alvarado but right now (outside of Alvarado) I'm very interested in a Bradley rematch. I hope he wins and we can fight again. Our previous fight was an unfinished one," Provodnikov told BoxingScene.com.

While the 29-year-old Russian didn't want to give a prediction for his fight, he did say that the fans can expect to see another war when he steps in the ring with Alvarado.  He feels that it will be another "Fight of the Year" candidate.

"The fans will see a great fight and another candidate for Fight of the Year.  No one should miss the fight, because this is going to be a legendary fight.  I don't like to predict fights because we will only find out (what will happen) once we're in the ring," Provodnikov explained.

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com .  Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to BoxingScene Radio, BoxingScene's official audio show on Tuesdays from 6-8PM PST. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton.