Alvarado was stopped in seven rounds of a barnstorming first encounter between the two last October at the Home Depot Center and more than held his own with ‘Bam Bam’ until referee Pat Russell stepped in to end the contest.
The 32 year-old’s manager Henry Delgado has now accused former WBA lightweight champion Rios, 26, of attempting to avoid another meeting with Alvarado, but believes that the fight will have to happen as TV executives are keen on getting them both back in the ring in two months’ time.
“(Rios) didn’t want it. But they’re kind of forced into it because HBO wants it bad,” Delgado told The Denver Post. “Mike just made a mistake at the end of the last fight. Rios just got a lucky shot in. It shouldn’t have been stopped.”
Robert Garcia-trained Rios has been linked with some higher-profile clashes in recent times, with fights against the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Yuriorkis Gamboa ultimately failing to make it to the first bell.
A return with Alvarado makes sense at this present time though as the first ‘Fight of the Year’ contender was such an epic match-up and the winner can expect to be right in the mix for a world title at 140 with a decisive victory in the spring.
