Atlas: If Alvarado boxes Rios then he’ll lose

By Boxing News - 03/29/2013 - Comments

rios222By Allan Fox: ESPN2 broadcaster Teddy Atlas believes people have the wrong idea by thinking that light welterweight Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) can beat Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) if he boxes him and stays away from exchanges in their fight this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Atlas doesn’t see how that can work given that Alvarado doesn’t have the defense to fight successfully on the outside, and that he has a bad habit of standing straight up and throwing his jabs from too close to his opponents.

Atlas doesn’t see Alvarado having any luck whether he fights on the outside or on the inside. Atlas feels the only way Alvarado can win is if his team has fixed his flaws when fighting on the outside.

Atlas said to ESPN: “I think we’re going to see in this fight where Rios dominates. Very rarely do you see a rematch, even though it was a great fight, when the guy that got knocked out, when he comes back usually he does put up the same kind of effort because mentally he’s already been vanquished. So it’s very rare. You go back to Arguello and Pryor; you go back even further to the heavyweights years ago to Marciano and Walcott and their first great fight; the 2nd fight, the guy that lost by knockout psychologically he doesn’t feel, what more can he do after he did everything he can.

The key in this fight [Alvarado-Rios]; I think Rios is going to win. I think the key in this fight with everyone talking, the so called experts, ‘Alvarado has to box more.’ He can do one of two things. He can box, he can fight on the inside, and he’s naturally the bigger guy, but it didn’t work for him against Rios. Everyone thought the first time he’d fight on the inside because he’s the naturally bigger guy, but it didn’t work for him against Rios, who’s a better and stronger inside fighter. But when he went to box this really was when he got hurt.

I laughed at all these experts that say he’s got to box more now. Does anybody have open eyes? Does anybody see what I saw? When he was boxing on the outside, not on the inside, when he was boxing on the outside that’s when Alvarado got hurt with a right hand because he has a flaw in boxing, and unless he gets that corrected he’s going to get knocked out again. When he jabs from the outside, he jabs from too close.

He [Alvarado] stands straight up, doesn’t move his head, and he gets caught with right hands. That’s what he gets caught with. So all the people out there who say he’s got to box more, I say if he boxes he gets knocked out. I don’t know what he’s going to do but it’s going to be a good one.”

I think we’re going to find that Alvarado is the same fighter that lost to Rios last October, and he won’t do anything different. Alvarado always jabs from too close, and he’s always easy to hit when he’s on the outside.



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