Alvarado-Provodnikov Preview

‘Mile High’ Mike Alvarado hosts this fight in his hometown of Denver, Colorado.  He brings a record of 22-1 (15 KOs), and avenged his sole loss during his last fight.  Then he watched the man he defeated be given the opportunity of a lifetime, as well as considerably more pay, to face Manny Pacquiao.

Alvarado is not in an enviable position, especially considering his opponent is one of the most avoided fighters in the sport today. Ruslan Provodnikov is avoided by many fighters for a reason. He is not a familiar name, nor does he draw from a large fan base. Ruslan can not only deliver punishment, he also can take it, all while walking fighters down with constant, damaging pressure.

His record stands at 34-2 (23 KOs), but his most telling and intimidating performance was in a loss to Bradley earlier this year. He beat Bradley up, plain and simple.  But Bradley, having recently shown his combative skills to be that of the level to beat J.M. Marquez, was able to box his way to a decision. Although he was not victorious against Bradley, he showed the boxing public that he is more than capable of fighting with the very best junior welterweights (140lbs) in the world.

Stylistically these two are somewhat similar, both bringing heavy hands and a willingness to trade defensive tactics for aggressive offense. Alvarado will have a size and reach advantage, which he may very well try to exploit by boxing Provodnikov on the outside. An edge of three inches in height and three and half inches in reach favors Alvarado.

However, the edge in experience favors Ruslan.  Alvarado began boxing at the relatively late age of 20, and Ruslan will use his boxing know how to cut the ring off and keep Alvarado on his heels.

Punching power is a wash, as both these fighters are capable of delivering devastating knockouts. One could make the case that Ruslan edges Mike in his ability to take a punch, due to the fact that Rios stopped Alvarado in their first fight, and appeared wobbled by Rios in the rematch. The machine-like Ruslan has never been knocked down let alone knocked out.

Expect a brutal toe to toe war reminiscent of Cotto-Mosley, but with less precise boxing and more vicious exchanges. A winner is difficult to pick in a fight that is this evenly matched, and where each fighter brings big punching power to the ring. If you have to, pick Provodnikov by late round KO.

Also, on this card Juan ‘Baby Bull’ Diaz fights for the third time this year after coming out of retirement following back to back losses to J.M. Marquez and Paul Malignaggi.