LAS VEGAS – Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado promised more of the same. Sorry, Alvarado didn’t fulfill his end of the agreement. He couldn’t. If Alvarado had, he would have been left with only the promise of another defeat.
Instead, Alvarado did what Rios and few others thought he could Saturday night in a rematch at Mandalay Bay. He did more than break a promise. He beat a stereotype. He beat what was expected of him. And then he beat Rios.
Once a brawler, not always a brawler.
That was the surprise and the formula employed and sustained by Alvarado (34-1, 23 KOs) through 12 rounds of his second meeting with Rios (31-1-1, 22 KOs) within the last six months. Rios won the first one by a seventh-round TKO on Oct. 13 in a stand-and-fight slugfest in Carson, Calif.
Rios came into the rematch thinking it would be the same because Alvarado was the same. A few punches and the Alvarado seen in October would re-appear in March.
Didn’t happen.
In almost every round, Alvarado delivered a couple of solid right hands in the opening moments. Rios would smile as if to say thanks. But Alvarado never took the bait. He didn’t linger in a target zone where Rios is most effective. Instead, he danced backwards, then sideways throughout the middle of each round. Then, he would finish each round with an exchange of punches.
It was a strategy that convinced the judges. Bill Lerch and Dave Moretti scored it 115-113, each for Alvarado. On Duane Ford’s card, Alvarado won by one point, 114-113.
“My high-altitude training was the key to the fight,’’ Alvarado, of Denver, said in the middle of the ring after the scores were announced.
As expected, both fighters took a lot punishment. Alvarado suffered a huge gash over his left eye. Alavardo was taken to University Medical Center (UMC) after the bout. The ringside physician ordered Rios to go to UMC.
Alvarado’s victory also left each fighter with one win each. A trilogy looks to be inevitable.
“I gave you a rematch,’’ Rios said to Alvarado in the ring. “I deserve a third fight.’’
There’s another promise somewhere in that demand. Don’t expect it to be broken.
On The Undercard
The Best: Jose Ramirez’ nerves never had a chance. Neither did Charlie Dubray.
Ramirez (2-0, 2 KOs), a lightweight and 2012 U.S. Olympian, knocked out the nervousness he felt in his pro debut and then overwhelmed Dubray (1-1, 1 KO) for a first-round TKO. Dubray, of Hastings , Neb., was down twice within 66 seconds after he put in his mouthpiece.
“It’s all coming together,’’ said Ramirez, a farmworkers’ son from Avenal, Calif., who scored a first-round TKO in his debut on the Dec. 8 undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez’ stoppage of Manny Pacquiao. “I was a lot less nervous than in my first fight.’’
The Rest: There were headlines before Breidis Prescott-Terence Crawford, praise for Crawford from Bob Arum after it and boos throughout a dull bout during which Crawford (20-0, 15 KOs), a Nebraska junior-welterweight, made Prescott (26-5, 20 KOs), of Colombia, look stiff, awkward, frustrated and — in the end –defeated by unanimous decision. …Mexican super-featherweight Miguel Berchelt (17-0, 14 KOs) punches at a rate that leaves no time for an answer and Carlos Claudio (15-10-3, 8 KOs) had none in losing a first-round TKO to a Berchelt blitz. …A breeze blew through the Mandalay Bay Events Center from a body shot thrown by Las Vegas welterweight Michael Finney (11-0, 9 KOs), who scored a fifth-round KO with a paralyzing left that knocked the wind out of Osvaldo Rojas (7-3-2, 2 KOs) of Portland, Ore; Connecticut super-bantamweight Tramaine Williams (6-0, 2 KOs), nicknamed the Midget, came up big with a unanimous decision over John Herrera (4-6-1, 2 KOs); Las Vegas heavyweight Brett Rather (3-0) survived a first-round knockdown and endured successive right hands to score a unanimous decision over Juan Guajardo (2-1, 1 KOs) of McAllen, Tex.; Juan Heraldez (5-0, 4 KOs) of Las Vegas scored big points and left nasty welts across the forehead of overmatched Florida junior-welterweight Roberto Lopez (4-5-2) for a unanimous decision; and Denver junior-welterweight Manuel Lopez (2-0, 2 KOs) won a second-round TKO over Jason Tresvan (0-2) of Las Vegas
