SONAHR: BLOOMFIELD, Colorado – January 25, 2015 – So much for the second coming of the thrill-a-minute trilogy between Micky Ward and the late Arturo Gatti, which had fight fans on the edge of their seats during the early years of this century. Saturday?s third meeting between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, two ex-junior-welterweight champions who had engaged in a pair of barn-burners in 2012 and 2013. Rios won the first contest by knockout, and Alvarado the second by decision. Both fighters had fallen on somewhat hard times since their second fight. But they were expected to bring out the best in each other in their third fight, as did Ward and Gatti all three times they faced each other.
That didn?t happen, though. Rios came into the ring fully prepared and ready to rumble. Alvarado, by his own admission in the post-fight interviews, did not properly prepare, and was therefore ready to crumble.
And that?s exactly what happened. In three one-sided stanzas that were a mockery of the competitiveness of their first two fights, Rios pitched punches and Alvarado caught them consistently on his chin. After hitting the deck in the third round, Alvarado declined to answer the bell for the fourth ? a wise decision on his part, as he looked nowhere near having what it would have taken to turn the fight around, as Gatti so often did way back when.
In perfectly clear hindsight, Rios should have been the favorite to win, though not necessarily this easily. True, he lost a decision to Manny Pacquiao after his defeat by Alvarado in their second fight. And he had an iffy disqualification win over the troublesome Diego Chaves, who went on to get a controversial draw with Timothy Bradley. But Alvarado had fared far worse in his post-Rios II contest, getting brutalized by Ruslan Provodnikov and schooled by Juan Manuel Marquez. So he was the worse-for-wear fighter going into Rios III.
Still, even hindsight could not have predicted that Alvarado would bring so little to the table this time out. It was as though Rios were facing a reluctant sparring partner rather than a fierce rival. He was able to walk right through Alvarado, which was not the case in their first fight, even though Rios won that one by stoppage, too.
And so the Rios-Alvarado trilogy ends with a whimper, not a bang. Fight fans deserved better, but Alvarado was unable ? or, if he slacked off in training camp, unwilling ? to provide it.
Although Alvarado says he will fight on, he will have a lot of work to do to restore his status as a world-class junior-welterweight contender. As for Rios, he has solidified his standing, which is just below the elite ranks of the 140-and 147-pounders.
As far as Rios?s future goes, unless the money is right, he should stay far away from Floyd Mayweather Jr. And a rematch with Pacquiao makes no sense for either fighter. A showdown with WBC/WBA ?super? junior-welterweight champion Danny Garcia, on the other hand, would likely provide the fireworks that fizzled in Rios-Alvarado III. So would potential wars with the likes of Provodnikov, Lucas Matthysse, or Marcos Maidana.
