Former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado was arrested in his hometown of Denver early Saturday on an outstanding felony warrant and for possession of a handgun as a convicted felon, but the arrest is not expected to impact his upcoming fight, according to promoter Top Rank.
Alvarado and rival Brandon Rios are scheduled to square off for the third time in a much-anticipated 12-round welterweight fight -- the rubber match of their series -- on Jan. 24 in an HBO-televised main event at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, a Denver suburb.
Alvarado, who has had a number of legal problems in recent years, was in the passenger seat of his Hummer when police pulled it over at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday and found a handgun in the glove box during the traffic stop. The car was pulled over for having an expired registration.
Police said Alvarado, 34, appeared to be pushing something into the glove box when they approached the car, court records said, according to the Denver Post. When police ran a records check on Alvarado he was found to be wanted on a felony warrant and a traffic offense, the Denver Post reported. When the car was searched, the handgun was found and Alvarado was taken into custody before he posted a $41,500 bond and was released.
"We are aware of everything that went on that we can be aware of and we were told that Mike hasn't missed any training and plans to be at the gym for his regular training as usual," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com on Monday, after learning of Alvarado's arrest. "We don't condone what happened in any way and we respect the authorities. That said, we don't anticipate a problem with the show and it is still scheduled to go ahead on Jan. 24. After that, Mike will have to deal with the legal issues.
"[This kind of publicity] doesn't help the event. This isn't the kind of publicity we want, but I don't think it will affect Mike's performance."
In October 2012, Rios (32-2-1, 23 KOs) scored a seventh-round knockout of Alvarado (34-3, 23 KOs) in Carson, California, in a hellacious fight. In March 2013, Alvarado exacted revenge in Las Vegas by winning a close unanimous decision and a vacant interim junior welterweight title in another action-packed fight, one in which Alvarado boxed just enough in the second half of the bout to edge Rios.
After the second fight, Alvarado was elevated to a full junior welterweight titleholder. He made his first defense in October 2013, also at the 1stBank Center, but was stopped in the 10th round by Ruslan Provodnikov after taking immense punishment in a brutal fight and retiring on his stool.
Alvarado returned in May and lost a lopsided decision to Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez in a welterweight world title eliminator in which both men were knocked down.
After Rios, 28, a former lightweight world titleholder from Oxnard, California, lost the rematch to Alvarado, he was outclassed by Manny Pacquiao in a near-shutout decision in a welterweight bout in Macau, China, in November 2013. Rios returned to notch a ninth-round disqualification victory against Diego Chaves in August in a shaky performance.