Mike Alvarado stumbled with the law again Saturday — and this time it could affect a big fight just weeks away.
The Denver boxer was arrested downtown early Saturday morning on a felony warrant and suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. Denver police say they found a handgun in the glove box of his Hummer during a traffic stop.
Alvarado posted a $41,500 bond and was released, according to court records.
He is scheduled to fight Brandon Rios on Jan. 24 at the FirstBank Center in Broomfield, in a nationally-televised bout on HBO. It will be a rubber match between the two brawlers in a highly-touted trilogy.
For now, according to Alvarado’s manager and his promoter, the fight will go on.
“There’s no problem with the fight,” Henry Delgado, Alvarado’s manager, said. “As long as he’s out. And he’s been bailed out. The fight’s only in a few weeks. I don’t see that being a problem.”
“But after that, I don’t know.”
Alvarado, who has twice served time in prison, could be looking at more time in the near future.
And, in a more immediate concern, the arrest shines some questions about his preparation for his upcoming fight.
“He’s living in a different world,” Delgado said. “He didn’t go to court like he was supposed to, like we told him to. He doesn’t understand sometimes.
“He’s just with the wrong people in the wrong places sometimes.”
The Hummer was stopped by police about 4:15 a.m. near the intersection of 19th and Stout streets after an officer noticed the car showed expired registration tags. Alvarado, who trains at his home gym less than a mile away near Coors Field, was sitting in the vehicle’s passenger seat.
Police say Alvarado, 34, appeared to be pushing something into the glove box when they approached the car, according to court records. Officers ran a records check on Alvarado and found he was wanted on a felony warrant and a traffic offense out of Adams County.
Officers arrested Alvarado and then searched his car, finding a Taurus handgun inside the glove box, accoring to the records.
“I’m just fed up with it. I’m at a loss,” Delgado said. “I don’t know what to do this guy. After this fight, that’s it.”
He won a string of impressive, bloody bouts between 2011-13 — including come-from-behind victories over Breidis Prescott and Mauricio Herrera. After he lost by TKO to Rios in 2012 — voted that year’s fight of the year by several outlets — he came back to win the WBO title by unanimous decision over Rios.
But he often struggles to stay focused before fights. He showed up to weigh-ins before the second Rios bout with bright red scars on his face and neck. And he nearly failed to make the 140-pound weight limit before facing Ruslan Provodnikov last year.
So his team moved training camp to Los Angeles — to avoid trouble in Denver — before his last bout, which he lost to Juan Manuel Marquez in May 2014 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.. He
Court records show Alvarado was also arrested during a traffic stop on the same weapons charge in Adams County in October of 2013.
“We’ve read the reports. And we’re aware of everything,” said Carl Moretti, vice president of Top Rank, the promoter for both Alvarado and Rios.
“We don’t condone it in any way. But we also don’t expect it to affect the fight. He’ll be back in the gym tonight and he should continue to prepare as planned.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/NickGroke
