Ruslan Provodnikov entered his fight Saturday with junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado with the reputation of a vicious fighter. Provodnikov lived up to that by stopping a battered and beaten Alvarado after the 10th round at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo., near Denver. Provodnikov took Alvarado’s championship belt.

Both fighters had battered faces. Alvarado was decked twice in the eighth round.

After the 10th round, referee Tony Weeks asked Alvarado if he wanted to continue. Weeks was blocking Alvarado, so his response was not seen or heard  on the HBO telecast. But Weeks then said, “This fight’s over,” and waved it off as Alvarado sat on his stool.

Alvarado, 33, of Denver, is 34-2. Provodnikov, 29, of Russia, is 23-2 with 16 knockouts.

Most boxers who become successful in the pro ranks started as very young amateurs. We’re talking 8, 9 years old. At the latest. That’s why it’s always cool to see someone get a late start and become world champion. Such is the case with Denver’s Mike Alvarado, who Oct. 19 will defend his junior welterweight belt against hard-hitting Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia at First Bank Center near Denver (on HBO).

Alvarado was kind of in no-man’s land a couple of years out of high school when the boxing bug bit him at the age of 20.

“I guess it was just the way I was living,”Alvarado said via telephone this week, when asked what prompted him to take up the sweet science at that late stage. “I mean, after high school I wasn’t really doing anything. You know, work or nothing. So one day I was figuring out what to do with myself and I went to the gym. I was just so determined to do something. I mean, I was multi-talented. I played every sport you can think of. I was a wrestler my whole life.
“I was just so curious what I could do with it, and it was just meant to be. I just went with it and stood with it and gave it my all and it blossomed.”

Alvarado, 33, is 34-1 with 23 knockouts. Provodnikov, 29, is 22-2 with 15 knockouts.