Hello boxing fans! With the Miguel Cotto/Delvin Rodriguez mismatch out of the way, we can look towards the immediate boxing future for a mini-forecast of the action. First on tap: Next 
Saturday, October 12th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada – HBO Pay Per View
— Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KOs) takes on undefeated underdog and WBO welterweight champion, Timothy Bradley (30-0, 12 KOs).
What I think:
Timothy Bradley has always found a way to win through his tenacity, gamesmanship and courage (not to mention his iron jaw that bruiser, Ruslan Provodnikov was only just able to dent). That said, this fight seems like a put up or shut up fight for the Desert Storm. He has been given some questionable ‘benefit of the doubt’ calls in recent times, however, I do believe that this encounter with one of Mexico’s all-time legendary fighters will be different.
Juan Manuel Marquez, despite his horrendous showing against the sport’s top fighter, Floyd Mayweather, has nearly always looked spectacular in the ring. The Mexican’s gifts lie in his timing, experience, counter punching acumen and obviously with his intelligence. At 40 years of age and looking in more incredible shape every time I see him, Dinamita is not likely to let Bradley escape with a victory. Look for Marquez to claim a close, but deserved points decision over Tim Bradley.
Quick hits from the undercard – Orlando Salido TKO7 Orlando Cruz
–Saturday, October 12th from the First Bank Center in Denver, Colorado, hometown all-action fighter, Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KOs) will face stone cold wrecking machine, Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KOs) for the interim WBO junior welterweight title.
What I think:
In their 2013 fight-of-the-year type scrap, Ruslan Provodnikov was arguably cheated out of two or three knockdowns that likely could have resulted in his victory over Timothy Bradley. Pat Russell, however, had something to say about that, or not say, rather.
Provodnikov is a rare type of fighter that isn’t afraid to lose to put on an incredible performance for his fans. When he faces Mike High Mike Alvarado, I don’t think that he’s going to have to concede another victory. Like the Siberian Rocky puts it in his interesting interview with Max Kellerman – “Whoever has a stronger will is going to win. Whoever can break the other’s will is going to win. It’s not going to be about technique, simply war.” Ruslan Provodnikov will stop the entertaining Alvarado inside of 11 rounds.
— Saturday, November 2nd from Madison Square Garden in New York City, Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 KOs) will accept the challenge from Curtis Stevens (25-3, 18 KOs) for the IBO and WBA world middleweight championships.
What I think:
I’ve seen GGG sparring. I’ve seen him spar some much bigger men and make them fall to his power. His innocent disposition and baby face have absolutely nothing to do with the Kazakhstani Killer once he enters the squared circle.
Curtis Showtime Stevens looked decent in his last few fights, notably against limited opponent, Derrick Findley, but with Golovkin, Stevens will find that he’s in with a whole different species. Look for Triple G to out work, out land and eventually crush the will and body of Curtis Stevens sometime in the fifth round.
— I missed the heavyweight champion fight this Saturday; I had official duties to attend to. From what I’ve been reading, I might have been lucky to have missed it. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll watch it…by accident…for a few seconds, until I realize what is going on and delete it from my holographic neural parietal lobe media interface.
— HBO aired a rather interesting Face Off With Max Kellerman recently. Facing off were Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov. It’s not often that boxers are totally honest in defeat, it’s not often that fighters are totally candid in their responses…here are a few of the more compelling moments from that episode.
MK: How do you beat Ruslan Provodnikov?
MA: “I dig deep, I fight with my heart and soul, I execute every preparation, I utilize every weapon that I know how.”
MK: …He [Provodnikov] just comes to go to war, how do you fight a guy like that?
“We’re going to fight regardless. Yeah, I could box all night, switch my game plan up but we’re going to have to fight regardless, I’m going to have to fight him off me to box. My boxing game is going to have to go from fighting to boxing, back to fighting and to boxing, either way my style is going to change back and forth.”
MK: What are your thoughts on fighting Mike Alvarado?
RP: “It will be very exciting. Mike is a very experienced boxer, he has a strong character. It’s a clash of two characters – two wills. Whoever has a stronger will is going to win. Whoever can break the other’s will is going to win. It’s not going to be about technique, simply war. It’s just going to be a street fight, I promise you that.
MK: How do you beat Mike Alvarado?
RP: “You have to understand, in this fight, the physical condition and technical preparation are not as important as character and will. The one who’s willing to go until the end will win the match. Whoever overpowers the other’s will is going to break the other. You have to be morally prepared for the fight, not physically or technically. For Mike to win the fight, he has to knock me out. There’s no other way.”
MK: What do you have to say to Mike?
RP: “There’s a lot of training ahead of us. I will go to church and light a candle for Mike. I’m going to pray that he won’t get hurt during training so we can step in the ring in good health and give the people the fight they are expecting – and they are expecting fireworks. For whoever watches on TV and for those at the fight, they will not regret it. Whatever I promised before the fight with Bradley, I kept my word – I’m promising for this fight again.”
MK: …How are we supposed to react to you saying it’s not about the money, it’s not about the belts, that it’s about the glory?
RP: “It’s not a farce…it comes from my heart, I’m not fighting for myself. I’m fighting for my people. After the Bradley fight my fans called me “The People’s Champion”. That’s more important than any belts. It’s not a farce, it’s what I feel.”
Stay tuned fight fans…Exciting times await in the months ahead.
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