Chris Farina – Top Rank
Brandon Rios stopped Mike Alvarado to win their highly anticipated rubber match fight on Saturday in Bloomfield, Colorado.
In what was expected to be an evenly matched slug-fest, Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) completely overpowered and annihilated a sluggish Alvarado (34-4, 23 KOs) on his way to a third-round TKO victory.
Alvarado came out of the corner looking to fight from the perimeter and keep affairs at a distance. But the Denver native was completely outmatched by his blood-hungry rival and he quickly found himself in the war he was trying to avoid, eating repeated uppercuts and straight rights.
Rios took his time at the beginning of the first installment, stalking Rios and working to close the distance. A short combination in the middle of the round opened the floodgates, and it was bombs-away for Rios for the rest of the short-lived bout.
The end came at the conclusion of the third round when referee Jay Nady, at the the advice of the ring doctor, waved off the fight after Alvarado was knocked down and appeared unable to continue.
“I never thought it was going to be easy,” Rios said after the fight. “Alvarado is a warrior and I knew he could bounce back with good shots. He’s got power in both hands so I had to take my time, be patient, listen to my corner, all the instructions, I followed the game plan from camp, be disciplined and I came out victorious.”
In their first encounter in October 2012, the two undefeated warriors stood toe-to-toe and slugged it out in a vicious war of attrition that ended when Rios stopped Alvarado with a seventh-round technical knockout.
Meeting for a second time in March 2013, Alvarado combined his hard-hitting ways with boxing and ring movement to take the rematch by unanimous decision.
Rios, 28 years old, came into Saturday’s fight having previously beaten Diego Gabriel Chaves by disqualification. Prior to that, Rios had fallen to Manny Pacquiao in November 2013, after losing the first Alvarado rematch.
Alvarado entered the ring Saturday coming off back-to-back losses to Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez.
With Saturday’s defeat, Alvarado’s recent record drops to 0-3. Losing in such a devastating fashion will undoubtedly signal a time for Alvarado and his team to seriously evaluate his future in the sport and this could very well be the last time fans see “Mile-High” in the ring.
“It was all in the preparation, I didn’t train like I should have been. That’s what I get,” Alvarado said after the fight to HBO’s Jim Lampley. “I’m far at peace from myself. I didn’t give it all I got.”
With this strong victory, Rios keeps himself relevant at the higher levels of sport and can now look forward to possible fights against Tim Bradley, Diego Chaves, or Jessie Vargas. But most importantly, he convinced his most stringent critic— himself.
“For both of us it’s do or die,” Rios told BoxNation before the fight. “If I lose this fight I may just call it a day as a fighter. I’ve been at this a long time.”
But judging from his performance on Saturday, Brandon Rios still has plenty of fight left in him.
On the undercard: Mexico’s undefeated Gilberto Ramirez out-pointed Russian Maxim Vlasov in a 10-round snoozer.
Round By Round
Mike Alvarado vs Brandon Rios III (Scores are not official)
Round 1: We’re off! Rios wears red, Alvarado in black trunks. They meet in the center of the ring, Rios threatening with light jabs. Watching each other. Alvarado already working the perimeter. Rios stalks, watches. Alvarado pushes Rios back. Minute in. Nothing landed. Rios trying to pressure. Rios with left hook. Rios landing combination. Misses uppercut, lands right. Double lefts from Rios. Alvarado shelling up, Rios in control. Alvarado moving more. Keeping distance. Big right from Rio. Punishment from Rios. Landing heavy. 10-9 Rios.
Round 2: Rios jabbing. Hook from Alvarado. Rios landing from inside. Big upper from Brandon. Rios unloads. Alvarado misses. Minute in the round, Alvarado looks bloody. Right from Rios. Left Alvarado, Rios comes back with big upper cut. Rios serving offense, Alvarado has no answer. Rios hit with low blow. Minute left in round. Alvarado warned sternly about low blow. Left hook from Rios. Huge right from Rios. Left-right from Rios. Alvarado is hurt. 20-18 Rios
Round 3: Rios taking his time. Lands two stiff jabs. Right to the body, upper from Rios. Target practice for Rios. Half way in, upper cuts from Rios. Unleashing. Alvarado is KNOCKED DOWN. Back at it! The ref waves off the fight! RIOS WINS!