Is this the end for Mike Alvarado?

Mike Alvardo took on Arnold Barboza Jr. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on the undercard of Vasiliy Lomachenko’s dominance over Anthony Crolla. The buildup to this fight seemed to be the classic crossroads fight for these two. Barboza was taking a fight which was a step up in competition for him while Alvarado was trying to make one last run for a title to finish off his long storied career. The fight for”Mile High” Mike didn’t turn out as planned and was knocked out by Alvardo in the third round.

It’s not the loss that hurts but the way he looked in it, which had everyone asking on social media watching “Is this the end for Mike Alvarado?”

If this is the last time we’ll see Mike in the squared circle, I wanted to take a look back at some of the great moments in his storied boxing career.

Good morning. I'd like to give a huge thanks and appreciation to @trboxing @ESPN for an amazing opportunity and such great hospitality for the fights this weekend, thank you all God Bless

— Mike Alvarado (@MileHighMike303) April 13, 2019

Alvarado (40-5,28 KOs) made his pro debut knocking out Istafa Jihad in 2004 and from there was completely tearing apart anyone he came across in the welterweight division. For me when he took out Bredis Prescott in 2011 on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez III card is when everyone began to know who Mile High Mike is.

He stated after that fight, “My heart just grew bigger and bigger as the fight went along,” Alvarado said. “He was getting tired. I knew he had to go. It was just a matter of me stepping on the gas.”

Another moment most fight fans would remember him for was the trilogy of fights he had with Brandon Rios for the WBO Light Welterweight title at the time. The first one ended up being the 2012 Fight of the Year which had him on the losing end with a stoppage in the seventh round. He would avenge this loss in the rematch in 2013 to capture the WBO Light Heavyweight title.

While he would lose the title the following fight to Ruslan Provodnikov, it was consecutive back to back losses to Juan Manuel Marquez and Rios the third time that many had assumed that he had run out of gas and was done with boxing.  Especially after the third Rios fight, where he was stopped in the third round without much return fire for Rios. It was later revealed he had an eye injury in the fight that would later need surgery to correct.

He recovered from surgery and was on the comeback trail. Both inside and outside the ring. He struggled with drug addiction and troubles with the law but by 2016, made a total lifestyle change.

“It was the people I was hanging with; it was the lifestyle I was living. The drugs and alcohol played a role in it, you know, in that lifestyle, being out there, the center of attention, always wanting to be in the wrong places at the wrong times doing the wrong things; just that lifestyle, man. It came to a point where I was done with it. I couldn’t do that no more.” he said in a 2016 interview with Bad Left Hook.

ln fact, it was showing. His renewed focus leading up to this fight with Barboza Jr. was a six-fight win streak. In that streak, he stopped five of them by knockout.

“He caught me with a clean, surprising shot,” Alvarado said post-fight. “He just caught me. It’s boxing. Some just sneak in and do the job, you know?”

If this is the end of the line for Alvardo, it has been a job that was well done.