Mike Alvarado

A capacity crowd gathered inside the 1stBank Center just outside Denver, Colorado to watch the rubber match between “Mile High” Mike Alvarado and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios. Oxnard, California’s Rios entered the ring first; drawing boos from the pro-Alvarado crowd. The hometown fighter followed, making his way to the ring among chants of “3-0-3” (Denver’s area code) from the fans. The atmosphere was electric and the stage was set for an epic finale to one of boxing’s finest trilogies in recent years.

The opening round started with Rios stalking and Alvarado looking to stay defensive. Rios controlled the action and buzzed his opponent late in the round, dominating over the final 30 seconds. In the 2nd round Alvarado was already bleeding from the nose and taking a ton of punishment. He tried to buy a minute by nailing Rios with a low blow halfway through the round, but the writing was on the wall.

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The definition of “bam” is (a word) used to imitate the sound of a hard blow. No need for special sound effects tonight in the ring at 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, CO. The stuff heard was no died in the wool imitation. It was the real article! Genuine, double-rectified bust head! (John Wayne, True Grit). Mike “Mile High” Alvarado looked like a bobble head doll. He let Rios get in close, and Bam Bam went to work. He literally hit him with every punch in the book, and Mike’s face took on a bruised and battered look before the end of the first round.

Alvarado’s corner scolded him for not moving and punching more. Everyone knew that’s why Mike was victorious in the second fight of this trilogy. However, even in that fight, it took him approximately half of the rounds before the light bulb came on. Once he started lateral movement, it opened up punching opportunities, and he was able to out throw and out land Rios. There was a lot less bam bam in the second half of that fight.

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