By Stephen 'Darkness' Johnson, Photos by Michael V. Ornelas

Saturday night, January 24, 2015, at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, Top Rank (Bob Arum) and HBO present ‘Alvarado/Rios III’ featuringMike ‘303’ Alvarado (34-3, 23 KO’s) vs Brandon ‘Bam Bam’ Rios (32-2-1, 23 KO’s) in a scheduled for 12 rounds bout, this time in the welterweight division.

In light welterweight action Rios took their first contest back in October 2012 by way of 7th round TKO with Alvarado avenging his first professional loss getting the unanimous decision win in over Rios in March of 2013, a rubber match taking place was only a matter of time.    

The opening press conference for Alvarado/Rios III was held today at the Pepsi Center, located just west of downtown Denver, with Top Rank Vice President, Todd duBoef, AEG LIVE President Chuck Morris and HBO VP of programming  operations Peter Nelson all in attendance to kick-off what will now be referred to as the ‘Super Bowl of Boxing’, the ‘NFL Super Bowl’held the following Sunday, February 1, 2015.

The probability of the Denver Broncos involved in the NFL playoffs, and hopefully the Super Bowl, forced the decision of taking the January 24, 2015, date.     

Soft-spoken Rios trainer Robert Garcia took to the podium and thanked Top Rank, HBO and the Alvarado camp for making the fight happen. “This is the third fight between these two and we’d like to wish the best of health to the Alvarado camp and we’ll see everyone on January 24th”.

Before Rios came to the podium duBoef was quick to mention Rios has no buffer and could possibly drop an ‘F-bomb’ or two, “but that’s Brandon Rios”.

Rios was the consummate professional, acknowledging that this fight does indeed feel like a marriage asking Mike, “Will you marry me?” dropping to one knee, lightening the mood while showing the mutual respect and admiration these two have for one another. Emphasizing he knows what’s at stake Rios ended, “We’ll give the world another battle, World War III baby and I can’t wait”!

Alvarado manager Henry Delgado spoke of the relationship between the two fighters, who came up together in the Top Rank stable, that know how to separate business from friendship. “Brandon and Mike came up together, both fighting on a lot of cards. In this sport you don’t have to dislike one another to be good friends and we’d like to thank Robert and Brandon for taking the fight”.

Alvarado was as cordial as the rest, him beginning - “This will be another memorable fight for the boxing game and Colorado. I really need to win this fight especially coming off a couple of losses. I’ll be staying here in Denver to train, being close to home much more comfortable. This fight held at 147 lbs. means no more ‘Mexican Sauna’ (placing blankets on after sweating in the sauna). Trying to lose those last couple of pounds to make 140-144 lbs. was awfully tough”.

Fight fans around the country are anxious for this fight, these two guaranteed to provide an exciting battle, the winner looking at an even bigger payday down the road.