Everyone complains about Golden Boy and Top Rank?s refusal to turn their swords into plowshares to give us the fights we want, and for good reason. The pie in the sky bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather isn?t the only example but it?s the best example of two promotional companies more invested in cutting each other?s throat than the good of the sport. Future generations will look back at the fight that never was and wonder what boxing?s powers that be were thinking and they?ll conclude, as any impartial observer might conclude, that the answer is about themselves.
Fortunately for boxing, but for the wrong reasons, each promotional powerhouse has a stacked roster so that their fighters can fight each other, rather than have to cross the street to fight guys aligned with the enemy. One such fight is the rematch of 2012?s Fight of the Year candidate between Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios (31-0-1, 23 KOs) and Mike ?Mile High? Alvarado.
Their first fight, on Oct. 13 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, may not have been as big-picture impactful as Juan Manuel Marquez turning out Pacquiao?s lights at the MGM Grand. But if nonstop two-way action is your thing, and if it?s not you?re probably following the wrong sport, Rios-Alvarado was the cat?s meow, or, to put it less politely, perhaps the lion?s roar.
On March 30 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, the kamikaze pilots are going to do it again. Alvarado was unhappy with referee Pat Russell?s seventh round stoppage in the first fight. He?s not alone. It was a judgment call and Russell did what he thought necessary to prevent Mile High from being seriously injured. That?s the argument, but it?s a specious argument, as serious injury is part and parcel of the game. The present-day unwillingness to allow fighters to fight until one touches canvas has watered down the sport. Alvarado earned the right to go out on his shield. Every boxer, if that?s what he or she wants, deserves nothing less.
But that was then and this is now. The Rios-Alvarado rematch is not to be missed. It?s as likely as not to be World War II, possibly followed by World War III. These two warriors are on the cusp of being this generation?s Gatti-Ward. We won?t be watching Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado fighting in their 40s. They?re not that kind of fighter. When they step in the ring, it?s nothing less than do-or-die. When they step in the ring the world stops spinning on its axis.
