In a classic bout that lived up to it’s billing, Ruslan Provodnikov won the WBO Jr. Welterweight championship when Mike Alvarado did not continue after round ten of a scheduled twelve round bout at the before 7.012 fans at a soldout 1stBank Arena.
The fight was promoted by Top Rank and Banner Promotions.
The two slugged it out from the opening bell with Provodnikov rocking Alvarado in round one. The two fought at a fast pace and traded vicious shots which thrilled the crowd for every second of the fight.
Alvarado tried to box and move to offset the relentless pressure of Provodnikov. In round seven, Provodnikov started to bleed from the nose and later suffered a cut over his right eye. In round eight the fight turned in favor of Provodnikov when he sent Alvarado to canvas on two occasions.
In round nine, a massive swelling formed over the right eye of Alvarado as he continued to absorb punishment from “The Siberian Rocky”.
Provodnikov battered Alvarado at the end of round nine and ten and Alvarado even walked to the wrong corner.
Just before the eleventh round bell, referee Tony Weeks waved the fight off as Alvarado could not continue.
“This is my best dream come true”, said Provodnikov, who was able to realize the monumental moment with his mother sitting ringside.
“I am a champion like Leonard and Duran. To be a world champion, you must take risks and i did that by coming into his hometown. I give Alvarado a lot of credit, he is a real man, a real champion.
Provodnikov was guided in the corner by Marvin Somodio as chief trainer Freddie was in the Philippines with Manny Pacquiao.
“I needed to win this for Freddie. I miss him”
On the conclusion, Provodnikov finished, “I made him not want to fight me anymore.”
Provodnikov of Beryozovo, Russia is now 23-2 with 16 knockouts.
On the undercard, Banner Promotions fighters also scored wins via stoppage:
Vitor Jones De Oliveria dropped Martin Quesada three times in round two en route to a stoppage at 2:01 of the same round of a scheduled four round super featherweight bout.
The first knockdown came from a hard right to the body. The two subsequent knockdowns also came from body shots the were the culmination of ripping combinations.
De Oliverira of Brasilia, Brazil is now 1-0, 1 no-contest.
De Oliveria, is the nephew of former four time, two-division world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas was very happy with his performance.
“I stayed calm and after the first knockdown, i knew i could stop him shortly after.
De Oliverira then got very emotional when he said, “I just want to be great and i cant wait to get home to take my mom and sisters to the movies.
Heavyweight Donovan Dennis kicked off the show with a 3rd round stoppage over “previously undefeated Hugo Arceo in a scheduled six round bout.
Dennis dropped Arceo in the first round and then again in round two. He bloodied the nose of Arceo and continued to pound away as he knocked the mouthpiece out several times and the bout was stopped at 2:33 of round one.
Dennis, 221 lbs of Davenport, Iowa improves to 9-1, 1 no-contest with 7 knockouts.
“He was good. He hit hard and kept on coming”, said Dennis
“I need more work and I will keep improving. I need to jab more and that will help me set up the power shots.
