By Steve Kim
The plan was to have the rubber match between Brandon Rios (32-2-1, 23KOs) and Mike Alvardo (34-3, 23KOs) takes place on December 20th in Denver, Colorado. But with the past legal issues of Alvarado cropping up , the third go-around between the two will be pushed back to early 2015.
Sources have indicated to BoxingScene.com that the new targeted date for Rios-Alvarado III will be January 31st in the 'Mile High City' in a bout that will be broadcast by HBO.
Rios won their first battle back in October of 2012 in a thrilling back-and-forth war at the StubHub Center with a seventh round stoppage. Alvarado gained revenge six months later in March of 2013 by evening up the score versus 'Bam Bam' Rios at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. After he was shaken early on, Alvarado was able to out-box and out-hustle Rios to win a hard-fought decision in the rematch.
Since that point, both men have hit hard times. Rios, was blanked by Manny Pacquiao in Macao last November (where he failed the post-fight drug test) and struggled versus Diego Chaves this past August in winning via 9th round disqualification. Alvarado post-Rios has been stopped by Ruslan Provodnikov in front of his hometown fans and then was out-pointed decisively by Juan Manuel Marquez this past May.
One thing that has been proven is that when Rios and Alvarado get together, you're bound to get a real fight.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
