"Mile High" Mike Alvarado is hoping his title defense doesn't turn from boxing to brawling when the World Boxing Organization junior welterweight champion meets up with Ruslan Provodnikov on Saturday night in Broomfield, Colo.
Alvarado knows how dangerous the powerful Russian bruiser is when he's allowed to control the style of fight.
"I'm going to stay on my toes and stay on my game," Alvarado said. "Because with this Russian, you have to be on your toes. You have to be focused, stick to your game plan and not fight his fight."
Alvarado, 33, is from the Denver area and will have quite a home-ring advantage at what's expected to be a sold-out 1stBANK Center.
The home bout is " a dream come true for me," Alvarado told The Denver Post. "This is something that hasn't been here in a long time. The only other thing I've dreamed is fighting at Mile High Stadium."
Alvarado enters 34-1 with 23 knockouts, having won his title seven months ago in a decision over Brandon Rios, the second of two major encounters by the two boxers. While Alvarado won the belt, Rios hit the jackpot — a bout against Manny Pacquiao in November.
Why not Alvarado? Handlers said he injured a hand in the Rios fight that needed surgery. Pacquiao went with the healthy fighter for his next bout.
Provodnikov is 22-2 with 15 knockouts. He is described as tough and aggressive. In March he lost to Timothy Bradley, who last week defending his welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez. The Bradley-Provodnikov war is, according to Yahoo! Sports, a candidate for fight of the year.
Here are upcoming fights, beginning with Saturday.
Oct. 19
At Leipzig, Germany, Mouti Mthalane vs. Silvio Olteanu, 12, for Mthalane's IBF flyweight title.
At Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Javier Fortuna vs. Jose Carmona, 10, super featherweights.
At San Jose, Costa Rica, Bryan Vasquez vs. Rene Gonzalez, 12, for the interim WBA World junior lightweight title.
At 1stBANK Center, Denver (HBO), Mike Alvarado, vs. Ruslan Provodnikov, 12, for Alvardo's WBO junior welterweight title.
Oct. 26
At Manila, Philippines, John Riel Casimero vs. Felipe Salguero, 12, for Casimero's IBF light flyweight title.
At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. (SHO), Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat, 12, for Hopkins' IBF light heavyweight title; Peter Quillin vs. Gabriel Rosado, 12, for Quillin's WBO middleweight title.
At Tijuana, Mexico, Miguel Vazquez vs. Ammeth Diaz, 12, for Vazquez's IBF lightweight title.
Oct. 28
At the Sports House, Redwood City, Calif. (FS1), Manuel Avila vs. Jose Silveira, 10, super bantamweights.
Nov. 2
At Madison Square Garden Theater, New York (HBO), Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens, 12, for Golovkin's WBA World middleweight title; Ola Afolabi vs. Lukasz Janik, 12, for the vacant IBO cruiserweight title; Mike Perez vs. Magomed Abdusalamov, 10, heavyweights.
Nov. 9
At Corpus Christi, Texas (HBO), Roman Martinez vs. Miguel Angel Garcia, 12, for Martinez's WBO junior lightweight title; Nonito Donaire vs. Vic Darchinyan, 10, featherweights; Demetrius Andrade vs. Vanes Martirosyan, 12, for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title.
Nov. 11
At Cowboys Dancehall, San Antonio (FS1), Fidel Maldonado Jr. vs. Luis Ramos Jr., 10, junior welterweights.
Nov. 16
At Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif. (HBO), Andre Ward vs. Edwin Rodriguez, 12, for Ward's WBA World super middleweight title.
Nov. 23
At Macau, China (PPV), Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios, 12, for the vacant WBO welterweight title; Beibut Shumenov vs. Tamas Kovacs, 12, for Shumenov's WBA World/IBA light heavyweight titles; Evgeny Gradovich vs. Billy Dib, 12, for Gradovich's IBF featherweight title.
At Manchester, England, Carl Froch vs. George Groves, 12, for Froch's IBF/WBA Super World super middleweight titles.
Dec. 6
At UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk vs. Giacobbe Fragomeni, 12, for Wlodarczyk's WBC cruiserweight title.
Dec. 7
At Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., Devon Alexander vs. Amir Kahn, 12, for Alexander's IBF welterweight title.
Dec. 14
At TBA, Germany, Yoan Pablo Hernandez vs. Alexander Alekseev, 12, for Hernandez's IBF cruiserweight title.
At the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Adrien Broner vs. Marcos Rene Maidana, 12, for Broner's WBA World welterweight title.
Contributing: Associated Press