Denver boxer Mike Alvarado will return to the ring April 14 in a spotlighted fight against California’s Mauricio Herrera in a much-anticipated card on HBO.
Alvarado (32-0, 23 knockouts) is coming off the most entertaining victory of his career, when he fought through severe cuts and a bloody face in the final rounds to on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez bout.
April’s matchup for Alvarado will leave him five months between fights, a longer layoff than he’s used to after boxing five times in 12 months last year.
“When you reach the level that Mike is at, you’re not gonna see him fight every two months on lower cards on cable TV. He’s fighting at a higher level now,” said Carl Moretti, vice president of Top Rank promotions. “And it’s really not bad if you take into consideration the cut and injury he had.”
This time, Alvarado — who ranks among the world’s top 10 junior welterweights — will fight as the co-feature bout before Brandon Rios takes on Yuriorkis Gamboa for the WBA world lightweight championship. The fights will be hosted at the 6,000-seat Mandalay Bay arena in Las Vegas. The card has already drawn considerable interest, with Rios-Gamboa setting up as fight fan’s ideal matchup.
“This is what we all anticpated for Mike, especially coming off that thrilling victory,” Moretti said. “It’s a showcase bout on HBO. It’s a big deal for Mike.”
Matchmakers at Top Rank considered several opponents for Alvarado, including Herrera, Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia, undefeated up-and-comer Ray Serrano of Philadelphia, and Mexico’s Javier Castro. After negotiating with HBO, they settled on Herrera.
Herrera (18-1, 7 KOs) is coming off a 10-round majority decision victory over Mike Dallas Jr. last Summer, and he defeated Provodnikov on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” on Jan. 7, 2011. He is on a five-fight winning streak, although he has just one stoppage in his last nine fights.
Alvarado, on the other hand, has ended 10 of his last 12 fights early and is known as a .
Fans, too, are already looking ahead at a possible matchup between Alvarado and Rios, if the two fighters can win in April. Rios is expected to move up a division to 140 pounds and his and Alvarado’s styles likely would make for an entertaining matchup.
“Now that he’s on HBO, and not the undercard platform on pay-per-view, more people will see him,” Moretti said of Alvarado. “It sets up everything. Not just one guy. It opens up a plethora of opponents for Mike. He needs to keep doing what he’s doing.”
Nick Groke: 303-954-1015 or ngroke@denverpost.com
