MIKE ALVARADO vs MIGUEL ANGEL HUERTA

The final show in Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo series takes place in Denver on Friday, when undefeated local favourite Mike Alvarado meets durable Mexican veteran Miguel Angel Huerta in a 10-round junior welter bout.

It has been a great ride for boxing fans on Telefutura, with a lot of excellent bouts, including such championship fights as Jesus Chavez vs Sirimongkol and Martin Castillo vs Alexander Munoz.

My understanding is that the Azteca America network will be throwing its hat into the ring with a strong boxing presence in 2009, but Friday nights won’t be quite the same without Telefutura and commentators Bernardo Osuna and Ricardo Celis, who came to be almost like friends of the family even for non-Spanish-speakers.

The Telefutura series should end on a high note because Alvarado is a crowd-pleasing boxer-puncher who usually takes the fight right to his opponents, while Huerta has probably never been in a bad fight.

Alvarado, 28, has been developing nicely on Telefutura but just seems to have found a new level in recent bouts, with stoppage wins over Michel Rosales, Cesar Bazan and Manuel Garnica in his last three fights. He was just too strong and too insistent for his opponents in these fights, and his punching was crisp and accurate. Alvarado isn’t just a slugger. He jabs his way in, and I think that his increased use of the jab has helped him become a better fighter. If Alvarado has a man in trouble, he will keep right on him. In each of his last three bouts, the other man seemed broken down mentally as much as physically.

Huerta, 30, is an excellent test for Alvarado. He is an experienced professional who can box and fight, and he still has ambition, with four wins in his last six bouts, one of his losses being the very disputed decision defeat he suffered against Almazbek Raiymkulov.

Huerta has been in the ring with a lot of good fighters, with notable wins over Rolando Reyes and Darling Jimenez, and although stopped by Julio Diaz — his only stoppage defeat in the last seven years — he knocked down the former world champion in the first round. I think that Huerta’s nose was broken in that fight, and with one eye starting to close it was decided to pull him out with two rounds remaining.

The fight that Huerta is most remembered for, though, is his 12-round war with Raiymkulov on the Versus network when he seemed to have outfought the bigger puncher. When Huerta dropped Raiymkulov in the 11th round it seemed to seal the deal, but it was not to be. Two judges had Raiymkulov winning by just one point — the crowd agreed with the 116-111 score in Huerta’s favour.

Although outfoxed by crafty veteran Javier Jauregui in March, Huerta came back with a widely scored decision win over Juan Ramon Cruz. After fighting as a lightweight his whole career, Huerta has decided his best weight now is 140 pounds, and of course he faces a very tough debut in this weight division against Alvarado.

I am expecting a good, tough, action-filled fight. Alvarado must be considered the stronger fighter, he is at home and he has career momentum. Huerta is a good, busy fighter who switches from the orthodox to the southpaw style during his fights. I think he will be throwing lots of punches, and he will not easily be beaten.

Alvarado, though, has the bit between his teeth and is moving forward confidently in his career. I think his is going to be too much of an offensive powerhouse for Huerta and I think he is going to wear down the sturdy veteran, either outpointing him or possibly getting a stoppage win in about nine rounds.