Solid little under-the-radar fighter, this. Currently ranked fourth at light flyweight by the WBC, he just made his third defense of their Latino title, dispatching Colombian slugger José Antonio Jiménez by KO1 at home in Managua. The feisty, never-tiring Nicaraguan whirlwind is on an 11-0 streak with ten knockouts since failing in consecutive bids for the WBA flyweight title, dropping unanimous decisions to Kazuto Ioka late in 2013 and Juan Carlos Reveco in mid-2014. Of those, seven have been KO1s and Jiménez puts him at five in a row. None of his opposition during his redemption climb has been stellar, but it hasn't been awful either - the best coming in the guise of Yader Cardoza, Karluis Diaz and Luis de la Rosa, all former world title challengers themselves, all kayoed. His overall record stands at 29-2 (25). I had Ioka defeating him very narrowly, 115-113, and by all reputable accounts he was robbed in Argentina versus Reveco. Hopefully a title shot at light fly (where his power seems to be off the charts) materializes soon. A battle with the WBC number one contender, Pedro Guevara, has FOTY implications. Tussles with any of the standout top-ranked Filipinos at 108lbs could also be fun. Ken Shiro, the newly crowned WBC belt holder, just produced a classic with aging incumbent Ganigan López, squeaking by with a majority decision, so the green champ might be a doable assignment for Alvarado if he can drag him into a clip-unloading firefight.
FYI, his ring name in English means "twin" - because he is the identical twin brother of René Alvarado, who campaigns a few divisions up in the feather range. Felix is by far the biggest talent in the family, but this isn't a Canelo-and-his-kin gulf; René is himself a respectable B+ grade fringe contender, last seen in the ring scoring a flash knockdown on Yuriorkis Gamboa late in a UD loss. The bros were co-featured on tonight's card, aired on Canal 13 in Nicaragua, both victorious by way of nocaut.
Today he made a first successful defense of the IBF light flyweight title (captured last October by knocking out Filipino perennial contender Randy Petalcorin) with a UD over tough Reiya Konishi. This content is protected
