Mike Alvarado, left, against Brandon Rios Saturday night in Broomfield. (John Leyba, Denver Post)
I was at the Colorado State-San Diego State basketball game in Fort Collins Saturday night when I got word that Mike Alvarado had just been pummeled in losing to Brandon Rios, with the fight stopped between the third and fourth rounds at the FirstBank Center in Broomfield. (.)
I was glad I hadn’t gone to the fight.
It wasn’t “sad,” because the fact is that Alvarado got the sort of opportunities he had dreamed of and talked about with me, as far back as late 2008, when I wrote about him in advance of his fight with Miguel Angel Huerta at the National Western Complex’s Stadium Arena.
I even had covered his biological father, Ron Cisneros, when he was one of the top fighters in the area in the late 1970s and early ’80s before missteps out of the ring sabotaged his progression.
So, yeah, I like the guy, and respect his patience in waiting for his chances and establishing himself as both a box office and broadcast draw in the brutal sport. He made a lot of money, including $785,000 for the fight Saturday night. He was part of some terrific fights, both wins and defeats. But there could have been so much more. If he stayed out of trouble — and jail — rather than intermittently disappearing. If he trained with a passion … all the time he needed to. If he listened to the people around him, who so wanted to believe in him and, yes, ride him to better things themselves.
This could have been a Disney movie.
It fell apart in the second act.
Mike Alvarado in 2008. (Karl Gehring, Denver Post.)
Comparing pictures, it looks as if he has aged 15 years in the past six.
After this loss, he essentially said he got what he deserved because he hadn’t trained hard enough. Uh, Mike, you just admitted to folks who believed in at least your ability to put on a good show that you didn’t take seriously enough the obligation to get in shape and reward their faith … and justify their investment.
Leading up to the fight, following Alvardo’s arrest on a weapons charge, Kiki Delgado, his trainer, pretty much said he was about to wash his hands of Alvarado.
The biggest problem now is that his status as a headliner of decent cards is shot after this stinker of a performance, and promoter Bob Arum seemed to concede as much.
I’d hate to see him back on undercards, perhaps set up against tomato cans to build him back up. I’d hate to see him on bad local, third-tier cards at the National Western Complex. Now, in his mid-30s, it’s just too late. He had his chances. But he didn’t take sufficient advantage of them. He had a huge heart much of the time, but enough is enough.
It’s time for Alvarado to hang ’em up and get straightened out for the post-fighting life.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
