Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado: One for the ages

09/14/201610/14/2012 ESB

Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado: One for the ages By Joseph Herron: Too often in boxing, heavily publicized events fail to live up to expectation and fall short of the preceding media hype. In this era of safety first fighters and early stoppages, it’s hard to guarantee a sure fire winner.

But when the match-up of Brandon Rios versus Mike Alvarado was initially announced by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and company several months ago, most fight fans and media members knew that the pairing would surely strike gold at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on October 13th.

Both fighters were undefeated going into this bout, and the two warriors desperately wanted to put forth a star making performance on the biggest stage of boxing, HBO.

Rios’ KO of Alvarado – Awesome Display of Ferocity

09/14/201610/14/2012 ESB

Rios' KO of Alvarado - Awesome Display of Ferocity By Paul Strauss: It’s almost unfair. Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios not only is heavy handed, he’s also iron jawed. Mike “Mile HIgh” Alvarado hit him bunches of times with shots that would have put lesser fighters in la la land. Yet each time Rios got nailed, he would hardly take a step back, and instead would jump right back in Mike’s face. Alvarado tried to mimic him, and to many, including unofficial score keeper Harold Lederman, Mile High was being successful at the Home Depot Center, Carson, CA.

As the battle unfolded, it looked to be shaded in favor of Alvarado. He boxed well, making good use of his size advantage, his good mobility and his jab. He changed angles of his punches, managing to get around Rios’ tight guard, or split it up the middle. But, Mike’s swollen face told a different story. It revealed the power of Bam Bam’s short shots, which were not showy but devastating. Often times Rios’ unique style causes one to believe he’s back on his heels. His posture just doesn’t seem to be quite right, but the truth is he gets all of his body behind his pulverizing inside work, and he loves it. After a particularly brutal early round, he trekked back to his corner with a big smile on his face, telling trainer Robert Garcia, “I love this @#!%!”

It’s impossible to give a blow by blow description of the fight. It was more like a gang attack. On the one hand it was bam bam by Rios, and on the other it was rat ta tat tat by Alvarado. Both men had automatic weapons. There was no single shot firing by these two combat veterans. These guys were equipped with high caliber, rapid fire arsenals.

Donaire stops Nishioka in 9th round; Rios defeats Alvarado in 7th round TKO

09/14/201610/13/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: In a really disappointing match, IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (30-1, 19 KO’s) easily defeated 36-year-old WAY best his best Toshiaki Nishioka (39-5-3, 24 KO’s) by a 9th round TKO on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California, USA. Donaire knocked the reluctant Nishioka down twice in the fight, once in the 6th and finished him off with a right to the head in the 9th. Nishioka’s corner threw in the towel after the knockdown.

It was yet another one of Donaire’s disappointing fights because he had tried to sell the aging Nishioka as the best fighter in the super bantamweight division for weeks to boxing fans, saying he’s better than the top fighters. It was painfully obvious tonight that the fading Nishioka wasn’t what Donaire had said he was, and it’s just disappointing that Donaire won’t take on the best guys in the division like Abner Mares and Guillermo Rigondeaux instead of guys like Nishioka and Jeffrey Mathebula.

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In a toe-to-toe war, former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) defeated previously unbeaten Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) by a 7th round TKO on Saturday night to claim the vacant WBO Latino light welterweight title in their WBO light welterweight title eliminator bout.

DeGale struggles to beat Mohoumadi in a war

09/14/201610/13/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: In another poor performance from EBU super middleweight champion James DeGale (13-1, 9 KO’s), he went life and death tonight in defeating little known Frenchman Hadillah Mohoumadi (13-3-1, 9 kO’s) by 12 round unanimous decision at the Glow, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent, United Kingdom. DeGale took an awful lot of punishment in this fight and spent most of the fight against the ropes soaking up punishment.

The final judges’ scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. The scores were something of a joke because the fight was a lot closer than the scores would have you believe. 116-112 is a lot closer to reality, but even that was far off the mark. The judge that scored it 119-109 for DeGale appeared to be watching a different fight altogether because DeGale took a real beating in this fight and no way did he deserve to win the fight by that kind of score.

DeGale’s face was badly swollen on the left side of around his eyes from Mohoumadi’s hard right hands.

