It was a sea-change moment as he stood toe-to-toe with one of the game’s elite fighters in Timothy Bradley, rocking and socking the Desert Storm about the ring like a rag-doll while punching his ticket into the big boys club. Did he win the fight? No. But he left the ring that night with the biggest victory of his career, setting the stage for huge paydays and blood-letting of the sport’s biggest names at the hands of this rolling ball of butcher knives. He’s from the Far East, who has everyone — including his mother — describing him as a beast. You know him as the “Siberian Rocky” and WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Mike Alvarado knows him as the man he sees in his sleep. And the boxing community knows him as one of the newest bangers on the scene to go along with such boogeymen as Gennady Golovkin, Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev.
Ruslan doesn’t rely on attributes such as swiftness and technical skill, nor one-punch kayo power, but determination and a dogged pursuit that either breaks you, or thrashes your body like that of a car wreck over 12 rounds of unmitigated violence. The Russian pushes forward like a rabid animal, employing non-stop aggression meant to swallow ones resolve or force them into the depths of hell in order to survive.
Last Saturday night Denver, Colorado’s former WBO junior welterweight champion “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KOs) felt the full brunt of the words used to describe Provodnikov (23-2, 16KOs), as the American banger was TKO’d at the Russian’s hands after not being able to answer the bell for the championship rounds of their 12 round main event bout at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, CO., a suburb of Denver.
Provodnikov, 29, of Beryozovo, Russia, was coming off his breakthrough performance against the previously mentioned Tim Bradley in a startling 12 round war that Ruslan controversially lost by split decision in spite of flooring Bradley two times — although one was ruled a slip — while having him hurt and almost out of there on several occasions including rounds 1 and 12. Coming into the fight, you would have to search far and wide to find anybody in the boxing community that thought Ruslan belonged in the same ring as Bradley let alone had the chance to beat the top 10 rated fighter. Well, as the old saying goes, “that’s why they fight.” And did they ever. When the dust settled, the Desert Storm looked like he’d been in a fight with a tornado and many thought Provodnikov did enough to win the fight. But it didn’t matter because on that night in March there were no losers. Both showed tremendous heart and willpower in what will most likey be 2013’s “Fight of the Year.”
And a Russian star was born.
Alvarado, 33, was also coming off a career-defining performance, beating Brandon Rios — in a rematch of their 2012 “Fight of the Year” — by
unanimous decision in March of this year. The fight was another battle, but not quite the war we saw at the Home Depot Center (now the StubHub Center) in Los Angeles, California six months prior, which Rios won by TKO7. The 2013 version saw plenty of toe-to-toe exchanges and was enough to sate the bloodthirsty fans, but on that night Alvarado showed the ability to adjust and stick to a smart game plan of moving and boxing while choosing his spots to hold his ground and bang with the maniacal Mexican terminator Brandon Rios. It worked, and Alvarado scooped up the interim WBO junior welterweight title while showing the boxing world that he was more than just a thumper.
In a fair world, Alvarado would have been rewarded with a tremendous payday against “Fighter of the Decade” and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in China. But this is boxing in the real world and Alvarado was punished for beating and blemishing the record of one of Top Rank’s planned crossover stars in Rios. The punishment came in the name of the Siberian Rocky and Alvarado indeed paid the price. Meanwhile, in the name of business as usual, Rios is training for a November 23rd fight with Pacman.
Alvarado came into the fight looking to employ his Rios II blueprint of sticking and moving while choosing spots to exchange toe-to-toe with Provodnikov, and Ruslan’s plan was… well, we know what Ruslan’s plan was.
Alvarado was moving and boxing in the 1st round while the Russian came right at him, and midway through the frame Provodnikov struck the first major blow that had Alvarado pulling back and moderately wounded. Mike had a good 2nd round and he banked another round or two in the early goings, and through six frames the fight was close, but even then, Provodnikov was imposing his will, especially to the body. In every scoring aspect of the fight Provodnikov was king and his consistent thudding left hook was having the intended effect on the American as his right eye was sporting a cumbersome hematoma by nights end.
The fight really got down to business once the 7th round commenced as Alvarado landed several authoritive left hooks that inflated Ruslan’s right eye while also causing the eye to cut. But from that point forward it was all Provodnikov as he brought out the sledgehammer. Provodnikov pummeled Alvarado in the final three frames with right hand – left hook combinations to the head and body, flooring him twice in the 8th round — the first two times Mike’s ever hit the canvas — with a barrage of power blows and nearly finished him in the 10th as he had him badly staggered and teetering all over the ring. It didn’t matter though because after that round referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight after asking Mike several times while sitting on his stool if he wanted to continue and each time the response was no. And with that Ruslan Provodnikov was the new WBO junior welterweight champion.
