By Austin Killeen June 24, 2016

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On Saturday at the Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas Josh Torres (15-4-2, 7 KO’s) will face Mike Alvarado (35-4-0, 24 KO’s) in the biggest fight of his career. The fight will be televised live on UniMas. (11PM ET/PT) Alvarado must have selected this venue, because his entire career he has been throwing bombs at his opponent. Turning pro the Colorado fighter won his first thirty three fights, twenty three of those coming by knockout; some of those knockouts ending in spectacular fashion. Needless to say he became the darling of television, fighting for big purses against the biggest names in the division. The so called experts figure he’ll use a trouncing of Torres to leverage his next big payday. Torres will be able to tell his grandchildren how he once fought a big name fighter and gave it his best effort. But Torres and his trainer Danny Perez don’t see it that way, they think granddad Torres will be telling the grandkids about a far different ending in his first big fight.

Perez responded to the challenge of facing Alvarado: “We’ve watched every video we could, we’ve found his mistakes, his good and his bad and we got ourselves prepared for that.” In responses to what a win would mean to him as a trainer Perez stated: “It means I still got some sense in my head and I’m able to come up with a plan. It’s a little different now being a coach instead of a fighter, if I had the knowledge as I fighter that I do now as a coach it would have made my fights a little easier as a fighter. It’s easier for me to see it out here now I’m not in the ring now I’m on the outside. I’m able to see what Josh needs to do and not do.”

This appears to be a very big step up for “Pitbull” as he has never won a fight outside of “The Land of Enchantment” and I’ve never seen a map of New Mexico with Dallas on it. Josh responded to this by saying: “It doesn’t bug me; it’s somewhat of a jinx. It’s unfortunate, but there’s always room for improvement, but come Saturday night we’ll start changing that.” Putting the records of both fighters side by side, Alvarado has faced at least six boxers who are better than anything that is on Torres’ dance card. Critics would add to that, that Torres would have a difficult time beating those same six fighters himself. Additionally if Torres somehow manages to last until the final bell, is he going to get the decision over the house fighter; that’s Alvarado for anyone who’s never seen a fight before? In summation Josh Torres is a nice guy, but as the Hall of Fame baseball player/manager Leo Durocher once said “nice guys finish last.”

Just for laughs let’s put Alvarado and Torres under the microscope for a moment for the purpose of analysis. Since October of 2012 “Mile High” has been in the ring six times, losing four of those bouts three by stoppage. So for the last four years he has averaged one and a half fights a year. During that same time period Torres has had ten fights, winning seven with three coming by stoppage, losing two, with one draw. Torres has never been stopped amateur or pro, nor has he ever been off his feet. Alvarado faced the better competition but Torres has the better results over the past four years.

When the bell rings Saturday night for round one at the Bomb Factory the closest thing to Alvarado that Torres had faced would have to be Ranee Ganoy, a big banger out of the Philippines. For the first three rounds of that fight Ganoy resembled an AK 47 assault rifle and appeared to rock Torres several times. “Pitbull survived and took control in the middle rounds, even hurting Ganoy along the ropes. But instead of going for the kill he played it safe backing to the center of the ring. I thought that was a mistake as Ganoy scored some heavy blows in the ninth round. Torres untimely won by majority decision but it wasn’t easy and the fight wasn’t in Dallas, Texas against the house fighter.

Two caveats regarding this fight; Alvarado wanted the bout to be scheduled for eight rounds not Torres. Alvarado also wanted the bout to be at 148 pounds not Torres. This raises the question what kind of shape is Alvarado in, as he has been involved in several twelve round bouts, while Torres has never been beyond ten. Alvarado has spent most of his career at junior welterweight, while Torres has campaigned at welterweight most of his career. While training for this fight, making 148 pounds was a breeze for Torres and fighting eight rounds is nothing for the well conditioned “Pitbull.”

Although the majority of the crowd on Saturday will most likely be cheering for Alvarado, a large contingent of fans from greater Albuquerque will be traveling to Dallas to support Torres. If Torres can hurt Alvarado like he did Ganoy and I think that he can, he can’t afford to take his foot off the gas. Torres has to pour it on and finish Alvarado otherwise he’ll most likely be listening to the announcer say “the winner from Denver, Colorado. . . Close counts in horse shoes, but not in boxing. This is Torres’ golden opportunity and there is no guarantee there will ever be another one, he has to make this one count!