Alvarado tweaks style against Rios, even the score after 12-rounds, for a possible trilogy

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Let me quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist and poet, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”

Mike “Mile High Mike” Alvarado, 34-1 (KO 23) clearly understood the mistakes he made in the previous fight, and made necessary adjustments with his style, to even the score against Brandon Rios, 31-1 (KO 23) to win the vacant interim WBO Light welterweight title, on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.


Alvarado sticks the plan, which is to box from the distance, move side-to-side, look for more angles, but engages whenever, is necessary.

"It was that movement I was talking about," Alvarado said.

Alvarado also intelligently ties Rios from the inside to limit Rios’s output from close quarter situation—the place where Rios’s more successful during the first match.

I predicted Alvarado to win this fight, and will not abandon the strategies mention above. In the first match, he was effective with those movements but was lured by Rios for a brawl.

Alvarado tweaking his style never slips from the expectation of another war in this rematch. In fact the only calm round—was the fifth round when an accidental blow from Rios—opt Referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight—for Alvarado to recover. He just put more legs into the fight not to clash head-on to Rios.

"The difference this time was that Mike had better legs”, his trainer, Henry Delgado said.

However, these adjustments don’t save Alvarado’s face from Rios’s aggression. He looks like the loser after 12 rounds. He’s bloodied early, from a cut over the left eye.

Alvarado headed to the hospital after the fight.

Round 8 was terrific, that let me up on my feet. Alvarado halts Rios from his track, with a big right hand—that Rios admits after the fight that he didn’t get rocked, but instead got rocked, and wobbled.

Rios is a ‘superman.’
How many hooks landed on Rios’s chin? It staggered him but not stopped him. I come to a conclusion that it is not only ‘Superman’ that is made of steel, or ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Please include Brandon Rios.

I want a trilogy.
With Alvarado clearly understood the experience he learned from the first match and successfully adjusted his style that paid off a win to even the score. I am too excited to see how Rios will adjust his own style for a possible trilogy.

There is nothing wrong to do it again because Rios and Alvarado like to do it.

What I love about trilogy: is that it is all about adjustment in all aspects, from training, strategy till fight night’s real-time.

Rios-Alvarado rematch was a win-win card for the sport of boxing: from fighters, officials, promoters and specially the fight fans. A fight card that you will never see happens every Saturday Night.