By Rachel Aylett: On revisiting the big fight of the week, I would like to give enormous credit to new WBO light-welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. I noted whilst watching his fight against Mike Alvarado that the Siberian Rocky is almost unrecognizable from the fighter that was soundly outpointed on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in January 2011 by Mauricio Herrera. That was a fan friendly fight, as are all of Ruslan’s engagements, but the Russian lost clearly and was out-skilled by the fringe contender from the US.
After seeing that fight it was hard to imagine that Provodnikov, just over two years later, would be able to give Timothy Bradley 12 rounds of hell and then batter renowned tough guy Alvarado to defeat on his home patch. In those days the Siberian looked like just another tough guy brawler. However, Ruslan’s transfer to the Freddie Roach stable in January 2012 along with the associated invaluable sparring he has done with Manny Pacquiao during that period, looks to have benefited him immeasurably. He is now adept at cutting off the ring on retreating opponents, whereas before he would spend too much time following them around the ring.
Many people have criticized Alvarado for not boxing enough on Saturday and for getting into a fire fight with Ruslan. In my eyes, Mike did nothing wrong. He tried to box in all of the rounds and employed the same tactics he used so successfully in outpointing Brandon Rios in their rematch in March. He switched stances to try and confuse Ruslan and, in fact, boxed the majority of the fight in the southpaw stance, often dancing around the perimeter of the ring in an effort to befuddle his stronger opponent. However, there is no way he could keep that up for 12 rounds and, throughout the first half of the fight, Provodnikov’s withering body attack was taking effect and slowing Mike down.
Although it seemed on the night as as though Alvarado had taken a thrashing, it must be said that the fight was fought on even terms for the first six rounds. At the end of the sixth I had it 57-57 and had the rounds going back and forth between the two. None of the rounds had been “big” for either man. In fact, at the end of round 3, Alvarado did a little shimmy on his way back to the corner, a sign that he was happy with how the fight was going at that point. I remember thinking in the fifth round that the fight would probably be won down the stretch by whoever had the most left, or whoever wanted it more, as the fighters seemed so closely matched. Everything changed at the end of the seventh round though when a right hand from Provodnikov made Alvarado visibly wilt. It was the pivotal point in the fight and Alvarado was never in it again.
Provodnikov proved that his performance against Bradley was not a one-off. He has now put in two of the finest efforts of the year in consecutive fights. This being the case, I would have to make him the number one at light-welterweight at the moment, above the other two stand-outs at the weight, Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse. Danny has relied on his left hook to get him out of trouble on a couple of occasions but Provodnikov looks like the proverbial immovable object, and I honestly don’t see him succumbing to Danny’s shots the way Khan and Matthysse did. I think it will take a master boxer to defeat Provodnikov. Anyone who trades with him is more than likely to come off second best.
It was heart-warming to see the emotional outburst from Ruslan, his team and his family at the end of the fight. I was almost moved to tears along with them. It showed to the world just what this outstanding achievement meant to him and what he has had to go through in order to win his championship. A big shout out too for Artie Pelullo and his Banner Promotions outfit. The night thus served as a reminder of what our brilliant sport can do for underdogs and outsiders. It’s great to see a fighter unaligned to one of the big teams reach this level of success. It also means that without ties to either Top Rank or Golden Boy, Ruslan has more options open to him than is the case with those boxers who are so aligned.
As for Alvarado, any criticism leveled at him for “quitting” is scandalous. Anyone even intimating this must have psychopathic tendencies. We have seen Mike often before, particularly in the Rios and Prescott fights, come back from extreme adversity. How can anyone in their right mind call him a quitter? This is a sport, not a fight to the death. The boxers are not in the Colosseum waiting for the thumb to go up or down. This is particularly relevant as on the same night, in Mexico, Francisco Leal was carried from the ring on a stretcher after his fight and has subsequently passed away from his injuries.
