DALLAS—Rene Alvarado’s title reign began by avenging a previous defeat, only to suffer the same fight in his first attempted title fight.

Roger Gutierrez registered the first significant upset of 2021, scoring three knockdowns en route to a 12-round decision over Alvarado to win a secondary version of the junior lightweight title.

All three judges had the contest scored 113-112 in favor of Gutierrez in the title-winning effort in their rematch Saturday evening at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Gutierrez floored Alvarado twice in round three and again in round 12, the last of the bunch just enough to tip the fight in his favor.

“This was in memory of my mother,” Gutierrez told BoxingScene.com of the emotion carried into the fight, having lost his family matriarch one month ago. “She can now look down and know that I have accomplished the dream she always had for me.”

On the heels of the firestorm offered by Alvarado’s twin brother Felix Alvarado in defending his 108-pound title in the preceding bout, the impatient crowd began raining boos midway through the opening round. Jeers quickly turned to cheers when Gutierrez connected with a straight right to stun Alvarado, who recovered quickly enough to return fire just before the bell.

Action was steady in round two before Gutierrez provided a dramatic shift in tempo in round three. Alvarado swung and missed with an overhand right, leaving himself wide open for a right uppercut which sent him to the canvas for the bout’s first knockdown.

The defending titlist from Managua, Nicaragua beat the count of referee Mark Nelson, only to find himself back on the deck courtesy of a right hand upstairs moments later. Gutierrez remained on the attack, only for Alvarado’s gumshield to become dislodged during an exchange which bought some time late in the round.

Alvarado was able to compose himself and punch his way back into the fight. Gutierrez eased up just enough to allow his repeat foe to grow in confidence, as evident in his right hand which repeatedly found its mark in round five. A three-punch combo—a left hook bookended by right uppercuts—snapped back the head of Gutierrez, as the Venezuelan was forced to contend with a cut just outside his left eyelid.

Time was called prior to the start of round six in order for the ringside physician to examine Gutierrez’s cut. The challenger was permitted to continue, prompting Alvarado to go back on the attack. Gutierrez found success late in the round courtesy of a crisp body shot, only to leave his chin in the air get tagged clean in immediate response by Alvarado.

Blood continued to flow across Gutierrez’s face in round seven, though he fought through the discomfort in attempting to find a home for his right hand. Alvarado connected with a head-jarring left hook late in the round, which Gutierrez took well even if to the displeasure of his corner.

Gutierrez sought to punch through the lulls in round eight, with Alvarado’s tight guard picking off most of the incoming. The activity was enough to draw concern in the corner of the Nicaraguan, who was encouraged to punch in combination rather than just one or two shots at a time.

Instead came the same trend in rounds nine and ten, with large pockets of inactivity and Gutierrez coming across as the busier fighter whenever either fighter let their hands go. Gutierrez picked up the pace in round ten, dropping right hands on an incoming Alvarado who moved forward but with minimal punch output. 

In the need of something dramatic down the stretch, Gutierrez came through big time. Alvarado was caught coming forward, dropped hard by a hookercut to hit the deck for the third time in the fight. Gutierrez continued to get the better of the exchanges in a pivotal final round to complete the upset and spoil the Alvarado family reunion.

Even with the knockdown providing the margin of victory, Gutierrez never feared being denied the victory.

“The time it took to announce the scores bothered me more than how close it was,” admitted Gutierrez, who landed 222-of-673 total punches (33%) according to CompuBox. “Once I put him down again in the 12th round, I knew I had the fight won.”

Alvarez landed 162-of-643 total punches (25%) in defeat, as he falls to 32-9 (21KOs). The loss ends an emotional night for the Nicaraguan, who failed to replicate the success of his twin brother immediately preceding his fight.

With it also comes his failing to lodge a single successful defense of the title he claimed in a 7th round stoppage of Andrew Cancio in their Nov. 2019 rematch, avenging an earlier career loss. Alvarado is now 5-2 versus repeat opposition.

Gutierrez comes up aces in his first career title fight, improving to 25-3-1 (21KOs). The win extends his win streak to six in a row, with Gutierrez now 8-2 overall since suffering a 7th round knockout at the hands of Alvarado 18 months ago.

Alvarado-Gutierrez served in the chief support to the interim lightweight title fight between Ryan García (20-0, 17KOs) and England’s Luke Campbell (20-3, 16KOs).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox