Shannon Briggs. How about that?

Now, I’ll give Shannon this. He can talk.

Brian Gordon (4-0, 4 KO, Barstow, CA) v. Ruslan Ruslan Pvodnikov (7-0, 6 KO, Berezovo, Russia)

Junior welters

See what we got here. This is a six-rounder.

Gordon comes out very aggressively as the underdog, jabbing and going to the body. Big, whacking left hook attempt is picked off. Provodnikov with a nice counter right. One-two from Ruslan. Sharp jab from Gordon, then he lands a nice counter right of his own. Provodnikov is a very experienced amateur fighter, but Gordon has surely come to fight. Gordon served in the U.S. Army.

This is a nice first round of the night, I’ll say that. Good action, no clinching, nice punching. Provodnikov starts unloading with Gordon against the ropes, and Gordon eats it all up. That was a fun round.

Gordon 10-9, but that was a toss-up

Tarver immediately takes umbrage with being called the former light heavyweight champion when they go to the studio.

BK tells Tarver, “No offense,” when they go back to ringside.

Provodnikov is starting to look like the superior fighter. Late in the first, he’d certainly grabbed the momentum. He’s now throwing some very hard, very serious shots, including a hammer to the body. Gordon misses a massive uppercut, then eats a few more good shots from Provodnikov.

The pace of this one just screams early KO.

Hard shot from Provodnikov who’s just tagging Gordon now. This is getting fairly ugly. Gordon is on unsteady legs and winded, getting beaten up pretty steadily. Gordon has guts though, throwing another good jab to try and keep Ruslan honest. Left hand from Provodnikov.

Uppercut between the gloves doesn’t land flush, and now Gordon is winging wild, sweeping shots, trying to score something big and turn the tide. Great shot by Provodnikov rattles Gordon’s cage, and we’re seeing the development of a one-sided blowout. Round ends with a strong 1-2 from Provodnikov. He’s ready to knock this guy out.

Provodnikov 10-9
19-19

Gordon smoked with another counter right, but he comes out aggressive again, throwing leather until he clearly runs out of gas. This is like using a turbo button on a video game for Brian Gordon.

Gordon stunned again—man, this kid is tough. These are shots that would put down a lot of guys, let alone guys with four pro fights and limited amateur experience. Briggs is really a pretty damn good commentator.

Provodnikov switches to southpaw briefly after taking a nice shot from Gordon. There hasn’t been a single clinch in three rounds of action. Non-stop punching from both guys, lots of power punching. This is the right way to start a Friday Night Fights.

Provodnikov has a cut on the outside of his right eye. Much better round for Gordon, really, who’s showing some serious intestinal fortitude. Vicious hook to the body from Provodnikov, and he grabs this round.

Provodnikov 10-9
Provodnikov 29-28

Immediately, Provodnikov corners Gordon and starts hammering away. Gordon walks out of it, but he’s running on empty. Hands are low, the body language is showing his legs failing him, and he’s in trouble.

Provodnikov keeps wailing away, and Gordon tries to fight back with all he’s got left. WICKED body shot, then a glancing left to the jaw shows Gordon very hurt. That body shot was a killer, and Gordon is only living on muscle and guts right now.

Uppercut misses, but Gordon is ready to topple. Provodnikov’s body punching is very impressive, and I’m getting really excited about this guy. He can fight, and will add to the depth at 140.

Gordon starts landing! Well how do you like that? Talk about balls. Sneaky left from Provodnikov, then back to the body.

Provodnikov falls on a shoulder bump. His face is showing some wear and tear—he’s tried his best to put Gordon away, and isn’t able to do it yet. He’s showing some signs of fatigue himself.

Hell of a good fight so far.

Provodnikov 10-9
Provodnikov 39-37

Gordon is looking like he’s found an extra reserve of spring in his legs, moving around the ring very well, forcing Provodnikov into a stalker mode. Gordon is showing me a lot in the way of willpower. Provodnikov is clearly the better, more experienced fighter, but Gordon refuses to give up on himself or this fight.

Ruslan, on the other hand, seems to maybe lack a killer instinct. He could’ve knocked Gordon out in the third round, I think. Maybe even the second. Both guys are tired and after one round I didn’t think we’d be seeing the fifth, but here we are.

Provodnikov is a lot less active this round, but he’s still winning the round. Gordon is trying to pick him off from a distance, but isn’t landing much.

Provodnikov 10-9
Provodnikov 49-46

Final round. Hats off to both guys, hell of a TV opener.

Nice shot from Gordon! Provodnikov backs up and stops coming forward. Here he comes back, though. That might’ve been Brian Gordon’s last big shot. Stiff exchange at center ring. Provodnikov hit and staggered a little bit again. What a super fight this has been. Had no expectations coming in, and it’s been wonderful to watch these guys come out and give this type of effort.

Final minute of the fight. I could watch this one for six more rounds.

Provodnikov looks like he’s sort of taking the round easy, but then he tags Gordon again.

Excellent stuff.

Gordon 10-9
Provodnikov 58-56

59-55
58-56
60-54

RUSLAN PROVODNIKOV VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION

He earned it. Again, damn good fight. Can’t wait to see more of Provodnikov.

Back to the studio so that Tarver can do his fake smile, talk fake trash, and whine a lot.

Randy Couture and Chad Dawson

Gogoladaze-Kim is on tap

Kim, like Gordon, comes out firing. Gogoladze is a boxer, not a puncher. Kim is a puncher. There’s a beautiful counter shot from Koba. Briggs is quite candid about his “MMA” career.

Kim hurt on a shot from Gogoladze, and then he just gets SMOKED with a left hand. Well this has been a hell of a night of fighting so far. I wonder if this will inspire Chris Byrd to come out and brawl?

WHAM!

WHAM!

