Ruslan Provodnikov still waiting for November 7 opponent

Ruslan Provodnikov is set to make his move to Showtime with a November 7 main event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but the 31-year-old junior welterweight brawler doesn't have an opponent yet, and the names being floated are lukewarm ideas at best.

Michael Woods reports three names in the mix being Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, and Petr Petrov. Judah and Mosley are past their sell-by dates for sure, and promoter Artie Pellulo says they're not likely to be Provodnikov's opponent, but if they can't get anyone else, who knows? Judah (42-9, 29 KO) is a Brooklyn native and still has some star power there, though he hasn't fought since December 2013, when he lost to Paulie Malignaggi. Mosley (48-9-1, 40 KO) is at least coming off of a win on August 29, when he beat a pudgy, hopeless Ricardo Mayorga in a pay-per-view rematch few tuned in to see. But Mosley is also 44 years old, and it's been nearly seven years since he beat a legitimate contender at any weight.

Petrov (36-4-2, 17 KO) may not be much more interesting an opponent, either, to be entirely fair. The 32-year-old Russian is a decent lightweight fighter and a contender in what is a very weak division at the moment, and he did win the 2014 Boxcino 135-pound tournament. But he did so against marginal opposition, and his one fight since then came against veteran Gamaliel Diaz, who scored an upset of Takahiro Ao in 2012 but has gone 1-4-1 since then, his only win against a fighter who came in with a 2-6 record.

Petrov has proven to be little more than a fringe contender. In his last two fights against higher-tier opponents, he's lost to Dejan Zlaticanin by decision in 2013, and was knocked out in four rounds by Marcos Maidana in 2011, which is also the last time Petrov fought seriously as a junior welterweight.

Further complicating interest in Provodnikov's next fight is that it will be going head-to-head with the HBO card featuring Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios in what figures to be a good action bout at worst. The good news here is that Provodnikov (24-4, 17 KO) is appointment television no matter who he's fighting. But there's a lot of "bad news" stacking up against this fight, too.

Provodnikov was last seen on April 18 in a competitive but clear loss to Lucas Matthysse on HBO, and is 2-3 in his last five fights.