'Siberian Rocky' Provodnikov TKOs Alvarado to win WBO light welterweight title

Ruslan Provodnikov scored a 10th round technical knockout win over Mike Alvarado to win the WBO light welterweight title, Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado.

After a see-saw battle in the first half of the fight, Provodnikov floored Alvarado twice in the eighth round.

The defending champion tried to keep the challenger at bay by moving around and jabbing, but Provodnikov kept moving forward and unleashing heavy punches. Alvarado stayed on his feet after another Provodnikov rally, but he was unable to continue after the tenth round.

 

“I knew what I had to do, which is break him. I don't care about the titles. I had to break his will to win this fight,” Provodnikov said after the fight. He bounced back with the biggest win of his career after a close loss to WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley last March. His record now stands at 23 wins against only two defeats with 16 wins coming via knockout.

"Freddie [Roach] spent all the time I needed with him. Everything is because of him,” said Provodnikov after the fight. As the American mentor is already in the Philippines training his star student Manny Pacquiao, Marvin Somodio, roach’s assistant who’s originally from Baguio’s Shape Up Boxing Gym, stepped in to help Provodnikov realize his dream of becoming a world champion.

Alvarado had hoped that the fight wouldn’t turn from boxing to brawling. "I'm going to stay on my toes and stay on my game. Because with this Russian, you have to be on your toes. You have to be focused, stick to your game plan and not fight his fight," he said prior to the fight. However, Provodnikov dictated the tempo from the start.

Alvarado, who is from the Denver area, had a home-ring advantage in the sold-out 1stBANK Center, but even the support of the crowd could not help him stave off the hungry challenger.

"He shook me up with a few shots and I wasn't able to recover like I usually do," Alvarado admitted after the fight. "It was a good thing they were looking out for my health. I had a lot of heart and I could've kept going. It's more dangerous when you are taking multiple shots like that. I thought it was a good decision to end the fight," Alvarado added.

 

Watch as @RuslanProvod sends @MileHighMike303 to the canvas in round 8 - http://t.co/Z5VkHQypGj #TweetReplay #AlvaradoProvodnikov

— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) October 20, 2013

After getting knocked down twice in the eighth round, Alvarado never got his legs back. The champion gallantly stayed on his feet but he could not move well enough to keep Provodnikov off him. - with a report from AP / Carlo Pamintuan / AMD, GMA News