Photo: Chris Farina / Top Rank[/caption]Brandon Rios overwhelmed and ultimately stopped rival Mike Alvarado, after round three of their third encounter at the 1stBank Center, Broomfield in Alvarado’s backyard in Colorado. The referee, with the advice of ringside physician stopped the contest after a brutal third round.
Rios (33-2-1, 24 KO's) was the same savage fighter who wants carnage inside the ring. He came out exactly the same warrior that he is in the first two encounters. He started marching forward from the get-go. And he swarmed the ill-prepared Alvarado with overhand lefts and right uppercuts. The uppercuts were the culprit of Alvarado’s destruction. God knows how many times Alvarado’s head tossed up every time the right uppercut connects.
In the second round, there’s no sign that the vicious Alvarado (34-4, 23 KO's) of the first battle would show up. There’s no sign that the more tactical sound Alvarado of the second battle would show up. Instead, it was the unprepared Alvarado who showed up and broke the heart of Colorado fans. Cheers during the ring entrance turned boos for Alvarado during the interview.
Perhaps, Alvarado’s best punch was the low-blow that dropped Rios on his knees. The short time that Rios stayed down was too precious for Alvarado. The Denver homeboy was able to find where exactly he is in Denver. Maybe without that low-blow, the fight would have end in the second round itself.
In the third, it is obvious that the accumulation of power shots would not bring Alvarado further into the final bell. A series of overhand left, right upper cuts dropped Alvarado in the third. He managed to stand and finished the round. But it was obvious he’ll not be there for long.
During the break in the third round, ringside physician checked Alvarado’s condition. The doctor was not convinced and advises referee Jay Nady that Alvarado’s not in the position to continue. Nady stopped the fight and saves Alvarado for further beating.
In the end statistics won’t lie. It showed how gun-shy Alvarado was and how trigger-happy Rios was. Rios punches that landed are more than the total punches Alvarado thrown. Rios landed 120 of 290 (41%), and Alvarado only 20 of 87 (23%).
With the defeat, coupled with legal problems, Alvarado’s career could be nose diving. Henry Delgado, Alvarado’s manager, was uncertain on Alvarado's future in boxing. That is even before the Rios fight.
With the win, Rios could again try to comeback to a level where he tried to climbed and failed – the elite level. And that means big fights and big payday.
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