By Alexey Sukachev

Luzhniki, Moscow, Russia - In his first fight back since the upset split decision loss to Chris Algieri in June, former WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17KOs) beat down 40-year old Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo (66-13-1, 57KOs) , who previously held the WBC lightweight title years ago and is viewed by most as being well past his best days. Provodnikov got a fifth round knockout after working Castillo over round after round.

Provodikov went right after Castillo, throwing punches from all angles to the head and body. Castillo landed a few decent punches, but not enough to slow Provodnikov down. "Siberian Rocky" continued to land in the second to the head and body. During the fourth, Castillo got the inside and stood his ground, choosing to go toe to toe with Provodnikov and getting hit with plenty of counters for his trouble.

In the fifth, Castillo was rocked and then bombed hard with punches until he went down. He made it up but then bombed some more until he was going down for a second time and somewhat motioned to the referee that he'd had enough and the referee jumped in to wave things off as Castillo crumpled down to the canvas for a second time.