Mike Alvarado should be fighting Manny Pacquiao!

Instead of fighting Manny Pacquiao on November 23 in Macau, China, Mike Alvarado will be fighting Ruslan Provodnikov on October 19, at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. The fight will take place on HBO in just four weeks; after Alvarado was passed up by Top Rank for a well deserved opportunity against Manny Pacquiao. In his place, Brandon Rios will make $4 million to fight Pacquiao even though he lost to Alvarado in March.

That said, Mike Alvarado essentially missed out on the lottery given a fight with Pacquiao is like the payout you get when you fight Floyd Mayweather. Alvarado would have to fight three to five fights against other tough opponents to earn what he could have made against Pacquiao. So what happened?

Reports were that Mike Alvarado was missing physical therapy appointments back in May for a torn tendon on his left middle finger for which he had surgery after his fight with Brandon Rios. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum had previously indicated that Alvarado was the first choice to face Pacquiao; however, given Alvarado’s alleged ambivalence, Top Rank could not “roll the dice” on Alvarado and assume he would be ready. Subsequently, due to the amount of time and money that goes into promoting a big fight, Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao decided to go with Brandon Rios.

Alvarado may still get another opportunity for a big fight with Pacquiao down the road, but with boxing, nothing is for sure. Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) is facing a very strong fighter in Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s) who is coming off a tough loss against undefeated Timothy Bradley in March. Hopefully Alvarado is not looking past the Russian fighter, because if he does, the lottery and chance at stardom might just pass him by. If Alvarado beats Provodnikov, he could then be looking towards a big payday against either the winner of the Pacauiao vs. Rios fight or the winner of the Marquez vs. Bradley fight taking place one week before on October 12, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV.

There really are a number of tough and intriguing match-ups that could take place between all of the aforementioned Top Rank fighters in this stacked junior welterweight/welterweight division(s). For now though, Alvarado needs to focus on the task at hand, because Provodnikov (best believe me) will be coming for a fight in the Mile High City in October. Alvarado will have his hands full in his backyard.

After the hysteria of the mediocore fight between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez, boxing fans have three treats kicking off on October 12 (Marquez vs. Rios), October 19 (Alvarado vs. Provodnikov), and November 23 (Pacquiao vs. Rios). How can you not be excited for these fights? They could all be candidates for fight of the of the year.

If you haven’t purchased tickets for Alvarado vs. Provodnikov, you can still score seats from $100-$200 at Tickethorse.com. It’s a bargain buster especially after what I witnessed regarding currency last weekend in Las Vegas for the Mayweather vs. Alvarez fight.