A Star is Born

Rios vs. Alvarado

Hype in the sport of boxing is a dangerous thing.  When a fight is hyped too much and fails to live up to expectations, the boxing critics come out in droves.  But on October 13th the fight between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado not only lived up to the hype, it exceeded it.  Before it even started this fight was being compared to all-time great brawls such as Gatti-Ward and Castillo-Corrales which are enormous shoes to fill.  But from the opening bell boxing fans knew something special was taking place right in front of their eyes.

Both fighters came into the ring with unblemished records and hungry for a knockout, which usually makes for a good fight.  But this fight can't simply be described as good.  It was epic, an all-time legendary slugfest.  Not only is it a fight of the year candidate, but as of now it is the runaway favorite.  It seemed as if every single punch that was thrown was loaded with bad intentions. 

Rios came out fast and the fight style seemed to suit him well.  Rios had his head pinned against Alvarado's chest and was throwing hard and often and landing some punishing shots.  It was Rios' first fight at 140 pounds and while many fighters lose their power as they go up against heavier opponents, that wasn't a problem for him.  Rios was also able to absorb every massive shot Alvarado landed, without even a buckle of the knee.  The first round was close but Rios landed the harder shots thus giving him the round.  Round two is when things began to swing in the favor of Alvarado.

Sensing that Rios was to tough to simply slug with for ten rounds, Alvarado changed up his gameplan using a more boxing friendly style.  He attacked Rios behind a strong jab and then proceeded to pound away on Rios from a distance.  Alvarado continueously landed a big right hand across the face of Rios, with Rios unable to figure out or properly time his opponents punches.  Once Alvarado started boxing more the fight really began to shift and due to constant punishment it seemed as though Rios was started to wear down.  As the fight went on Alvarado became more and more succesful using the jab and then landed big shots that rocked Rios, although never badly hurting him.  But Rios never changed his brawling style or gave up on himself.

In the middle rounds Rios was able to slip the jab with uncharacteristic head movements and get inside to the body of Alvarado.  The action was nonstop throughout the entire fight with both fighters pushing the envelope.  Whenever Rios got inside on Alvarado the latter fighter was fine with tradeing blows as he has been for his entire career.  Even with both fighters landing hard, punishing blows to their opponent it was Rios whose punches seemed to have the greater effect.

In the seventh round Rios landed a huge right hand in the center of the ring that sent Alvarado flying back towards the ropes.  Rios who never stops coming forward pounced on Alvarado landing another massive right hand across the chin that badly hurt Alvarado seemingly leaving him out on his feet.  Rios followed that barrage up with two of the best lefts you will ever see.  Although Alvarado's hands never dropped to his side he never threw any punches back while on the ropes, causing ref Pat Russel to jump in and mercifully end the fight.  Alvarado was shocked and Rios along with the entire arena was going crazy about the victory.  The stoppage seemed to be a good one, but did leave questions to be asked by fans and commentators.  This was not a typical fight and Alvarado isn't a typical fighter.  In a brawl like this with two of the toughest fighters you will ever see the ref could have given Alvarado the benefit of the doubt and let him fight his way out or take a few more shots, even though it would have probably resulting in a knockout.  When Max Kellerman asked about the stoppage ref Pat Russel said he gave Alvarado six oppurtunities to fight back but he didn't throw any punches.  Russel also said "I want to take them out to deep water, but I don't want to drown them."  Upon watching the replay the stoppage did seem to come a little quick but it is the ref's job to protect the fighters and Russel did just that.

Both of these fighters gained a massive following after two gutsy performances.  They both showed a ton of heart, and strong chins, as well as a willingness to brawl without regard for their own safety.  Even though Alvarado lost you can't take anything away from him and he should be in line to face better, bigger name opponents from here on out.  Rios on the other hand seems to have the world at his fingertips.  Promoter Bob Arum has already mentioned Rios as a possible opponent for the winner of the Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez fight, either of which would be hugely entertaining.  Rios is a brick wall of a fighter, he never gets hurt and never gives an inch and will be a huge star from now on.  Of course during the post fight interview Max Kellerman had to ask Rios about a potential rematch with Alvarado since the fight was so amazing.  Rios response was this "The fans, you want it?  Do you want it?  If my manager wants it, fuck it, let's do it again!"  While Rios will probably take on a bigger name opponent for his next fight, a rematch with Alvarado can't be too far down the pipeline.  And boxing fans are glad for that. 

Thank you to two fighters who gave fans one of the greatest fights in the history of the sport.  Much respect.