DENVER (December 9, 2014) — Former world champions and co-stars of one this era’s most intense and exciting boxing rivalries — Denver’s “Mile High” MIKE ALVARADO and BRANDON “Bam Bam” RIOS of Oxnard, Calif. — announced the final chapter of their epic trilogy at a Denver press conference today. Boasting a combined record of 66-5-1 (45 KOs) — a winning percentage of 92% and a victory by knockout ratio of 68% — each warrior owns a victory in the series — both of which were candidates for Fight of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Alvarado-Rios 3 is scheduled for 12 rounds with the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) International welterweight championship on the line. It will take place Saturday, January 24, at the 1STBANK Center, located in the Denver suburb of Broomfield, CO. The fight will be televised live on HBO, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The last boxing event hosted by 1STBANK Center was sold out in advance — the October 19, 2013 WBO junior welterweight world championship between Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov.
Rios-Alvarado
Brandon Rios needs to move up to 147
By Dan Ambrose: If you saw Brandon Rios’ recent fight against Mike Alvarado last Saturday night then you may have noticed how heavy Rios was for the fight. Instead of being near the 140 lb. weight limit, Rios came into the fight reportedly weighing 161 pounds.
That’s 21 pounds of water weight Rios put on from Friday to Saturday and that’s just too much weight for someone who is campaigning as a light welterweight. Rios was pretty much a middleweight out there against Alvarado last Saturday, and completely lacking in muscle tone.
Rios didn’t look good after the 4th round and seemed to tire out in the second half of the fight in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision. I imagine Rios likes the idea of having an advantage in weight over his 140 pound opponents, but when you have to drain down in weight by 21 pounds the week before the fight that’s just not healthy.
Rios-Alvarado: Brandon predicting 5th round TKO
By Eric Thomas: Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) says he’s going to get Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) out even earlier this time than he did last October in stopping him in the 7th round. Rios and Alvarado will be facing each other on HBO this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios sees his power, pressure and talent as being too much for Alvarado.
Their fight last year was one of the most exciting fights of the year as both guys took huge shots in their back and forth fight. Alvarado got the better of the action for the first five rounds, and he looked like he was on his way to a victory going into the 6th round.
Rios: Broner’s trying to get me to lose focus on Alvarado
By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) thinks WBC lightweight champion and soon to be WBA welterweight champ Adrien Broner is trying to get him to lose concentration for his rematch this Saturday night against Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) by trash talking about him in the media.
Rios said to the boxingchannel.com: “[He’s] talking s***, but the fights never going to happen because he’s with Golden Boy, and I’m with Top Rank. I think he’s trying to get me to lose focus on Mike Alvarado so he can say ‘I told you, Brandon ain’t s***; he can’t touch me.’”
Prescott-Crawford on Rios-Alvarado card on Saturday, 3/30
By Allan Fox: Breidis Prescott (26-4, 20 KOs) will get a chance to get some visibility this Saturday night in a scheduled 10 round bout against unbeaten and highly decorated former amateur star Terence Crawford (19-0, 15 KOs) on the undercard of the Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fight will be televised by HBO, and it’s going to be a great opportunity for the 29-year-old Prescott to put in an exciting fight against another big puncher in the 25-year-old Crawford.
Rios-Alvarado: Only 1,500 tickets remaining for March 30th clash
By Allan Fox: With still nine days to go before their March 30th clash, there are only 1,500 tickets left for the rematch between light welterweights Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) and Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
The venue seats 12,000 fans, and that’s pretty impressive that Brandon-Rios have already sold 10,000 tickets given that neither of them have large fan bases.
Both guys are promising a war like the one they had last October where they went toe-to-toe for seven rounds with Alvarado being stopped on his feet in the 7th after getting rocked by a series of hard shots from Rios.
Bradley doing fine, will be at Rios-Alvarado fight
By Allan Fox: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (30-0, 12 KO’s) is doing fine after suffering a bad beating from Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s) last Saturday night in winning by a 12 round unanimous decision. Steve Kim is reporting that Bradley is well and will be attending the March 30th fight between light welterweights Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bradley could end up fighting the winner of that bout. As for Provodnikov, it doesn’t look like Bradley is going to give him a second chance by giving him a rematch. Bradley moves on and will face one of his promoter’s fighters unless the World Boxing Organization or the Nevada State Athletic Commission orders an immediate rematch due to Provodnikov’s promoters making an appeal.
Rios-Alvarado, Matthysse-Peterson, Garcia-Judah preview and analysis
By Andrew Garewal: Arguably the most dangerous and exciting division in boxing today is at light welterweight. At 140 lbs, boxers possess uncanny speed, elusive footwork and explosive power. Nowhere in boxing is there such an array of talent in which multiple fighters could be crowned legitimate champions in their own right.
In other weight classes there is a recognized unified champion or it’s ruled by few respective champions. Heavyweights are dominated by the Klitschkos; super middleweight and middleweight is handled by Andre Ward and Sergio Martinez; Mayweather is at the helm of the junior middleweight and welterweight divisions; Broner has run through the super featherweight and lightweight divisions; Donaire and Rigondeaux are about to establish the leader at super bantamweight. No other division in boxing displays the competitiveness and uncertainty of a reigning king than that of light welterweight.
Arum: Marquez wants to see Bradley-Provodnikov & Rios-Alvarado before he decides next opponent
By Chris Williams: Bob Arum of Top Rank says he met with 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez to see if he could put together a fight against him and Manny Pacquiao for September, but Marquez told Arum that he wants to see the upcoming fights between Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov and Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios before he decides who he wants to face next.
Arum said to ESPN “Marquez said he’s interested in fighting all of them, but he’ll know who he is interested in more after watching them fight. We never discussed money…all he said was ‘I know I can make more money fighting Pacquiao than against the other guys,’ and that was the extent of the monetary discussions.”
HBO approves Allakhverdiev-Prescott as co-main event for Rios-Alvarado card on 3/30
By Dan Ambrose: Earlier today, HBO approved the fight between knockout artist Breidis Prescott (26-4, 20 KO’s) and WBA light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (18-0, 8 KO’s) as the co-main event on the Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado 2 card on March 30th on HBO at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Allakhverdiev, a recent Top Rank signee, needed an opponent that the U.S boxing public was familiar with, but not someone so good that they would potentially beat him. Prescott’s name was picked despite the fact that he’s lost two out of his last four fights and is no longer ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies.