http://youtu.be/CLqLJmvH9rc
Photos by Tiffany Lam / ESB & Ed Mulholland/HBO: Everything went smoothly at today’s weigh in. There were no issues making weight, no trash talk, no shoving matches, it was all positive as the fighters hit the scales this afternoon in Denver, Colorado. The undercard fighters weighed in first, building up anticipation for when “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (34-3, 23KO) and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (32-2-1, 22KO) hit the stage.
Why wait for Floyd “TBE/Money” Mayweather, Jr. to make his choice of a 5/2 opponent. Pacquaio and Top Rank’s Bob Arum ought to move ahead and use their influence to sign Miguel Cotto to a rematch with Manny. At the same time, they could push for Amir Khan to fight Kell Brook. That would leave Money with a real problem coming up with an opponent fans want to see him fight.
Why fight Cotto again? Both he and his hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach believe he is an improved fighter. Let Cotto prove it against a fighter who dominated him. See if Cotto has truly improved, and/or whether Manny has slipped. Plus, there would be another belt on the line for Manny to possibly add to his collection. Fan interest could be stimulated for a rematch, and fans would love to see Freddie wave to Cotto from Manny’s corner. He could use hand signals to relay advice and motivation.
Deontay Wilder kept his win streak alive Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV. Despite his victory, he disappointed some when he failed to kayo Bermane Stiverne to keep his streak alive. On the other hand, he demonstrated his endurance by totally dominating Stiverne over the course of 12 rounds. Stiverne was sure that if he could take Wilder into deep water, Wilder would tire and be vulnerable to the knockout. But, as is always the case, the water rose over the shorter man’s head first.
The compact Stiverne was the one submerged and gurgling. He stumbled around pushing his punches like he was underwater. Wilder was enjoying himself grinning and at the ease. He was making a monkey out of Stiverne., winning just about every round. He had Stiverne in trouble on more than one occasion, and used his reach to keep Stiverne at bay, piling up points with his jab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZqud3q-W9M&feature=youtu.be
Photos: Tiffany Lam – The much anticipated rubber match between Americans “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (34-3, 23KO) and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (33-2-1, 22KO) takes place this Saturday night in Alvarado’s hometown of Denver, Colorado. Both fighters have had a tough road since their second bout in early 2013 and find themselves in need of a big win. Alvarado took plenty of punishment in losses to the hard-hitting Ruslan Provodnikov and Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez. For Rios, there was the shutout decision loss to Manny Pacquiao, and then a tough disqualification victory over the dirty Argentinian Diego Chaves. This afternoon at the final press conference before Saturday night, the two proud warriors promised fireworks.
A third installment of the spirited ongoing battle between Mike Alvarado vs. Brandon Rios should be, barring a draw, decided this Saturday night on HBO. The fighter that has more left in the tank will prevail in this matchup of modern day warriors. The rubber match will take place in Denver, Colorado and Alvarado hopes this bout ends differently in front of his hometown faithful.
This pair of Mexican-American boxers more than lived up to their heritage’s long history of entertaining slugfests. In their first tilt Alvarado took the early lead only to succumb to Bam Bam’s pressure and power, losing by TKO in the 7th round.
In their second affair Alvarado looked sharp in the opening frame until a Rios jab shook up Mike in the 2nd round. At the end of that round Alvarado was cut above his right eye and seemed already shopworn at such an early stage of the fight.
Deontay Wilder has beaten Bermane Stiverne. Beaten him emphatically over twelve, mostly one sided rounds. While one might give a round or two to the man who calls himself B-Ware, at no point in the contest did it look like the Bronze Bomber was in any real danger. It was an evening reminiscent of the second clash between Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora, with Deontay assuming the part played by the loquacious Traveller, contently jabbing his shorter foe into inactivity. Unlike Fury vs Chisora two, which mercifully was ended in the middle rounds, this one went the distance, a testament to the solid chin of Stiverne. Stiverne was passive in defeat, lamenting his lost title. In truth, loosing didn’t cost him the world heavyweight championship any more than winning would have secured it. The world heavyweight title was never his to win or lose. The actual heavyweight champion of the world was not in the arena that night, he was presumably watching the fight on TV just like the rest of us. I am not saying that it was a bad match up, what I am saying is that if this was the fight that brought the Heavyweight title back to America, then America was better off without it.
Up until now, Mayweather Jr. has been hush-hush about his negotiations with team Pacquiao. With such a significant fight and a potential for a colossal payday, it is no surprise that they are trying to keep as much away from the media as humanly possible. Playing broken telephone is something that ends up happening via multiple interpretations from boxing fans and reporters. This could potentially lead to unintended difficulties in negotiations.
Having said that, in a recent interview with Shade 45 Radio, Mayweather Jr. opened up and briefly discussed the Pacquiao fight matter.
“Everything that everybody is just insinuating, what everybody been saying on TV is false. It’s not true at all… Pacquiao, he’s not in a position to call any shots as of right now and he’s not the A-side, so everything that everybody has been hearing has been rumors,” stated Mayweather Jr.
BOB ARUM: Thank you. Everyone is looking forward to what should be a great, great fight. The previous two fights were classics and this one will probably top them all. I am really looking forward to Saturday night in Denver and now I would like to put the fighters on. These are two gladiators. These are two guys that make the sport of boxing proud the way they perform in the ring.
BRANDON RIOS: How is it going everybody? I hope everyone had a good Christmas and a great New Years. We are ready for Saturday to give the fans a great show.
MIKE ALVARADO: Training is going good and I am ready to put on a great show. I am ready to start the year off right and put a great trilogy on for the fans. I am ready and excited for this fight.
Main Event Becomes The Highest Rated Bout On Any Premium Network In The Past Year;
The Three-Fight Telecast Draws The Highest Rating on SHOWTIME® In More Than Two Years;
All Three Fights On The Live Telecast Rank In The Top-20 Most Watched Bouts On Record For The Network
SHOWTIME Sports garnered a record audience for Saturday’s 2015 SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING premiere telecast headlined by newly minted WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder in his breakout win over Bermane Stiverne. The main event ranks as the highest-rated fight on any premium network in the past 12 months while the entire three-fight telecast becomes the highest rated on SHOWTIME in more than two years. The Jan. 17 telecast attracted the second largest audience since 2004* behind the Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout event from Dec. 2012. (*since Nielsen began to separately measure premium television multiplex channels)
![Ariza: “We're [Mayweather's] fighting May 2nd but it's not going to be Manny Pacquiao”](https://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/ariza89.jpg "Photo: Ariza: “We're [Mayweather's] fighting May 2nd but it's not going to be Manny Pacquiao”")
Despite being involved in numerous arguments with camp Pacquiao, more specifically Freddie Roach, that drama doesn’t take away from the fact that Alex Ariza was close with camp Pacquiao, and likely at the time involved in most of their decisions.
Now Ariza is on the opposite team, working for Floyd Mayweather Jr., helping the undefeated superstar with strength and conditioning preparation. There is little doubt that Ariza has some knowledge about the ongoing negotiations between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.