Price destroys Harrison in 1st round KO; Skelton stops Gospic

09/14/201610/13/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: Unbeaten British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price (14-0, 12 KO’s) not surprisingly destroyed a well past his prime 40-year-old Audley Harrison (28-6, 21 KOs’) in the 1st round tonight at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Price hurt Harrison with a straight right hand that didn’t look like it was thrown with a lot of power or speed.

It was more like a jab than anything. However, Harrison had his head turned sideways for some reason and the shot hurt him. Harrison then foolishly backed up to the ropes and just stood there while Price unloaded on him with everything but the kitchen sink. After getting hit with one especially hard right hand, Harrison fell down just as the referee jumped in to stop the slaughter.

After the fight the British media seemed to be making a big fuss out of Price’s victory, pouring the compliments over his head endlessly without thinking about who Price just beat. This was Audley Harrison who had already been exposed by the likes of David Haye and Martin Rogan among many others, and it wasn’t much of a victory. The question is why is a 29-year-old former Olympic bronze medalist like Price still being matched the likes of Harrison? Does Price’s promoter know something about his chin that other fans don’t? If his chin is okay then Price should have been WAY past guys like Harrison years ago. Price is wasting too much time in his career facing fodder opposition instead of quality.

Nonito Donaire vs. Toshiaki Nishioka: Head to Head

09/14/201610/13/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron – On Saturday night, October 13th, from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, pound for pound fighter and current IBF/WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KOs) will attempt to diversify his already successful boxing portfolio as he takes on the WBC Champion Emeritus Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs).

The Championship contest is part of a spectacular double header, which will be broadcast tonight on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 10 PM EST/PST.

While many fight fans and boxing scribes are clamoring for a super fight between Nonito and current WBA Champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, tonight’s main event will pit the Ring recognized number one ranked 122 pound fighter against number three.

Because of his exposure on Showtime and HBO, it would be natural to assume that Donaire would be entering the ring as the number one ranked Super Bantamweight in the world.

But he’s not.

Toshiaka Nishioka is considered to be the number one fighter in the packed 122 pound weight division…and for good reason. The Tokyo, Japan based fighter hasn’t lost since entering the Super Bantamweight division back in 2004, defeating his opposition in convincing and impressive fashion.

Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado: Excitement Guaranteed

10/13/201210/13/2012 ESB

By Peter Wells: While the main event between Toshiaki Nishioka and Nonito Donaire may turn out to be a contender for fight of the year, it still may not be the fight of the night. That’s because in the co-main event, Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, two of the most entertaining fighters in boxing square off in what could very well be one of the greatest fights in a long time.

Both fighters are unbeaten, they have a combined record of 63-0-1 – Brandon Rios drew in a 10 rounder 4 years ago. Not only that but Brandon Rios has 22 knockouts from 30 wins while Alvarado has 23 knockouts from 33 wins. Alvarado’s opposition though isn’t a shade on Rios’, but the way he has dispatched those put in front of him shows he is ready for this step up in class. 16 of those knockouts for Alvarado have come in the first 4 rounds. His most impressive victory came in November last year when he came from behind to stop the tough Breidis Prescott in the final round. Alvarado suffered a horrific laceration on the corner of his upper lip, but battled though, wearing his opponent down before a late stoppage.

Adonis “Superman” Stevenson stops Don “Da Bomb” George in 12

09/14/201610/13/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron: In a fight dedicated to legendary trainer Emanuel Steward, Super Middleweight contender Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (19-1, 16 KOs) went eleven plus rounds with the always rugged Don “Da Bomb” George (23-3-1, 20 KOs) before putting him away with only 1:57 left in the fight.

Known for being one of the hardest punchers in the division, the new IBF mandatory challenger to Carl Froch’s Super Middleweight title showed off his much improved technical skills that he’s been cultivating at the world renowned Kronk Gym in Detroit, Michigan with Steward and chief second Javan “Sugar” Hill.

In what started out as a tactical fight, the 35 year old Canadian resident controlled the action with sporadic right jabs to the body and head of the hard-nosed Chicago resident. Although George staggered the hometown favorite in the third round with a big right hand bomb, it was Stevenson who was regularly getting the better of the exchanges and throwing the wider variety of punches throughout the majority of the bout.