Rene Alvarado loses the rematch and his title to Roger Gutierrez
Following a spirited contest, regular WBA world super featherweight champion Rene “Gemelo” Alvarado (32-9, 21 KO’s) was unable to defend his belt. The rematch, with Roger “The Kid” Gutierrez (25-3-1, 20 KO’s), stood as his first title defense. After twelve rounds of action, he lost by way of unanimous decision.
Gemelo first obtained the belt on November 23, 2019 when he stopped Andrew “El Chango” Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KO’s) in a shocker. That win was especially rewarding since not only did be become a world champion, he got a healthy dose of revenge as well.
When Cancio and Alvarado first clashed together, on December 18, 2015, El Chango walked away with a TKO win. In their second skirmish, however, Gemelo was able to beat up and break down Cancio. In the third round, Alvarado opened up a troublesome cut over Cancio’s eye. Ultimately the bloody wound led to the fight being stopped in the eighth. The win was even more notable because Cancio was coming off two impressive back-to-back wins over Alberto Machado.
This is also the second time that Alvarado fought Gutierrez. The two fighters first went to head-to-head three years prior, on July 14, 2017. In that outing Gemelo walked away with a seventh round knockout. This time, it would be Gutierrez who got his revenge!
CHANING OF THE GUARD
The fight began tactically enough with Alvarado coming forward providing the pressure while Gutierrez worked well moving backwards. Each fighter used an active jab and neither neglected sinking in repeated hooks to the body. In the closing seconds of the round, the challenger caught the champ with a series straight rights that gave him some trouble.
After a nondescript second, Gutierrez put Gemelo on the canvas twice in the third. The first time came by way of a sneaky right uppercut that Alvarado didn’t see coming. Moments later a straight right drove the champ into the corner on the seat on his pants. In response, Alvarado did not hold but chose to stand his ground. On shaky legs the Nicaraguan survived the period without further catastrophe. While he enjoyed an overall great round, the Kid did leave the third with a cut on his left eye.
A POSSIBLE COMEBACK THWARTED
Over the next three rounds Alvarado bounced back and functioned as the more effective ring general. Behind his springy jab, Gemelo rarely gave Gutierrez time to think. The Kid never stopped throwing or scoring well with a left hook to the body, yet he appeared a tad tired and was clinching with greater frequency. Along with the tenacious attack of Alvarado, Gutierrez was bothered by his steadily bleeding eye.
The prizefight somewhat leveled out over the course of the next several rounds. It seemed the champion was setting himself up for a victory on the cards.
Then in the twelfth round, Gutierrez scored a surprise third knock down with a hybrid left hook/uppercut. Alvarado rose from the canvas on sturdy enough legs, but he was unable to do anything meaningful for the remainder of the period. When the cards were read Gutierrez won the bout by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 113-112 indicating the last knockdown was the difference!
Gutierrez will enjoy his revenge but the series is set at 1-1…will we get a third fight?
By: Bakari Simpson