Koba DRILLED with a left hand, and down he goes! Koba’s up, but that was reminiscent of Darchinyan-Donaire.

KIM UNLOADS

IT’S OVER

IT’S OVER

Jin-Hoo Kim TKO-1

That was SO Darchinyan against Donaire. Koba was too cocky and got hammered.

Very interested to see how Byrd looks. Stamina could be an issue. Or it might be exactly what he needed.

Well, here we go. Man, that’s CHRIS BYRD in there.

George goes to the body with a straight right after an opening flurry that lands nothing, maybe one whacking right to the side. George with rights upstairs, and Byrd tries to duck and dodge. George throws heavy shots inside on Byrd after Chris can’t land anything.

Stiff jab from George. George drills him with a right and Byrd is hurt. Uhhh… the first two minutes of this have not gone well for Chris Byrd. Byrd has done nothing thus far. Maybe that’s on purpose, but you can’t afford to just give rounds away.

Byrd goes down on a counter right. Byrd thinks he slipped. But he was down officially. George has come out to make his name, no joke. George with another good right, but that was a telling round. Chris Byrd does not look good.

Let’s not forget he’s 37 years old and this is a MASSIVE drop in weight.

George 10-8

Byrd seems confused about his performance in the corner. Replay shows that that was a fair knockdown.

Chris needs to find some rhythm here. George is all over him through one round and it wasn’t even remotely close. That could’ve been 10-8 without a knockdown. He got dominated.

George isn’t content with just one shot, he’s throwing two and three at a time when he sees so much as a minor opening. Hook lands, and Byrd is again in trouble. This doesn’t look like it’s working, but kudos to Shaun George for making it not work so far.

Byrd has gone orthodox. He looks lost. Absolutely lost. And he’s tagged with another right hand. And again. He’s picking Byrd apart with that right hand.

Another counter right lands square. Byrd has no clue what to do next. His punches have no snap, his legs don’t look good, and this is just not the Chris Byrd we’re used to seeing in any way. George is killing him.

George 10-9
George 20-17

BLH echoes the best wishes to Teddy Atlas and his wife Elaine. Get back soon, Teddy, and get well, Elaine.

First minute of this round does go a little better, and finally Chris Byrd lands a little bit and gets off first. And then here comes Shaun George right back into it. George takes over again in the final minute. We’re seeing a really one-sided fight—I’m not shocked, but I am somewhat surprised at how easily he’s doing it. Byrd is on his last legs if these three rounds are any indication.

George 10-9
George 30-26

BK is making note of Byrd lacking energy. I’m not sure it’s the weight, either; this is just looking like an old fighter who is totally faded. Any hopes we had of Byrd throwing his ring into the old man bottle toss at light heavy are looking like they’re fading with him.

George hurts Byrd again in this round, and he largely dominates another round. Byrd hasn’t done a single thing offensively that has worked. Not one single thing. George has taken his foot off the gas a little bit, perhaps because he feels like he doesn’t need to press to get this job done. Right now, he looks like he’s right.

George 10-9
George 40-35

Shaun George deserves a lot of credit, too. We’re going to wind up talking about Chris Byrd failing if this keeps up, but Shaun George is the guy hitting him. Shaun George is the guy dominating the fight. He’s doing a hell of a job.

Byrd gets absolutely nailed with another shot. Tarver expresses some sadness about Byrd’s performance, and I’m with him. We all know that Chris Byrd is (or was) a better fighter than this. Much better. This isn’t even close.

George with a bomb of a left hand that is mostly blocked but still backs Chris down. I don’t know what Chris Byrd did in camp, but that video package just told us about him running and losing weight and eating less. I know he sparred with Steve Cunningham, but really, I can’t tell what his gameplan could have been coming in. This has been a blowout.

George 10-9
George 50-44

More shots that Byrd eats, but God bless him he’s trying. George has landed 36/45 (80%) body shots.

Another round for Shaun George. Byrd can’t do this 175 stuff. He’s just too old and too spent. He’s had a hell of a career. We’re seeing the likely end of it.

George 10-9
George 60-53

BK reports that Byrd went over to them between rounds, leaned over the ropes and said, “I look like crap.” You know, he’s never been anything less than a very honest guy. When Wlad pounded him the second time, I recall he summed it up something close to, “Man, I got my ass kicked, huh?”

And if he’s at the point where he’s saying that, he can give the physical impression that he hasn’t given up, but he has.

He’s doing better the last few rounds than he did early on, but he was hideous early on, so that isn’t so hard.

George 10-9
George 70-62

George with more crisp rights. Joe Byrd, Sr., is also honest on the mic. “He’s acting like he’s fighting a heavyweight.” That’d be hard not to do. That’s all he’s ever done for the last 15 years.

George continues to work the right hand at will, leading with it, countering with it, and just outclassing Chris Byrd tonight. Shaun George came to fight tonight, and he deserves this win, which he’s earning. Byrd has simply hit the brick wall. This was a gutsy move to go down to 175, but it is not working. If only he’d done this years ago.

George 10-9
George 80-71

A minute in, and George hits him with another right hand. Tommy Brooks (George’s trainer) wants Shaun to put Byrd away. That’s a good trainer, a guy that always pushes for more.

Byrd looks hurt again. I’m starting to think about Shaun George moving forward now. A fight with Chris Henry on ESPN2 might be doable and good.

Oh, God—right hand, and Byrd goes down in very ugly fashion. He’s up and says he’s OK, but that looked awful.

He’s hurt, Jay Nady needs to end this.

Byrd’s down again. Just stay down, Chris.

And he tells Jay to stop it.

Chris, thanks for the career and for being a stand-up, quality SOB. But it’s over. Call it a day. You could be a hell of a trainer or commentator or anything else if you want it.

Shaun George TKO-9