Brandon Rios Plans To Knock Mike Alvarado Out Again

By Luis Sandoval

Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado will once again square off in a rematch of one of last year’s fight of the year candidates on March 30th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV. Their first fight was heavily anticipated and it lived up to the expectations as they gave fight fans an action packed fight with Rios being the victor.

Rios was supposed to have gone on to fight the winner of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez bout last November but with a fifth fight now being planned, Rios was left to look for an opponent. BoxingScene caught up with Rios at a meet and greet for his charity Momentum for Life and while he said Alvarado was not his first choice, he said he’ll take care of business again in the same fashion.

“It's not the fight I wanted but hey, they wanted to give it to me again. He had his doubts saying that he lost because they stopped it too soon and stuff like that. Come on man, he was hurt. I've been watching replays and he took like 15-20 shots before the referee stopped it. He was taking shot after shot but at the end of the day, who cares. I'm ready for him again. He better be ready because I'm 100% ready and in shape and I'm going for a knockout. [The] referee is not going to stop it, I don't want it to go to decision - I'm going for the ten count” declared Rios.

This will be the second rematch of Rios’ career and he reminded that in that rematch, he ended things in more emphatic fashion and sooner. He plans for the same to happen in his rematch with Alvarado as he is indeed looking for a knockout.

“This is the second rematch of my career. [The first was] with [Manuel] Perez with the first fight a draw. I stopped him the second time in the rematch. I stopped him in five rounds. This fight it's the same thing. I'm ready for another knockout man. I'm ready for another show. If he's not ready it’s going to be an early night for his team” Rios would tell BoxingScene.

The fight is a little over a month away and Rios says he’s been having a great camp so far. Trainer Robert Garcia says Rios is training very hard and that Rios feels he will definitely be able to stop Alvarado sooner this second time around.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.