By Dan Ambrose: It goes without saying that light welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) fought a stupid fight last time he took on unbeaten Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) last October, and it cost Alvarado the fight, as he was stopped in the 7th round. Alvarado and Rios will be fighting a rematch on March 30th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Alvarado failed to follow the blueprint that Richard Abril had set in how to beat Rios from April of last year. Abril didn’t get the win, but he clearly badly beat Rios and made him look silly in the process.
The fact that the judges didn’t give Abril the decision is more of an indication about how sad the judging is in the boxing world. Rios lost that fight, and lost it badly. Alvarado only had to stick to the game plan that Abril had put together in beating Rios by boxing him for 12 rounds.
Abril showed that Rios is just another flat-footed fighter in the same mold as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
None of those guys can box to save their lives, and if you fight them by standing still like Alvarado tried to do against Rios, then you’re probably going to lose unless you have Julian Jackson type power. Alvarado can punch, but he’s no Jackson. He deserved to lose to Rios because he fought such a truly dumb fight.
This time Alvarado says he has a secret plan, which really isn’t so secret. He’s clearly going to box Rios this time, and if he’s smart he’ll avoid going toe-to-toe with him like he did last time and just focus on getting the victory.
That still doesn’t mean that Alvarado will get the decision, because if the judges are willing to give Rios a decision in a fight where he was completely dominated in against Abril, then it’s possible we could see Rios get another one of those decisions against Alvarado. However, Alvarado will at least put himself in the position to get the victory if the judges are scoring the fight the way they should be.
Alvarado told thaboxingvoice.com “It’s going to be a different fight, and I’m going to fight the way I train…I’ve got to stay focused.”
Comments are closed.