Ruslan Provodnikov: ‘Alvarado Could Have Not Got Up in the 8th Round, Definitely Not a Quiter’

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    The boxing world is still buzzing after the slugfest that was Ruslan Provodnikov and Mike Alvarado. In a fight where most pundits were giving the edge to Alvarado, Provodnikov proved his mettle and broke the will of the warrior in Mike Alvarado close to Alvarado’s hometown of Denver.

    “It was after the 8th round, I was sure he was done and I was sure there was not much time left so I had to keep the pressure,” explained Provodnikov in describing the moment he felt he broke Mike’s will.

    Provodnikov was without his head trainer Freddie Roach who was in the Philippines beginning camp with Manny
    Pacquiao but with longtime assistant Marvin Somodio manning the corner, the two didn’t miss a beat.

    “Freddie told me once he feels my top power that he was probably going to run a lot and that’s exactly what happened. From the second round on he felt my power and started moving, it was a little uncomfortable for me but Freddie told me just be calm, cut the corners and keep on hitting him. Especially Marvin, he reminded me to hit him to the body and don’t forget about the right hook to the body. We followed Freddie’s game plan and didn’t miss a beat, nothing surprised us and everything went according to the plan,” stated Provodnikov.

    Much has been said how the stoppage of the fight with Alvarado was handled. Whether the corner was in the ring of the referee was in the ring, the end result was Alvarado not continuing. Moments later, the social media atmosphere was quick to attach the label of quitter on Alvarado, even if Alvarado had nothing left.

    Provodnikov feels differently especially after he got up from the two knockdowns in the 8th round.

    “He definitely deserves a lot of respect. For sure if the referee didn’t ask him specifically if he wanted to continue, he’d be up on his feet in the 11th. He’s a true warrior; I only have more respect for him. I don’t consider him a quitter, he had a chance to quit in the 8th from both knockdowns and not get up, but he didn’t. “
    A lot of doors opened up for the guy that was known as the flagship ESPN2 fighter. Before getting ready to travel back to Russia, I asked what’s next for Provodnikov. His promoter wants Marquez, Pacquiao, and especially Bradley. The fans want him in all types of matchups with fighters from HBO’s Rival Network, Showtime. He simply replied with, “Rest and family time in Russia.”