By Allan Fox: WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) came in over the limit on his first weigh-in attempt on Friday in coming in at 141 lbs. He then was given 2 hours to take off the weight, and he returned a short period later weighing in at 139.8 lbs. His opponent for Saturday night, Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s), also weighed in at 139.8 lbs., but he didn’t have to struggle like Alvardo did to make the weight.

The two fighters will be facing each other at the 1STBANK Center, Broomfield, in Denver, Colorado, USA. The fight will be televised by HBO.

Alvarado looked thinner than usual at the weigh-in, and it’s going to be interesting to see how much weight he puts on after he rehydrates. He looks like he’ll put on at least 15 more pounds after he rehydrates. Alvarado should probably be fighting at welterweight instead of in the light welterweight division. But if he were to fight in the welterweight, he wouldn’t be nearly as good because a big part of Alvarado’s game his size. If he moves up to 147, his size advantage would largely disappear immediately.

Provodnikov doesn’t look like he’s going to rehydrate much because he looked almost the same as he normally does when he fights. He fights at 147 now, but he’s still more of a light welterweight than a welterweight.

Provodnikov needs to take advantage of Alvarado’s weight problems by going after him hard on Saturday night to see if he can wear him down. When a fighter misses his weight the way that Alvarado did today, it’s a sign that he is having problems getting down in weight. Alvarado is already huge for the weight class as it is, but he seems to be struggling at this point to stay in the division. He’s 33 and will soon be 34. A lot of guys start to put on more weight when they hit their mid-30s like him, and we could be seeing that as a problem he’s having.