Alvarado vs Rios a premature stoppage?

I had no complaints. Honestly, when Rios' punches started to flow, I thought Alvarado should have taken a knee (He'd done fine up to then, but he just got caught by a bad one and a little breather would have saw him good.), but it's not easy to think so straight when you're getting punched.

Alvarado was done fighting and it could have end a couple secs earlier, IMO. COULD he have continued? Probably. But, his body language was such that he was clearly done fighting, mentally.

A bit early but I'm not out raged by it. Alvarado was clearly hurt but he is a warrior. A pity he never tried to clinch

Great views, it's a mixed bag.. tough one to call for me.. on the one hand Alvarado was definitely hurt, on the other hand I've seen guys hurt worse than that and the ref didn't stop it.. What makes me side more towards the premature stoppage is that Alvarado was actually trying to hold Rios and the ref jumped in.. so the fact he was trying to hold demonstrates he was still aware of what was going on and that awareness means that, like he said, he could have potentially recovered.

It was a judgement call...This is the one time I don't have a clear cut answer,and really don't believe there is one...Alvarado did not protect himself,but in a fight like that you want to give him the benefit of the doubt...But to the letter of the rule that a ref must follow,he did a great job..TBH that was a vet ref so I side with him,because he has such a great track rec...

It was a great stoppage. Alvarado got his head snapped back several times and he went partially limp against the ropes. Not only that, but he was looking at the ref while Rios was still landing bombs, IMO he was actually looking at the ref to step in and end it.

good call mike was out on his fight

very good call. hard call to make, too. a great stoppage. a guy like alvarado isn't going to be reeling on the ropes with his hands up gingerly like that unless he's seriously hurt. the terrific judgement of the ref will allow alvarado to fight another day. who knows what kind of damage would have come from a concussive knockout after a hard fight like that. that's not healthy. it was one hell of a fight. it will probably win the fight of the year, as there arent any other great candidates.

Good call Alvarado was on his way to getting hurt and even though his hands weren't full down he was taking punches he didn't need to. Respect to both fighters they put on a hell of a show!

I thought it was a bit early but you've got to blame Alvarado, he should have took the count

He was already on the ropes when he got knocked thats not a knockdown or standing 8 count, even if ropes are holding him up. He has too get knocked on to the ropes see the Jones vs Toney KD. If the ropes hold someone up then its a standing count. Doesn't matter if they are already against them or not. If someone has his back against the ropes and takes a big shot that makes him crumble so he's sitting on the ropes and they hold him up, that's a knock down. He doesn't have to get punched into them.

Alvarado is a warrior, I thought he deserved more time. But I can't argue with the ref.

I thought it was a good call. Alvarado was out on his feet. People saw the arms coming forward like Alvarado was going to clinch, but he had tried that a couple of times already and it didn't work.

I thought it was prematurely stopped. However, I respect the Refs call. My sentiments exactly. Think of all the times the ref could have intervened in Gatti-Ward 1, instead he let them fight on like the warriors they are. Then again, I think the ref really had the best interest for the fighters and was just doing his job to protect them from themselves. It's a hard decision; on one hand you could have given Mike the benefit of the doubt and he could have put on a comeback for the ages and made the fight even more epic, and on the other he could have been seriously hurt. Tough choice to make.

I thought Pat Russell sumed it up perfectly in his post fight interview with Kellerman. I've no problem with the stoppage

I was pissed about the stoppage cause Alvarado was in the middle of a clinch attempted and the ref jumped in to separate and stop the fight. When I saw the scorecards I took a deep breath then told myself, Alvarado was f*cked from the minute this fight was signed. Scorecards were already filled. So yea, after seeing those cards the stoppage is irrelevant IMO. Exactly my thoughts. How anyone had Rios winning that fight is beyond me. The judges were bought and paid for like all of Bob's fights.

Moments like that is when you're better off just going down and clearing your head. A few seconds to rest and he would've been OK for the rest of the fight. Had him winning after 6.

Hard to argue against it. Alvarado was reaching for a hold when it was stopped, but whatever, Rios had that punch wired in at the point and would have caught him again before long. Which is too bad, because Rios got battered like a chick otherwise. We all knew he was **** before hand, now we know for sure. Bring on Rios vs Lucas. I got a million points that says Rios wont finish the fight on his feet. PM if you want it.

I thought it was an early call but not necessarly a bad one. I've seen alot worse this year. Actually if Alvarado went down one of those times the ropes held him up, he would have gotten a few seconds to clear his head. But staying there taking punches gave the referee little choice.

He was already on the ropes when he got knocked thats not a knockdown or standing 8 count, even if ropes are holding him up. He has too get knocked on to the ropes see the Jones vs Toney KD. see also Vasquez Marquez III (Round 12) in that same arena with the same ref.