By Thomas Gerbasi - This shouldn’t be the time to put any pressure on Floyd Mayweather, Robert Guerrero, Saul Alvarez, Austin Trout, Nonito Donaire, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Wladimir Klitschko, or any of the other boxers competing in big fights this spring, but let’s say it anyway. Let’s say that for everyone who steps into a boxing ring, the recent Mike Alvarado vs. Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley vs. Ruslan Provodnikov bouts should be required viewing.
What happens after that should be a renewed sense of what it means to be a prizefighter, and what it means to go into the ring and deliver a performance that fans will be talking about for weeks, one that will prevent them from going to sleep that night because the adrenalin is still pumping.
That’s what this year’s Fab Four of Alvarado, Rios, Bradley, and Provodnikov gave us. It wasn’t just about the action, the knockdowns and near knockdowns, or the high stakes involved. What we saw over two magnificent Saturday nights in March was the kind of drama Hollywood could never deliver because the silver screen version is just not real.
For Bradley, it was expected that a win over Provodnikov could never lift a profile that hit rock bottom in the dark days following his controversial win over Manny Pacquiao. As for Provodnikov, he was a tough guy, but virtually unknown outside of hardcore boxing circles, and expected to remain there win or lose on March 16.
Two weeks later, Alvarado and Rios would get acquainted again. Their first fight was an instant classic, and instant classics are rarely repeated in the rematch. The hard luck Alvarado had lost the first fight of his career to Rios by way of a referee stoppage some said was too early. But his tendency to eat power shots made most believe that the end would come even quicker the second time around. Rios? He was the guy Cus D’Amato could have prophesized about when he said those who are born round don’t die square. There were no surprises with Rios – he would fight the same way against Alvarado that he did the first time. [Click Here To Read More]
What happens after that should be a renewed sense of what it means to be a prizefighter, and what it means to go into the ring and deliver a performance that fans will be talking about for weeks, one that will prevent them from going to sleep that night because the adrenalin is still pumping.
That’s what this year’s Fab Four of Alvarado, Rios, Bradley, and Provodnikov gave us. It wasn’t just about the action, the knockdowns and near knockdowns, or the high stakes involved. What we saw over two magnificent Saturday nights in March was the kind of drama Hollywood could never deliver because the silver screen version is just not real.
For Bradley, it was expected that a win over Provodnikov could never lift a profile that hit rock bottom in the dark days following his controversial win over Manny Pacquiao. As for Provodnikov, he was a tough guy, but virtually unknown outside of hardcore boxing circles, and expected to remain there win or lose on March 16.
Two weeks later, Alvarado and Rios would get acquainted again. Their first fight was an instant classic, and instant classics are rarely repeated in the rematch. The hard luck Alvarado had lost the first fight of his career to Rios by way of a referee stoppage some said was too early. But his tendency to eat power shots made most believe that the end would come even quicker the second time around. Rios? He was the guy Cus D’Amato could have prophesized about when he said those who are born round don’t die square. There were no surprises with Rios – he would fight the same way against Alvarado that he did the first time. [Click Here To Read More]
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