Alvarado Sure Marquez/Ruslan Losses Haven't Ruined Him

By Keith Idec

Mike Alvarado doesn’t think back-to-back losses to Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez have diminished him physically.

Russia’s Provodnikov floored Alvarado twice before forcing Alvarado to quit after 10 grueling rounds 15 months ago at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo., where he’ll box Brandon Rios for the third time Saturday night in a 12-round welterweight bout (9:45 p.m. ET; HBO). Mexico’s Marquez dropped Denver’s Alvarado in the eighth round of their May 17 fight in Inglewood, Calif., on his way to an easy 12-round, unanimous-decision win.

“[Those losses] weren’t really major wear and tear on me, wars like that,” Alvarado said on a conference call Tuesday. “I learned a lot from those fights. … It’s really been a learning experience, as far as my technique and everything that goes along with what happens in that ring. It’s just helped me learn more about myself as a fighter.

“All those situations, every moment in that ring, it’s just been a huge learning experience. I took a lot away from it. I learned a lot from these past fights, these past years. I’m a better fighter and man inside and outside of the ring. It’s only made me a better person and a better fighter. It taught me to make adjustments and utilize them in that ring.”

The 34-year-old Alvarado avenged his seventh-round technical knockout loss to Rios (32-2-1, 23 KOs) in their March 2013 rematch, which Alvarado (34-3, 23 KOs) won by unanimous decision.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.