Denis Shafikov vs Rene Alvarado Preview Dec. 9th
Rene Alvarado of Nicaragua and Denis Shafikov of Russia will be meeting in a 10-round junior lightweight bout at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this Saturday, December 9th. The fight can be seen live in the USA on HBO Latino. Shafikov last fought in June when he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to IBF Champion Robert Easter Jr. Meanwhile, Alvarado’s last outing took place in October when he stopped David Morales in the second round. Alvarado certainly shouldn’t have any ring rust to deal with as this will be his fifth fight this year.
Shafikov vs Alvarado Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Rene Alvarado +660
- Denis Shafikov -1200
My Pick
The 28-year-old Alvarado climbs through the ring ropes with a record of 27-8 with 19 Kos. He’s fought 199 rounds since turning pro in 2008 and has decent power with a knockout ratio of 54 per cent. He’s 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and has lost six of his 13 nine fights, but has been stopped just once in his seven career losses. The stoppage was at the hands of Andrew Cancio in the eighth round back in December of 2015.
Alvarado’s best wins have been against Jayson Velez and Juan Pablo Sanchez. He’s lost decisions to Yuriorkis Gamboa, Orlando Rizo, Jezreel Corrales, Rocky Juarez, Eric Hunter, Joseph Diaz, and Manuel Avila. Alvarado is basically a journeyman who has taken on some good opponents and has been competitive against them. However, he hasn’t had much luck when stepping up in class and he’ll be facing a tough foe in Shafikov.
The 32-year-old Shafikov has already fought for a world title three times now. He lost a shot at the vacant IBF title shot to Rances Barthelemy by unanimous decision in December, 2015 after losing to Miguel Vasquez in February, 2014 by unanimous decision in his first shot at the IBF lightweight title. He then had a third shot at the IBF crown earlier this year when he was beaten by Easter Jr. Those three title bids are the only fights he’s lost as he enters the ring at 38-3-1 with 20 Kos.
Shafikov’s lone draw came against Brunet Zamora in 2010 via a majority decision. Three of his last five wins have been by stoppage and his current knockout ratio is 48 per cent. Shafikov is just 5-foot-5, with a 68.5-inch reach, so he’s two inches shorter than Alvarado and has a 3.5-inch reach disadvantage. Shafikov turned pro back in 2003 and has 278 rounds under his belt since then. He needs to get on the inside and put pressure on his opponents to be effective due to his short size.
Shafikov’s best wins were a ninth-round stoppage over Rustam Nugaev in August of 2014, an eight-round unanimous decision against Miguel Angel Mendoza four months later and a third-round stoppage over Roy Mukhlis in July, 2015. His win over Richard Commey last December was also impressive as well as his 10th-round stoppage of Jamel Herring in the summer of 2016. He can’t take Alvarado lightly though as Shafikov has trouble with mobile fighters with good boxing skills.
Prediction…
Shafikov is a rugged customer with a lot of experience and a great chin, but he’s not really a one-punch knockout threat. He’s also short in stature and needs to get inside, but has problems outboxing skillful opponents. Shafikov needs to outwork Alvarado and wear him down to be successful. This should be a competitive bout and a pretty close one with both boxers having a legitimate shot at winning, but I’ll go with Shafikov here.
Shafikov should wear Alvarado down.
Play Shafikov -1200 @ 5dimes.eu
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Denis Shafikov betting • Rene Alvarado betting