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Bleacher Report - Boxing: Breaking Down Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado

Bleacher Report - Boxing
Bleacher Report - The open source sports network
Breaking Down Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado
Oct 10th 2012, 17:20

This Saturday night, live from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, perhaps the best action fight possible will take place when Brandon "Bam-Bam" Rios takes on Mike "Mile High" Alvarado. It's a matchup between two undefeated fighters that's sure to be a barnburner

So, while we know it's going to be exciting and will definitely be a thriller, who's going to win? Here's the fight breakdown. 

When you talk about Rios, the first thing that comes to mind is that he's a wildly entertaining brawler who cares little for defense and always comes forward. While this isn't that far from the truth, Rios has shown improvement in recent years in the defensive category. 

He's very adept at fighting on the inside and getting his head into his opponent's chest and banging away with combinations to the head and body. And he's certainly not afraid to take two to give one. His basic strategy doesn't really change: He's going to put pressure on you and keep coming forward until you break. 

There's not much in terms of lateral movement with Rios. This showed when he won a highly controversial decision earlier this year against Richard Abril. While he was awarded the decision, Rios clearly lost the fight, as he was outboxed by a fighter who utilized a good jab to neutralize Rios, and held him when he got inside so he couldn't throw his trademark combinations. 

Fortunately for Rios, he probably won't have to worry about this, as Alvarado isn't much of a boxer. 

Mike Alvarado is really a similar fighter to Rios, which is what makes this fight highly exciting and a likely fight of the year candidate. Alvarado, like Rios, likes to fight on the inside, and he brings constant, relentless pressure. 

Alvarado may be the harder hitter of the two, and he'll need to get to Rios early to earn his respect, because if Rios can just walk him down, it's going to be a long night for Alvarado. 

The key for Alvarado is to frustrate Rios. If he can take Rios out of his game plan and force him to make adjustments, it could confuse him enough to make him make enough mistakes for Alvarado to pull out the victory. 

So who's going to win? 

You can really go with other guy, but I'm going to take Alvarado in the mild upset. Rios is moving up in weight, and it remains to be seen if his power will go up the scale with him. Alvarado won't be discouraged if he falls behind early, and he's not averse to scoring a late, dramatic knockout, as he showed in his fight against Breidis Prescott. 

Either way, it's going to be an awesome fight, so don't miss it. 

 

Follow Me On Twitter: @RalphLongo

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