In other happenings, it was interesting to note that the IBF has been quite active this week. First of all they stripped Brit Jamie McDonnell of their bantamweight belt, as he had failed to sign and return a contract confirming his mandatory first defence before the given deadline. This seems very harsh, but I wouldn’t come down on the IBF too much for this – rules is rules! The blame for the stripping lies between Jamie, his erstwhile promoter/manager Dennis Hobson and his presumed new promoter Eddie Hearn. Jamie is saying that he knew nothing of the contract, which he claims must have been arranged and agreed by Hobson without his input. During this time, it’s clear that Eddie Hearn was in the background trying to set up a deal to promote Jamie in his future career, promising him wider exposure on Sky television. Hobson is blaming these behind the scenes shenanigans for being ultimately responsible for Jamie losing his belt.
Although Jamie did hold one of the four major belts, his impact on the division at world level has been minimal to say the least. Whilst the division is currently weak, with all the best practitioners of the last couple of years having moved up in weight, Jamie has still not defeated anyone of real note. Julio Ceja, who he beat for the vacant IBF title, was undefeated, but completely unproven. What Ceja did prove in that fight was that he was very ordinary indeed. McDonnell’s best opponents to date have been Stuart Hall and former European champion Stephane Jamoye. Both gave Jamie extremely close fights, which suggests that Jamie is not really at world level, but a top European level fighter. What’s ironic here is that it looks as though Jamie’s vacated title will be fought for by the aforementioned Hall and veteran South African Vusi Malinga. This is a good, even match, but neither fighter is currently world top 10 material and both are almost certainly inferior to McDonnell.
Another dictate from the IBF this week was their refusal to sanction the challenge of Victor Ortiz for their light-middleweight title against champion Carlos Molina. This is a sensible decision, for a change, as Vicious Vic has been out of the ring since having his jaw broken and being shockingly upset by underdog Josesito Lopez in June 2012. It’s only right and proper that Ortiz should have to undergo at least one warm up fight before being rewarded with another title shot. This decision is a clear blessing in disguise for Ortiz, as Molina would have given him fits and made him look bad, as he does to most of his opponents. I just couldn’t envisage Ortiz winning that one.
A final word on the Belfast show featuring Carl Frampton last Saturday night. After seeing the amazing atmosphere generated by the Ulster fans, it seems amazing that previousy mentioned promoter Eddie Hearn let Frampton go. A future world title fight for Frampton will probably require an even bigger venue than the circa 9,000 capacity Odyssey Arena, the scene of Saturday’s fight, as Frampton is idolized by the locals. Hearn has Frampton’s big rival, Scott Quigg, in his stable, but there is no comparison in the drawing-power between the two. A strange decision indeed from Hearn. Another boost for Frampton’s new promoter, Barry McGuigan, is that he has a ready made undercard for all Frampton’s shows, with young Northern Irish prospects Jamie Conlan, Ryan Burnett and Marco McCullough all looking to have exceptionally bright futures. It was also notable to see Dungiven light-welterweight Paul McCloskey at ringside. There is still some mileage in Paul and, without knowing his current contractual obligations, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him team up with McGuigan shortly.
Lastly, I was disappointed on reading respected UK writer Gareth A. Davies’ piece in the Telegraph on Saturday, which built up the UFC heavyweight championship fight by suggesting that the champion in that sport was now seen by the public as the baddest man on the planet and that, mainly due to the Klitschkos’ sterile performances, boxing’s heavyweight champion was no longer noted as such. I thought it unnecessary of Davies to promote an already major UFC event at the expense of boxing, a sport he also makes money from. It just adds to the general public’s perception that boxing is yesterday’s news and that UFC is the new big thing. I can only reiterate my opinion that I am proud to have the Klitschkos as heavyweight champion(s). They are highly intelligent, respectful men and a credit to themselves, their country and their sport. A further aside on that subject leads me to mention the tattoo splayed across the chest of UFC champion Cain Velasquez which proudly states “Brown Pride”. I can only imagine the furor if a white boxer or UFC fighter had “White Pride” emblazoned on his torso. Would he be called a racist? Of course he would.
@RachelAylett1
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