Stronger than a typhoon
WHEN Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov declared “I made him not want to fight me anymore,” he made no mention of the weapon he would take into the ring against Mike Alvarado over the weekend.
Of course, the new WBO light welterweight champion, who scored a complete conquest of his sharp, fearsome foe right in Alvarado’s turf in Denver, Colorado, made that declaration after he had scored a sensational TKO with two rounds left in the title contest.
In the case of Alvarado, who had vowed to box and avoid a brutal slug-out, it was too late when he realized he could not escape devastation by ducking the bombs.
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Either Provodnikov overdid himself when he converted into a destroyer, a jackhammer whose only rhythm—if it could be called such—was to dig deep and wreck.
“The fight is about character, not of skill or technique,” Provodnikov explained with the help of an interpreter.
Provodnikov was a nameless fury, who was at his murderous best starting the middle rounds.
The methodical demolition was cruel, but never crude.
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Larry Merchant, awed at the relentless siege, said Provodnikov, known as the Siberian Rocky, was the Rusian Army on the attack.
Provodnikov himself had to walk into several killer shots, mainly in the opening rounds.
He was, however, visibly honed and hardened under a secret, unforgiving discipline.
He was the Siberian Rocky and a whirlwind rolled into one.
Alvarado had been amply warned about his tempestuous foe; it was just too bad Provodnikov went on to rage stronger than a storm.
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At ringside after the fight was stopped, with Alvarado unable to get off his stool, a plumpish matron in green—Provodnikov’s mother—jumped off her seat in glee.
On the opposite edge of the ring, tragic light fell on an elderly couple with distinct Mexican features. Alvarado’s parents were helplessly trying to comfort each other, like a pair lost in the wild ocean, after witnessing their dear warrior son, his face now a gory mask, swallowed by a maelstrom.
Alvarado, who insisted he did not want to quit, was later taken to a hospital and declared out of danger.
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As expected, immediate talk was on who the new WBO light welterweight would be facing next: Tim Bradley, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez?
Meanwhile, Alvarado’s handlers were overheard angling for a rematch between their fallen man and Provodnikov.
Shouldn’t they first determine if Alvarado could still be properly, clinically repaired after the complete devastation?
