Quote Originally Posted by Jack Rauber View Post
I am surprised by the number who thought Alvarado would win this fight. I thought Provodnikov would win it by wearing down Alvarado. I have to admit, though, I knew more about Provodnikov than I did about Alvarado. Alvarado is the bigger man and landed some good shots but Ruslan was more determined. I have to give it to Mike. He has probably more single shot power than Ruslan and appeared to buckle Ruslan in about round 3. But give credit where credit is due. Ruslan comes from a small village in Siberia to win the WBO title. Can you imagine how tough this is to do? No fan base, no promoter helping him. It was all will and belief in himself. Quite a story.
Personally I thought Alvarado would turn the fight into his second fight with Rios. I knew it wouldn't be an easy fight but I did think Alvarado would take it. For Alvarado to not come out of his corner is quite a testament to Prod. Alvarado is a tough SOB. In the after fight interview when Alvarodo said he was concerned about his health you know he was hurting bad. Prod was better in this fight than he was against Bradley and I think we will see him continue to improve. Hats off to Prod but I'm still bummed about Mike losing, especially in his hometown. Mike seemed like the happiest guy on the planet on his way into the ring.