Alvarado Scores Sensational Come-From-Behind TKO of Prescott

By: Mike Sloan at ringside in Las Vegas: It looked like Breidis Prescott was going to score a dominating one-sided stoppage against an unbeaten American fighter on a major pay-per-view card in hopes to landing a coveted rematch with Amir Khan. As it turned out, Prescott may be vying for a rematch with Mike Alvarado because not only did he fail to put away the bloodied and battered Denver-based contender, he suffered the first knockdown and knockout loss of his professional career.

In what was a battle for the ages on the smaller stage, Alvarado scored a near miraculous come-from-behind knockout of the Colombian fighter with a sensational flurry of uppercuts. Through gnashed teeth, a grimaced and bloodied face and unfathomable courage, Alvarado fought back from the brink of being taken out and wound up scoring one of the most dramatic wins of 2011.

Prescott was in total control for the first half of the fight and busted up Alvarado’s mouth, nose and eyes and, like stated earlier, looked on his way to scoring a somewhat surprising stoppage. Alvarado had extreme difficulty in timing his foe’s punches and was both lethargic and stiff inside the ring. However, Alvarado never stopped trying and by the time the sixth round rolled around, it was he who was pressing the issue and slowly taking the control from Prescott.

Alvarado forced Prescott (24-4, 19 KOs) into dozens of perilous exchanges and though he lost the bulk of the rounds of the contest, he was still in the fight. Finally, less than a minute into the tenth and final round, Alvarado unleashed a hellish fury of uppercuts and eventually Prescott crumbled onto the canvas. The native of Barranquilla struggled up to his feet and once the fight resumed, “Mile High” swarmed his stumbling foe and never relented.

A series of uppercuts and body shots paved the way for victory and Prescott struggled to stay upright. Finally, after two hard right uppercuts wobbled Prescott again, referee Jay Nady intelligently stepped in and halted the mugging during a clinch. Though the majority of the crowd booed Nady’s call, it was clearly the right course of action from the veteran third man. The official time of the stoppage came at 1:53 and had Prescott been able to survive the round, he would have won the contest.

What it sets up now is anybody’s guess. A rematch would be ideal considering how far ahead on points the Colombian was and for how sensational the action was inside the ring. A rematch with Khan is obviously out the window now for Prescott, but since Alvarado (32-0, 23 KOs) scored such a classic TKO and considering that he has still yet to taste defeat as a pro, there’s no telling what looms ahead in his near future.

The opening bout of the pay-per-view telecast was a competitive and tightly-contested battle between junior lightweights Luis Cruz (19-1, 15 KOs) and Juan Carlos Burgos. Burgos, from Tijuana, was in total control early on with sharp left hooks and a punishing body assault. It seemed at that point that the Puerto Rican was going to be in way over his head, but Cruz turned the tides midway through the contest. Stiff right hands and hard counter punches brought Cruz back into the fight, but Burgos didn’t relinquish total control.

The second half of the duel was about as close as they come and though Cruz’ face grew puffier as the rounds wore on, the outcome of the bout seemed to be up in the air when the tenth and final round approached. The action was both toe-to-toe (in spurts) and nip-and-tuck and neither man truly dominated the other. However, two of the ringside judges thought Burgos (28-1, 19 KOs) was the far superior man and gave him the decision with scores of 97-93 and 98-92. The other judge had it even at 95-95. SecondsOut.com had it in favor of Burgos 96-94.

You can also contact Mike Sloan at www.facebook.com/mikesloan19

November 12, 2011


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