By Manuel Perez: Undefeated light welterweight prospect Mike Alvarado (21-0, 14 KOs) stopped Michel Rosales (16-2, 14 KOs) in the 7th round of a scheduled 10-round bout at the Isleta Casino & Resort, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday night. Alvarado, 27, considered one of the top prospects coming up in the light welterweight division, staggered Rosales, 25, with a big right hand at the end of the 6th round. Knowing that Rosales probably hadn’t recovered from the shot, Alvarado went right after Rosales in the 7th round and took him out with a flurry of big combinations, causing referee Rocky Burke to step in and halt the fight while Rosales was still standing at 1:28 of the 7th round.
Early on Alvarado looked mostly boring, somewhat like a smaller version of Winky Wright, except that Alvarado’s defense what rather porous to say the least. Though Rosales rarely threw any punches in the first round, he scored virtually every time he let his hands go. Alvarado, however, let his offense work as his defense as he continuously threw a steady rain of jabs over and over again. Occasionally, he’d throw a decent right hand, but mostly he’d miss with his power shots. Indeed, Alvarado’s accuracy was downright terrible despite the fact that Rosales wasn’t using any head movement or attempting to duck any of the shots.
Showing not much power, Alvarado continued to jab Rosales silly in the 2nd round. For his part, Rosales looked like a weak version of Erik Morales, seemingly unable to crack and egg with the weak arm punches he was throwing during the round. It wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t get much power on his shots, because Rosales arms were incredibly thin, looking more like a pair of wrists than actual arms. With little threat of getting hit with anything big, Alvarado began to get confident, starting to come in closer with some left hooks and uppercuts. Still not much power for a fighter rated as highly as he is. I wasn’t too impressed with what I was seeing of Alvarado, to tell you the truth. Boring style, and not much power to speak of from Alvarado.
In the third round, Al continued jabbing mostly, though he did finally start to throw a few more right hands. Rosales did a little more in the round himself, but he still wasn’t worrying Alvarado any with his weak arm shots. An easy round for Alvarado, but very boring to watch.
In rounds four through six, Alvarado began to totally dominate the action. Alvarado landed some good shots at the end of the 4th round, and appeared to be trying to end matters with a late flurry. Rosales showed a good chin, taking the shots without even seeming bothered in the slightest. Clearly, with Alvarado’s lack of power, he was going to have to land a lot of punches to get Rosales out of there rather than scoring a one-punch knockout. Rosales began to show redness under his left eye in the 6th round. At the end of the 6th, Alvarado hurt Rosales with a big right hand that staggered him. Alvarado attempted to take him out with a flurry but most of the shots missed badly, allowing Rosales to escape the round without going down.
In the 7th round, Alvarado looked cocky as he bounced around the ring, throwing jabs as usual. Suddenly, however, Alvarado opened up with a flurry of shots that further hurt Rosales, who backed up to the ropes and attempted to cover up. Referee Rocky Burke, seeing Rosales’ predicament, he jumped in and stopped the bout at 1:28 of the round.