By Ian S Palmer
Former world champion Brandon Rios of Lubbock, Texas will be battling it out this Saturday,November 17th against Mexico’s Ramon Alvarez. The 10-round welterweight bout comes from the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas and can be seen in North America on DAZN. Rios last fought back in February when he was halted in the ninth round by former world champ Danny Garcia. Alvarez, who is the brother of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, last fought in August when he beat Nicolas Palacios by a 10-round unanimous decision.
The 32-year-old Rios, who fights out of Oxnard, California enjoyed a fine amateur career and was undefeated after his first 27 pro bouts. He’s a former world lightweight titleholder with a record of 34-4-1 with 25 Kos. His biggest wins have been against Aaron Herrera, Miguel Acosta, Richar Abril, Urbano Antillon, John Murray, Anthony Peterson, and twice against Mike Alvarado. He faced Alvarado three times in an exciting trilogy and lost the second bout by a 12-round unanimous decision. Both of his wins against Alvarado were by stoppage.
His other two losses came at the hands of Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision in November, 2013 and by ninth-round stoppage to Timothy Bradley in November, 2015. Rios stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has a reach of 68 inches. He’s fought 221rounds since turning pro back in 2004. Rios has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 64 per cent. However, he was handed a six-month suspension when failing his post-fight drug test against Pacquiao. Rios may be known as a fan-friendly brawler, but he does possess pretty good and somewhat underrated boxing skills.
He’s effective when he works his way on the inside, but sooner or later his natural instinct takes over and most of his bouts turn into toe-to-toe slugfests. And although he’s been stopped on three occasions it’s safe to say that he owns a pretty solid chin. He’ll be taking on the 32-year-old Alvarez who’ll climb into the ring with a mark of 27-6-3 along with 16 Kos to his name. Alvarez turned pro back in 2008 and has 235 rounds of experience under his belt since then. He’s not the most powerful guy around as he owns a 43 per cent knockout ratio.
Alvarez has been an NABF, NABO, and IBF North American Junior Middleweight Champion since turning pro and has also won a couple of other minor titles. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68-inch reach which is exactly the same as Rios. Alvarez has been stopped twice by Omar Chavez in the second round in April, 2017 and Daniel Sandoval in the second round in 2010, but has a relatively good chin. He’s dropped decisions to Agustin Marquez, in his pro debut, along with Jesus Aceves, Mario Lozano, and Antonio Margarito.
Alvarez’s three draws have come against Johnny Navarrete, Alejandro Valladares and Jaime Hernandez and he’s also fought a no-contest with Richard Gutierrez. His biggest wins have come against the likes of Jorge Paez Jr., Ben Tackie, Vivian Harris, Omar Chavez and Matthew Strode. Alvarez isn’t as talented as his brother Canelo, but few boxers are. He has a good workmanlike ethic and is capable of beating the best on any given night as long as he’s in top form.
Prediction…
This is a pretty good matchup for the fans as it should be entertaining. Rios doesn’t mind eating two or three punches to land one of his own. He just keeps coming forward and has a ton of heart and that’s why most of his bouts are so exciting. As long as he lets his hands go all night I think Rios should come out with the win here against a game Alvarez.
