When Brandon Rios (33-2, 24KO’s) and Mike Alvarado(34-4, 23KO’s) met on January 24th for their third battle, It was Rios who emerged victorious after a thrilling, if not one-sided, contest that failed to make it into the fourth round.
Rios attacked from midway through the first round and didn’t stop until the referee signalled a halt to proceedings some ten minutes later, thus announcing his return to form after a shaky spell of sub-par performances.
The following day he spoke with Elie Seckbach for EsNewsReporting.com, looking satisfied to have come out relatively unscathed from what everybody assumed would be a give-and-take brawl. He seemed to question whether the man he just vanquished had prepared to the best of his abilities.
“I don’t know what happened to Alvarado, I don’t know if he wasn’t performing right, [or if] he wasn’t training right. I don’t know man, but best of luck to him. Man, hopefully he can grind back.”
Rios and Alvarado have always been complimentary towards one and other in the build up to this, and the previous two occasions when they have shared the ring together. It was no secret that Alvarado’s preparations for the rubber-match were hampered by minor setbacks as being arrested. Having in his possession a handgun about a fortnight before the fight; a violation of both the law of the land and his probation. Rios, who is not unfamiliar with chaotic occurrences, turned to the camera when addressing this particular facet of Alvarado’s life.
“Stay the fuck out of trouble bro, stay the fuck out of trouble man this is your fuckin’…this is how you feed your family bro. You don’t wanna fuckin’ work a nine-to-five job bro. This is your job man. You wanna make that million still.”
He is pretty much pleading with Alvarado here to reapply himself to the sport in which he was prospering just three years ago. I think Rios sees a kindred spirit becoming waylaid from his proper path by unnecessary distractions. From the perspective of riding high on his wave of satisfaction having laid such sturdy foundations for himself leading into this one.
At such a late stage in a hard campaign, it may just be a case of too much for too long when it comes to Alvarado. This latest miserable night between the ropes is just the lowest point on a downward slope he’s on for a while now. He was unable to match a fighter with a similar skill set, but who entered the ring focused and ready to go to the trenches if need be.
