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It's a big day in Moscow, as former junior welterweight titleholder Ruslan Provodnikov will return to the ring to face former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo in a fight that could get a little gross, while 62-year-old actor Mickey Rourke returns to the ring for the first time in 20 years.
Rossiya-2 is televising the fights.
Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KO) is looking to rebound from his June upset loss to Chris Algieri, and Castillo (66-12-1, 57 KO) is a pretty safe opponent. The 40-year-old Castillo has won a pair of fights this year in Mexico, but the last time we saw him against a decent opponent was in February 2013, when he was blown out over 10 rounds by Antwone Smith.
Castillo hasn't been a contender since 2007, when that part of his career pretty much ended at the hands of Ricky Hatton, who knocked him out in four rounds.
Rourke (6-0, 4 KO) briefly boxed professionally from 1991-94 before quitting to go back to acting, where he had a pretty remarkable comeback a few years ago. That seems to have largely petered out, and now he's fighting again, not because he has to, but because he wants to, and it's something he enjoys. He'll be facing 29-year-old Elliot Seymour (1-9, 1 KO). As far as 62-year-old actors go, this is a safe fight.
Undercard
- Eduard Troyanovsky (19-0, 16 KO) vs Jose Agustin Feria (16-1-1, 10 KO), lightweights, 12 rounds
- Dmitry Kudrayshov (15-0, 15 KO) vs Juan Carlos Gomez (55-3, 40 KO), cruiserweights, 12 rounds
- Rakhim Chakhkiev (20-1, 15 KO) vs Jackson Junior (15-1, 13 KO), cruiserweights, 10 rounds
- Andrey Klimov (18-1, 9 KO) vs Gabino Cota (16-2-1, 14 KO), super featherweights, 10 rounds
- Sergey Lipinets (4-0, 3 KO) vs Ernie Sanchez (14-5-1, 5 KO), junior welterweights, 10 rounds
- Egor Mekhontsev (6-0, 6 KO) vs Joey Vegas (17-9-1, 10 KO), light heavyweights, 8 rounds
- Sergey Kuzmin (pro debut) vs Nicolas Buule (3-0, 3 KO), heavyweights, 6 rounds
- Dmitry Bivol (pro debut) vs Jorge Rodriguez Olivera (25-10, 12 KO), light heavyweights, 6 rounds