Ruslan Provodnikov: record, next fight and profile →
Ryan Burton catches up with Shann Villhauer, the co-trainer of former WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado, to discuss his fighter's ten round TKO defeated to Ruslan Provodnikov.
Ryan Burton catches up with Artie Pelullo, the promoter of WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov, and they discuss the stoppage victory over Mike Alvarado, the potential fight options for his boxer, the possibility of facing a Golden Boy Promotions boxer on Showtime and several other topics.
Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16KOs) is a hot piece of boxing property after stopping Mike Alvarado in ten rounds to capture the WBO junior welterweight championship at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Denver. After seven explosive rounds of action, Provodnikov began to pull away in eight - after punishing Alvarado (34-2) and scoring two knockdowns in the process. It was the first time Alvarado had tasted the canvas as a pro. After Provodnikov unleashed more punishment in the tenth, Alvarado couldn't answer the bell for the eleventh.
On Saturday night, Oct. 19, inside of the 1STBANK Center in Denver, Colo., Russian brute Ruslan Provodnikov scored the biggest victory of his career in outlasting hometown favorite and former WBO junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado. The action was nip and tuck early on, but Provodnikov weathered Alvarado’s thunder and came on in the second half of the fight before scoring two knockdowns in the eighth round. Provodnikov dished out some more heavy leather in the 10th, as Alvarado elected to stay on his stool in between rounds rather than answer the bell for more punishment. Calling the fight from ringside for the international feed, longtime HBO analyst Larry Merchant gave great praise to new champion. “There are very, very few fighters who get to the top level who fight the way Provodnikov does,” Merchant revealed. “Who have the strength and the will. Because most of those kind of fighters run into a boxer who outslicks them or walk into a big punch. And this kid is relentless and indomitable.”
Ruslan Provodnikov pushed the pace from the opening bell and eventually caught up with the outgunned defending WBO junior welterweight champ Mike Alvarado at the end of round ten. Bolstered by a devastating body attack, Provodikov had a 74-25 edge in power shots landed over the last three rounds.
Ruslan Provodnikov’s world title win over Mike Alvarado on Saturday night opens up plenty of doors for him, making him a more marketable name at junior welterweight (the division in which he won his title), as well as at welterweight (the division at which he went to war with Timothy Bradley earlier this year). Yet the Banner Promotions fighter shouldn’t be expected to appear on Showtime against Golden Boy’s crop of 140- and 147-pound stars, according to Banner’s Artie Pelullo. “Right now we’re fighting with HBO and only HBO,” Pelullo told BoxingScene.com after Provodnikov’s victory. “That’s what we choose to do. We’re dedicated to HBO. HBO gave us a chance.”
In another brutal ring battle Russian beast and No. 1 ranked Ruslan Provodnikov battered Mike “Mile High” Alvarado before a stunned sell-out crowd in Alvarado’s hometown on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado to win by a 10th round TKO when the champion quit at the end of the round seated on his stool. Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, who left his talented Filipino assistant Marvin Somodio to handle Provodnikov along with strength and conditioning coach Gavin McMillan, watched the fight in General Santos City where he is preparing “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao for his showdown against Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in Macau on November 24.
Ryan Burton catches up with newly crowned WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov to discuss his title winning ten round stoppage of Mike Alvarado in the champion's backyard of Denver.
Though there is not a rematch clause mandating another bout between Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov, that doesn’t mean a rematch isn’t still a possibility, according to Provodnikov’s promoter, Artie Pelullo of Banner Promotions. “There’s a one-fight option with Top Rank. We’ll co-promote,” Pelullo told BoxingScene.com after Provodnikov’s 10th-round stoppage of Alvarado on Saturday night in Broomfield, Colo. “It could be a rematch, absolutely.” Precisely what happens with Provodnikov, Banner Promotions and Top Rank will be determined by the two promoters, he said.
by David P. Greisman - BROOMFIELD, Colo. — This was a fight that promised brutality and then delivered on that promise. But this fight was not just about delivering brutality, but receiving it. And in the end, Ruslan Provodnikov delivered far too much for Mike Alvarado to continue to receive. Not with the swelling continuing to build above Alvarado’s right eye. Not with the accumulation of 10 rounds of punishment. Not with two knockdowns suffered in the eighth round. And not with a deficit — and an opponent — that could not be overcome. After the 10th round, referee Tony Weeks went to Alvarado’s corner and asked him multiple times whether he wanted to continue. Each time, Alvarado said “no.” He couldn’t be blamed for that decision. But he could be blamed for what led him there. “It just wasn’t Mike’s night. He was too defensive,” Alvarado’s trainer, Shaun Villhauer, said afterward. “I didn’t like the way he fought tonight. Too defensive. He believed all those clippings since the [Brandon] Rios fight, and he was now a great boxer and got away from what he was best at — fighting. This guy was tailor-made for us tonight, and we didn’t take advantage.” Instead, Provodnikov battered Alvarado and broke him down, scoring the technical knockout victory and winning the World Boxing Organization’s junior welterweight title. It was not the way that Alvarado had envisioned his first title defense, one taking place in front of an announced hometown crowd of 7,012. Alvarado had just come off a pair of stellar battles with Rios in October 2012 and March 2013. Rios won their first fight by seventh-round stoppage, hurting Alvarado and forcing the referee to step in while Alvarado was still on his feet. In the rematch, Alvarado still brawled but also mixed in boxing, a strategy that allowed him to last the distance and win a close decision on the scorecards.