“This is the best dream I could have,” beamed Ruslan after the fight through a translator. “Like Sugar Ray Leonard did when he beat Roberto Duran and made him quit, I made Alvarado do the same thing. I made him not want to fight me anymore.”
Provodnikov led on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage 98-90, 97-90 and 96-92.
“If you want to become a world champion you have to risk everything,” asserted Provodnikov. “You go to his hometown, you take a risk. That’s how you become a world champion.
Everyone knew it would be a battle, and what Provodnikov brought to the table, but it was still somewhat of a surprise to see the beating he laid down on man as teak-tough as Alvarado.
“This kid hits like a ton, really,” said Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum, Alvarado’s promoter, when speaking on Provodnikov. “Very few guys can stand up to his punch. [Timothy] Bradley did it by a miracle. Alvarado was concussed, I’m sure. It’s very, very hard to hold off a strong guy like that. It was a terrific fight and competitive until Alvarado got clocked in the eighth round. It was a miracle that he recovered but he lost everything else after that.”
The fight wasn’t the “Fight of the Year” candidate that many thought it would be, but it was plenty exciting with a wealth of action that drew 1.2 million views on HBO. It was Alvarado’s first title defense, and although his fellow Coloradan’s didn’t see their man get his hand raised at the end of the night, they definitely got their money’s worth and had all the reason to be proud of “Mile High.”
“I was boxing him and I felt I had the fight going my direction but he hit me with a couple of shots,” said Alvarado in the aftermath. “I’m used to taking shots and recovering from them and tonight I wasn’t able to recover from the big shots.”
Of note was the fact that Alvarado had a time of it cutting weight and at first came in slightly over on the scales. He was given two hours to get down to the contracted weight which he did, but he looked emaciated and sickly.
Alvarado — who banked a career high payday of $1.3 million — employed more boxing and moving than he did in the second Rios fight, lending insight into the Russians power. Nonetheless Alvarado’s trainer Shaun Vilhauer wasn’t thrilled about the strategy his charge applicated.
“It just wasn’t mike’s night. He was to defensive,” analyzed Vilhauer. “I think he just started reading all these clips after the Brandon Rios rematch that he was this great boxer and he got away from what he was best at. This guy was tailor-made for him and he didn’t take advantage of it.”
I’d have to agree with Vilhauer, something was off about Alvarado and he never seemed to truly get comfortable in the ring, but seemed hesitant and uncertain, and was alternating stances between orthodox and southpaw. It might have had something to do with the fact that Ruslan jumped right on him from the outset, declaring how hard he hit with a shot that slightly wobbled and hurt Alvarado, setting the evening’s tone.
Ruslan — who also made a career high payday of $600,000 — has a throw-back style that perpetually places him in dangers way. The only moving he does in the ring is in the form of stalking and his style is meant to mentally break you by letting you know he’s willing to take three or four of yours to deliver a few of his at a ravenous pace that can only be described as demented. Say what you want about Alvarado’s past wars or conditioning leading into the fight, and the toll it might have taken, Provodnikov beat a warrior into submission that we never thought would acquiesce to defeat without being knocked unconscious or having somebody else decide the outcome for him. Alvarado made a choice that night that spoke volumes, saying, “I don’t want to be in the ring with this man one minute more, let alone six.” And to pretty much the entire boxing community, that’s astonishing.
But let’s be clear here, I do not, nor should anyone knock Alvarado for ceding the fight, quitting, or whatever you want to call it. Mike fought his heart out while in the trenches and after three straight rounds in which he took a hellacious amount of punishment including two knock downs, he stood up, and fired back with all the bravado fitting of a gladiator. But there came a point where he realized he didn’t have enough firepower to pull it out in the final frames, and with the punishment he’d already taken, like a man, there was no reason to take anymore and Alvarado made a conscious decision to fight another day rather than risk never fighting again. In every situation there is circumstance, and considering that, Mike Alvarado made a fine account of himself.
“He shook me up with quite a few shots and I wasn’t able to recover the way I usually do,” lamented Alvarado to Max Kellerman in the dressing room after the fight. “I was looking out for my health. I had heart and could have fought through it, but it’s more dangerous when you’re taking multiple shots like that. I thought it was a good decision to end the fight.”
Ruslan is trained by Freddie Roach, who couldn’t be there Saturday night due to the fact that he is in the Philippines training his prized pupil Manny Pacquiao for his November 23rd showdown with Brandon Rios at the Cotai Arena – Venetian Macao Resort in Macao, China. In Roach’s place was his trusted chief second Filipino Marvin Somodio, who didn’t miss a beat, fulfilling the role that Freddie entrusted to him and the end result was an efficient and savage beat down. And that’s just Freddie’s game. Also in Provodnikov’s corner for the second straight camp was new Wild Card Boxing Club staple Gavin McMillan of Sports Science Lab, who’s also been working with the Hollywood firm’s Manny Pacquiao, Zou Shiming and Miguel Cotto. Ruslan has all the right players around him to achieve big success. All the pins are lined up, and now it’s incumbent upon Ruslan to do what he does best and knock them down.
