Estrella TV Quick Pick

Manuel Avila vs. Rene Alvarado: The Belasco Theater in Los Angeles has been the home of many exciting fights recently as part of Golden Boy Promotion's LA Fight Club cards.  Tonight on Estrella TV will be another one of those cards, headlined by top prospect Manuel Avila (19-0, 8 KO).  Avila is scheduled to go 10 rounds against Rene Alvarado (23-6, 16 KO) in the featherweight division.  While Avila will look to keep her perfect record intact, Alvarado will be looking to rebound from the first stoppage loss of his career which came last December against Andrew Cancio.  Avila is a 23-year-old orthodox fighter with a very good jab, usually followed up nicely with an accurate straight right hand.  In fact offensively Avila doesn't throw much else besides the jab and straight right hand.  Occasionally he will mix in a left hook or cooked right hand but those punches are few and far between.  While Avila doesn't have any real power to speak of he has dropped numerous opponents.  That is mainly due to his excellent timing which allows him to catch opponents on the way in.  Defensively Avila is yet to be tested but Alvarado should be able to make him work.  Alvarado is also an orthodox fighter and unlike Avila he has been tested by some quality fighter.  While Avila is still building his resume against lesser opponents, making Alvarado his toughest test to date, Alvarado has already faced Joseph Diaz, Eric Hunter, and Rocky Juarez.  Unfortunately for Alvarado though when he does take that next step up in competition things don't usually go his way.  Despite Avila and Alvarado being the same height their reach is much different.  Avila has a compact body and short arms while Alvarado is more lanky with very long arms that give him a 6-inch reach advantage over Avila.  If Alvarado can consistently work his jab he could make it tough for Avila to put it any good work.  Alvarado will throw his jab and straight right hand to some success, although not to the level of Avila.  He does carry more power on his punches though and has a good left hook.  Alvarado should be a good test for the young Avila.  If he can win convincingly he can take the next step in his progression but a tough win could also teach him some lessons.  This will be the toughest fight of Avila's career but he will come away with the unanimous decision win.