Ruslan Provodnikov TKO 10 Mike Alvarado
In an unrelenting display of force, Siberia?s Ruslan Provodnikov broke down and stopped hometown favourite Mike Alvarado in brutal fashion moments ago in Denver, Colorado as seen live on HBO. Provodnikov came out strong at the opening bell looking to gun Alvarado out early but the hometown fighter weathered some early heat and came back to get his man?s attention. Alvarado elected to box in the early rounds and had some success but he could only keep the hard charging Provodnikov off for so long. The Siberian closed the distance in the middle rounds and in the eighth hammered away relentlessly knocking down Alvarado twice for the first time in his career. The Colorado native showed a ton of heart to survive but in the tenth it was all Provodnikov as he emptied the tank and hurt Alvarado again. After the bell referee Tony Weeks stopped the bout in the corner giving Provodnikov the dramatic and violent stoppage victory. With the win Provodnikov captures the WBO light welterweight title and improved to 23-2 (16 KOs) while a gallant Alvarado falls to 34-2 (23 KOs).
