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The April 14 fight between Brandon Rios and Yuriorkis Gamboa now has an official HBO co-feature, as Mike Alvarado will battle Mauricio Herrera in a junior welterweight contest, according to Osman Rodriguez, who confirmed the bout with Carl Moretti of Top Rank.
Alvarado (32-0, 23 KO) is coming off of a thrilling comeback stoppage of Breidis Prescott on the Pacquiao vs Marquez card in November. The 31-year-old Denver native has had a rocky go of it outside the ring in his pro career, but seems truly on track these days and is looking to make his move in the 140-pound division. He's an exciting fighter and has potential to become a TV regular.
Alvarado also defeated Ray Narh on the Pacquiao vs Mosley card, and overall went 4-0 in 2011.
Herrera (18-1, 7 KO) hasn't fought since last June, but pulled a couple of upsets on Friday Night Fights last year, taking Ruslan Provodnikov's undefeated record in January, and then winning a debated decision over Mike Dallas Jr in June.
Herrera, also 31, would be pulling the biggest upset of his career if he can win this one, but don't count him out. He's a tough guy with solid skills, and Alvarado, despite being unbeaten, is very beatable.
If Alvarado and Rios both win, there's a good chance Top Rank will use this double-header to set up a fight at 140 pounds between the two, which could be an absolute war.