Every era needs greats and rivals. For the older generation, it was Ali-Frazier, then Hagler-Hearns followed by Tyson-Hollyfield and most famously Gatti-Ward. The reason for this mainly is that between the bad blood (which all rivalries have to have) and the ability for either fighter to win, the buildup is big with high expectations for the boxers to outperform our wildest dreams.
On the day before Easter in Las Vegas, Nevada Mike Alvarado did his part to have his name forever attached to Brandon Rios. In the rematch of their historic first fight fought in Carson, California, Alvarado did what he stated he would do, box. Alvarado, who suffered a controversial knockout loss to Rios when Referee Pat Russell called a halt to the action with Alvarado still standing, but rocked from Rios’ right in the seventh. Many in attendance felt cheated by the early end to the fight.
Well, rest assured Alvarado did what he had to do to prove that this rematch was not a fight created by the rival promotions Top Rank and Golden Boy. From the start of round one the fight was different as Alvarado used space and movement to offset Rios’ aggressiveness. It looked as though Alvarado was controlling the round until Rios masterfully worked his way into the body and created a phone booth fight that left Alvarado’s left eye cut. The cut caused some speculation as to whether Alvarado would even make it out of the next rounds as the blood spewed.
The second round was even worse for Alvarado as a tornado like jab thrown by Rios buckled him and nearly sent him to the floor as Rios smiled as if to signal the pro-Rios fans in attendance that he intended to be true to his word and finish the fight. The second by all accounts may have been one of the best rounds ever witnessed. It combined technical craft with straight out warfare with neither man willing to give an inch. In the post fight press conference, Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum, even explained “…that was the best round I have seen since Hagler-Hearns.” It also appeared from a psychological aspect to be the moment that changed the fight. Rios couldn’t finish Alvarado in the second round – something happened. Maybe not conscious, but the momentum slowly began to shift Alvarado’s way.
In the third round Alvarado slowly began to implement his plan, a strategic brawl. Standing on the outside landing straight punches and he grabbed Rios when he tried to get inside, something that did not occur in the first fight. The third round was close, but it was the first round that Alvarado seemed to be getting the better of. Another thing occurred as well, Rios had spent all week saying Alvarado would not be able to control himself to just box for the entire fight. He was wrong and as the fight progressed Alvarado stuck true to a more traditional boxer’s approach with one key weapon, the looping right.
Much like finding a combination in a boxing video game that seems to work every time, Alvarado found that Rios, for some reason, could never get out of the way of the right. This discovery led to another, the uppercut. Between these two punches, Rios looked a little confused as he was not just able to walk forward as easily as he had hoped. In the fourth Rios appeared to be hurt, though in the post fight interview Rios stated “…I don’t know what you saw, you better get your eyes checked…I was never hurt!” Yet, clearly when you looked at Rios’ legs he had lost them for a few moments in the fourth.
From this moment on when Rios came charging forward with the left Alvarado began to time it with the uppercut. This began to work like clockwork until Rios landed south of the belt line in the fifth causing Alvarado to take some time and lose the round. Even in the sixth round, Alvarado seemed to struggle to recover as a late surge in the round appeared to win him the round.
The fight reached its twilight with rounds seven through ten going to Alvarado, because he displayed better footwork and used the jab, as opposed to charging forward. Rios appeared to look surprised that Alvarado was not fighting the fight Rios wanted, a toe to toe brawl, and he appeared to get frustrated at times that the fight was not turning into a slugfest as counter left uppercuts continued to pour on his face. It was once said by a wise man that to beat Rios you have to walk through the depths of hell and be willing to withstand to win. In rounds eleven and twelve, much like the first two rounds, the fight returned for Alvarado as Rios’ desperate trainer Robert Garcia chastised him screaming, “We need every fukking round!” It became simple, Rios should have been down on the scorecards, but would he land the inside left hook he had been looking for all night.
The answer came quickly as Alvarado seemed to ease off the gas and Rios won the last two rounds, but he didn’t knock Alvarado down or out. When it was all said and done, Alvarado had redeemed his lone loss and set up a potential mega fight for September in Denver, Colorado. In the post fight interview Rios ran around the ring while Alvarado spoke. Rios held up three fingers indicating he wanted a third fight and then confronted Alvarado about it. Unlike most boxing matches when Alvarado and Rios talked after the fight they showed respect for one and another, but also showed that they do not feel the need to be lovey dovey as they both appeared on edge and hostile towards their rival knowing that business still needs to be taken care of.
For Alvarado this was redemption, many had expressed feeling that he was unworthy of being on Rios’ level and that he would get stopped quickly in this fight. Alvarado proved that he is tougher than we gave him credit for and smarter than most thought. With the internet jokes about Alvarado’s thuggish lifestyle (most notably getting stabbed in the cheek before this fight and training partners not wanting to go to his camp because they didn’t want to get into trouble hanging out with him), Alvarado showed that he has grit, strength and the ability to follow a plan.
The new question mark becomes Rios who detractors have been quick to criticize for his outgoing personality and his ability say whatever is on his mind at whatever moment he chooses. Rios was widely considered to have lost to Abril in a terribly dull fight that Rios blamed on a bad weight cut, but now after this loss, the man who would of gotten Pacquiao had Pacquiao beaten Marquez, will need to win the trilogy with Alvarado later this year to keep his spot as one of the top 3 in the 140 lbs division. In the sport of boxing, careers move in a fight by fight basis and after last October Rios was widely considered the main heir to Pacquiao’s crown at Top Rank. Yet, now just a few months later, Rios is knee deep in a rematch with Alvarado and forced to make adjustments after a loss. We will soon see who comes out the winner of this trilogy and possibly beyond, but one thing is for sure, Rios and Alvarado have now become immortalized as fighters who will always be brought up together no matter where their careers go after the next fight.
fukk all that, dude is a warrior, he don't give a fukk, we shouldn't either...set it up, cause we all know it's more competitive than anything else he got to offer
....didn't splash water on dude...no waving air at him....no massage.... stood there in silence for almost the whole minute