So what’s next for Provodnikov? Top Rank has a one fight option on the banger and Arum has gone on record saying he’d like to see him in against Brandon Rios while he’d like to match Pacquiao in rematches with either Tim Bradley or a fifth scrap with Juan Manuel Marquez. So in essence he’s saying he believes Pacquiao will beat Rios because if Rios were to win that fight there’s absolutely no doubt Arum would be setting up Rios-Pacquiao II, depending on how the first fight ended and whether or not Pacquiao decided to continue on.
I do think we’ll see Provodnikov in the ring next with Rios though because I think Manny beats “Bam Bam.” As far as a fight between Provodnikov and Rios, those two maniacs would produce a scene as sadistic as can be found in the sport of boxing.
Of course the chatter for a Pacquiao-Provodnikov clash has begun, and that too would produce savagery of epic proportions. No matter how you mix-and-match the trinity of Pacquiao-Rios-Provodnikov, somebody’s going to sleep.
There are difficulties in making a Pacquiao-Provodnikov match-up though due to the fact that they’re friends and sparring partners. But an even bigger obstacle is the fervent opposition Freddie Roach — who trains both men — has to the idea. Freddie says it will never happen.
This is a business though and Bob Arum’s about money, so I definitely believe they can be made to fight unless Freddie Roach’s wishes carry enough weight with Pacquiao, because Manny’s the one that would be deciding. Friends or not, Provodnikov would jump at the chance to acquire the stature and riches that come along with beating the Filipino supernova. But all of this would only be possible if Top Rank got an extended or exclusive piece of Ruslan’s fighting career. They’re not going to take the chance of Ruslan knocking off their #1 money-maker without them being the one’s making the future profits off him for accomplishing such a feat. Why help build him only to watch him walk away?
That brings us to Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley, both of whom are great match-ups for Provodnikov.
Ruslan and Tim have unfinished business, and who in their right mind wouldn’t want to see that again? It’s a sure-fire bet that Bradley would come into the rematch with a different game plan than his first outing with the Russian. A strategy that would look similar to the one Bradley employed in his unanimous decision victory over Marquez a few weeks ago. But Marquez didn’t exploit Bradley’s apprehensive moving-and-sticking style because the Mexican just isn’t comfortable fighting while aggressively coming forward and having to find his opponent. Marquez is a counter-punching genius that waits for you to enter his Venus flytrap, and has never really shown the ability to adapt to a more offensive style that would require him to do the stalking. Provodnikov though, that’s his forte. Bradley can attest to that and never wants to experience it again. Would Bradley be able to make the adjustments and stick to a game plan against Ruslan in a second go? It’s hard to say because, unlike Marquez, Provodnikov will be marching forward at neck-break pace forcing the issue. And in Bradley’s heart-of-hearts, he’s a fighter, a fighter that likes to brawl. So it would be very difficult for Bradley to abstain from toe-to-toe exchanges inherent in his nature when threatened. They’ll never be able to live up to their first fight, but anytime Provodnikov stands opposite Bradley in a ring, it’s a must-see situation.
A Provodnikov-Marquez clash is very intriguing because of their styles. Marquez is the second best counter-puncher in the game next to ring General Floyd Mayweather. Ruslan’s style is tailor-made for Marquez. The question, can Marquez knock the Russian out before fading due to his immense pressure? I’d like to find out.
Then there’s the prospect of Ruslan going across the street to SHOWTIME where he can find the biggest PPV payout there is to be had in the sport of boxing with the “Money” man himself Floyd Mayweather. There’s no doubt that Ruslan is ferocious and maniacal enough to make Mayweather uncomfortable, more than likely resulting in Floyd being forced to knock him out. But you never know, and that’s what makes it intriguing. And if Floyd’s hand was forced and Provodnikov got thumped, it would be fun while it last. Nobody can make a boring fight with Provodnikov, not even boxing’s Bobby Fischer. And you can take that to the bank.
Provodnikov is promoted by Artie Pelullo, but as mentioned earlier Top Rank has a one fight option on Ruslan. So whether Provodnikov could fight Mayweather in his next bout would depend on a lot of moving parts, like whether Top Rank would insist on co-promoting the fight or agree to yield on their option for a later date and opponent.
Whatever comes next for the Russian, we’ll all be watching.
Why you ask?
Because Ruslan Provodnikov’s fighting-style speaks loud, announcing, “I’m here to wreck or be wrecked.” It’s no mystery why this Russian destroyer is the toast of the town in fightville. Put simply, he’s a barbarian. A barbarian with whiskers. A daunting and foreboding task for any fighter is what Ruslan represents.
And if you don’t take him seriously, the loss column on your record will.
i don’t think ‘pretty boy’ wants any part of him.
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