Mike Alvarado v Ruslan Provodnikov

It's not every fight that has fans really looking forward to it with anticipation of a sure-fire war but this weekend's WBO Light Welterweight title fight between Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23) and Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16) was one such fight. It was two men who had styles made for each other, two men who had power and heart and two men who knew how to entertain fans.

Whilst many such fights can fall short of their mark I think it's fair to say that this lived to expectation and it seemed clear from the off that this wasn't going to just fall short.

The action kicked off in the way we expected. Provodnikov came forward, living up to the idea that he hasn't got a reverse gear and Alvarado showed off his superior boxing fighting Provodnikov off whilst fighting off the back foot. Alvarado certainly looked the better "boxer" but Provodnikov was having success and seemed to take the round with his harder clearer shots.

The fact Alvarado had lost the opening round saw him going to plan B. Boxing and moving. When Alvarado was fighting on the move he made Provodnikov look rather limited and in fact the movement looked like it was confusing the Russian who clearly lost rounds 2 and 3. Oddly it was whilst Alvarado was boxing on the move that a strange feeling seemed to come over the bout, "this might actually go the distance".

Alvarado's clear successes came to an end in round 4 as he began to get a little over-confident and almost seemed to fight Provodnikov's bout. This was a silly mistake though one that he likely thought could help break Provodnikov's confidence. If he could beat Provodnikov on the inside then where was Provodnikov going to go? Unfortunately, as mentioned, it backfired.

Alvarado returned to his moving tactics in round 5 as he tried to reestablish control of the bout, though unfortunately his output had dropped and the first 2 minutes or so were about Provodnikov who actually threw punches. Alvarado tried to steal in the final minute but it was too little too late as Provodnikov seemed to take a narrow lead. Thankfully for Alvarado his reestablished himself in round 6, which like round 5 had been close though he seemed to have just done enough to claim it as we moved in to the second half of the fight with a level, or near level score card.

The close nature of rounds 5 and 6 was again felt in round 7, a round that for 2 minutes 58 seconds was an even round. Unfortunately for the defending champion he lost the round in those final 2 seconds as he was shaken up, hard.

It wasn't so much that Alvarado had lost round 7 in the final 2 seconds that had proven to be a key, but that Provodnikov had hurt genuinely hurt him. It was less about the "10-9" on a piece of paper but more about the huge confidence boost Provodniov had had from the action at the bell, confidence that seemed to really boost him in round 8.

The eighth round by far the most crucial to the fight. Provodnikov grew from the previous round and hurt  Alvarado early in the round. Provodnikov landed a shot upstairs that hurt Alvarado then a body shot that seemed to really shake Alvarado up. A follow up attack sent Alvarado down for a 9 count and from then on it was Alvarado never looked the same man. He was dropped again later in the round then did all he could to survive through the final minute of the round.

By round 9 it looked like we were only going to have a new champion. Unfortunately Provodnikov was starting to look tired and he could capitalise on Alvarado who was still looking very leggy. Alvarado managed to avoid a fight, despite his legs looking tired, through out round 9 though he did lose the round by doing very little in terms of offensive work.

It was starting to look like Provodnikov had missed his chance to stop Alvarado though a huge assault at the end of round 10 forced the defending champions corner to act. They knew their man was spent, they knew he had struggled with weight and they knew that he needed saving before his career was thrown away chasing a lost cause. They refused, rightfully, to let their man out for round 11 conceding the title though saving what was left of their man.

Mike Alvarado v Brandon Rios II

Many say that rematches are rarely as good as the original bout though Mike "Mile High" Alvarado (34-1, 23) and Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23) proved that rematches can be just as good as the the first bout as they re-ran one of 2012's fights of the year, this time with a distinctly different outcome as Mike Alvarado claimed the interim WBO Light Welterweight title.

The fight started well for Rios who appeared to claim the first 2 rounds with aggression and the fact that he managed to get Alvarado to trade in the early rounds. The most telling moment of the opening rounds was Rios staggering Alvarado with a jab though Rios couldn't put Alvarado down as he followed up his attack.

In round 3 we saw Alvarado coming back at his rival as he starting to box well and even appeared to hurt Rios with an amazing flurry late in the round that Rios did well to take and not go over. Alvarado continued to grow in to the bout following his success in round 3 and he seemed to level off the scores as he took round 4 to move to 38-38.

Round 5 was one of the bouts closest rounds though the key moment was a low blow by Rios who had been tagged hard just moments earlier. The low blow seemed to effect Alvarado early the following round as his pace and movement stopped and Rios appeared to take the round despite both men having their moments.

Alvarado reclaimed the initiative in round 7 as he used his movement and quicker hands to land flurries on Rios and move away as Rios seemed to start to slow down a little bit. Although again both men traded it just appeared that Rios' shots lacked the power they had earlier in the bout and even in the first bout between the two men. In all honesty if either man had the power to hurt the other it appeared that it was Alvarado who stunned Rios in round 8 as Rios again showed off his amazing chin.

By round 9 it seemed that Rios was slowing notably and certainly wasn't having the success he had had earlier in the bout. Rios' slowed tempo and extra movement by Alvarado allowed "Mile High" to claim another round as Rios' corner started to become a little worried at their man who was hurt again late in the round. Although he wasn't being beaten from pillar to post Rios was certainly struggling to enforce himself in the bout.

Alvarado continued to have continued success in round 10 as he looked to be pulling away from Rios but then in round 11 Rios fought back and appeared to rock Alvarado who's face was becoming a real mess. Alvarado's face only got worse the following round as his left eye became a mess as well as his right eye (which had been bleeding from the second round) despite this he managed to see out the final and in fact seemed to stun Rios twice late in the round despite the fact that Rios was the one needing the KO.

Although Alvarado's face was a bloody mess he had done enough to claim a decision and when the cards were read out (115-113-twice and 114-113-some how). After the score cards both men seemed to indicate that they were willing to engage in Alvarado v Rios III a bout that could be just as good as this one!