By Cliff Rold

The crowd didn’t sound like they approved of the decision, with cause, but the hopeful comeback of former Jr. welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado continues with tentative steps.

The 35-year old Alvarado (36-4, 24 KO), 147 ¾, of Denver, Colorado, managed a tough eight-round majority decision at welterweight over a spirited 26-year old Josh Torres (15-5-2, 7 KO), 147 ¾, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Torres bruised up the face of Alvarado but couldn’t sway the judges in his favor in the main event at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. The referee was Neal Young.

Slower than he was in his prime, the heavier hands of Alvarado may have told the tale. Torres was busy throughout the fight, landing while Alvarado often seemed a second behind where his mind wanted his body to be. When he let his hands go, his were clearly the harder shots but volume worked in favor of Torres. Torres slowed as the fight wore on, Alvarado bloodying his nose. One judge had it 76-76 at the end, overruled by scores of 78-74 and 77-75.

It was Alvarado’s second straight win after suffering three losses in a row to Ruslan Provodnikov, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Brandon Rios.

The televised opener highlighted a pair of middleweight veterans whose stock has slipped back to eight round affairs.

33-year old former Russian Olympian and two-time world amateur champion Matt Korobov (26-1, 14 KO), 162 ¾, of St. Petersburg, Florida, won his second fight in 2016 after taking off all of 2015 following a knockout loss to Andy Lee. Korobov scored four knockdowns and earned a unanimous decision over former Contender contestant Brian Vera (23-11, 14 KO), 162 ½, of Austin, Texas. The referee was Robert Chapa.

Korobov got off to a quick start, dropping Vera with a southpaw left seconds into the fight. Vera beat the count and didn’t appear too hurt but he’d fall again before the round was over. Another knockdown came in the second but Korobov couldn’t finish his man. It was more than enough to build an insurmountable lead despite a game effort from Vera as the fight wore on. Korobov added one more knockdown in the eighth en route to scores of 78-70 and 79-69 twice for the clear decision win.

It was Vera’s fifth straight defeat.

The card was televised on Unimas as part of the “Solo Boxeo” series.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com