Ruslan Provodnikov KnockOuts Jose Luis Castillo (VIDEO)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Ruslan Provodnikov KnockOuts Jose Luis Castillo (VIDEO)

Former WBO Junior Welterweight World Champion Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) scored a 5th round KO over former two-time world champion 40-year-old Jose Luis Castillo (66-13-1, 57 KOs) on Friday at the Luzhniki GCKZ “Russia” Arena in Moscow.

Facing an aged and downright washed-up opponent, Ruslan Provodnikov didn't exactly impress by winning the first four rounds, but at least he got the job done early, stopping Jose Luis Castillo on a pair of fifth round knockdowns in Moscow.

The 40-year-old Castillo (66-13-1, 57 KO) hasn't been a relevant contender in seven years now, and wasn't expected to challenge Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KO), who was trying to rebound from a loss to Chris Algieri in June.

Provodnikov was able to do that, beating a guy who got the fight not because he was relevant, but because among Russian boxing fans, he does still have a little name value, or to put it more bluntly, a lot more name value than a lot of more dangerous fighters might have had. He was also willing to fight in Russia against Provodnikov, because six figure paydays aren't going to come Castillo's way too often these days.