Felix Alvarado pummels Randy Petalcorin for junior flyweight title

Power and relentlessness carried Felix Alvarado past Randy Petalcorin in their battle for Hekkie Budler’s former title this morning, as the Nicaraguan bruiser dropped his man three times to secure the IBF junior flyweight belt on ESPN+.

By all accounts of the fight, Alvarado (34-2, 30 KO) simply refused to stop punching, forcing Petalcorin (29-3-1, 22 KO) to the ropes and powering through all incoming fire. The first knockdown came via body shot in the seventh round, after which Alvarado continued the assault until Petalcorin elected to stay down for the ten-count.

Alvarado is now 16-0 with 15 knockouts since consecutive decision losses to Kazuto Ioka and Juan Carlos Reveco. His top three contenders at the moment are Tetsuya Hisada, Hiroto Kyoguchi, and Akira Yaegashi.

Though a unification right off the bat is more than a little unlikely, I can’t imagine a fight between Alvarado and WBO champ Angel Acosta being anything other than fireworks. In any event, his reign isn’t going to be an easy one, but it sure will be entertaining.