Mike Alvarado On Pat Russell and Not Taking a Knee in His First Fight With Rios

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    Last Saturday HBO put on display a potential fight of the year candidate when Tim Bradley made his return to the ring against Ruslan Provodnikov. In what most people felt wasn’t supposed to be more than a fight to get Bradley back on our televisions screens, Provodnikov had other intentions, giving Bradley the fight of his life and even forcing him to take a knee in the 12th and final round. Bradley won a hard fought decision and even received boos at the end of the night by some in the crowd at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

    The very same venue held what many felt was the fight of the year in 2012 this past October when Brandon Rios defeated Mike Alvarado via 7th round stoppage. The two will go to battle on HBO next Saturday looking to repeat the action from their first fight and provide an excellent follow up fight to Bradley-Provodnikov.

    ThaBoxingVoice.com welcomed Mike Alvarado this past Sunday on our radio air who was a very interested observer to the Bradley-Provodnikov fight and as the commentators had mentioned on HBO, he certainly did appreciate the fight.

    “It was a good fight and it was very entertaining. Bradley survived the fight. Provodnikov hurt him and  had him out, but he couldn’t land that one shot and couldn’t take him out,” Alvarado told ThaBoxingvoice.com.

    His fight with Rios was held in the same venue and oddly enough was officiated by the same official, Pat Russell. Russell was questioned by the stoppage of Alvarado in the Rios fight and some felt it was premature. Some felt he gave Bradley more of a chance than Alvarado to stay in the fight. Alvarado agrees.

    “I was kind of mad because that same referee in the same venue called my fight off, he let Bradley hold on and let Bradley show his heart, and gave Bradley a shot to get back in there to come back and win the fight, why didn’t I get that opportunity? But big up to Bradley,” stated Alvarado.

    What Bradley also did in the 12th round is what many felt Alvarado should have done in the 7th round before his fight with Rios was called off, take a knee. Alvarado felt he didn’t think of it in the heat of the moment but it would have certainly served him better to do so.

    “I know if I would have taken that knee, it would have been for the better of me. At the same time I didn’t train for that fight. I didn’t train with the strategy I’m doing now. Yes the knee would have helped me out. We would have kept on fighting. We would have found out sooner or later what I was made of. But it’s going to be a different fight and I’m going to fight the way I want to train and win. There’s going to be moments in that fight where I have to prove I have to fight but I got to stay focused.”

    Whether it’s the heat of the moment or machismo, some fighters don’t take knees to prolong a fight and instead get stopped. Amongst boxing fans, sometimes take a knee is seen as taking the easy way out. The question was posed to Alvarado if that played into his head when standing and trading with Rios in the heat of the fire fight in the 7th round.

    “It’s different for a lot of fighters; they’ve been in that position before. But I never have been in that position where I have to take a knee. I feel like I’m bowing down to him and he’s getting the better of me. I try to fight through it but it is the smarter thing to do when your close to the kill, you got to save yourself but fighters don’t like that right away. I think going through it one time; the next time around it will be a lot easier in making that decision.

     

    For Full Audio of this interview click here: http://thaboxingvoice.cogito24.com/mike-alvarado-plus-timothy-bradley-vs-ruslan-provodnikov-recap/11343