It’s said that familiarity breeds contempt. When it comes to a third pairing between two fighters, that axiom seems to ring true, as “rubber matches” have produced some of the most memorable wars in boxing history.
Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier. Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward. Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales. All were great rivalries marked by a signature third and final faceoff that punctuated the trilogy.
And while the Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado series doesn’t have the historical significance of the aforementioned classics, the two Hispanic sluggers ? with their take-no-prisoners styles, big hearts and suddenly desperate outlooks ? do have the potential to elevate their rivalry to another plateau when they meet for the third time a little more than two years at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colo. (7:45 p.m. today, HBO).
The stakes are simple: the winner lives to fight another day and for another big payday. The loser is likely done.
The twilight has come all too fast for “Bam Bam” Rios, 28, and “Mile High” Mike, 34, whose first fight in October 2012 was a matchup of undefeated hotshots vying for a world title shot at 140 pounds. It was every bit the give-and-take slugfest fans had anticipated, as Rios scored an exhilarating 7th-round TKO in front of Alvarado’s hometown fans in Denver.
Though the winner was clear and there was no real demand for a rematch, Top Rank’s Bob Arum matched them again in March 2013. It was perhaps unfair to Rios, who probably earned something better, but fans didn’t mind and the fighters delivered another barnburner. With an improved game plan that utilized a slight height and reach advantage, Alvarado gained revenge and earned a 12-round decision in Las Vegas.
