Hayato Tsutsumi vs Rene Alvarado Preview December 31st, 2024
Unbeaten prospect Hayato Tsutsumi of Japan will be taking on former WBA World Junior Lightweight Champion Rene Alvarado of Nicaragua this Tuesday, December 31st. The 12-round junior lightweight tilt takes place in Tokyo on the undercard of the Fernando Martinez vs Kazuto Ioka rematch and can be seen live on ABEMA. Tsutsumi last fought in April when he stopped Anselmo Moreno in the third round however he faced the scorn of the Japanese Boxing Commission as he came in overweight for the featherweight contest and has moved up to the junior lightweight division for this fight. Alvarado last boxed in August when he beat Ricardo Blandon via a 10-round unanimous decision.
Tsutsumi vs Alvarado Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Rene Alvarado +1000
- Hayato Tsutsumi -2000
My Pick
The 25-year-old Tsutsumi is another one of japan’s excellent young prospects and he makes the ring walk with a perfect record of 5-0 with 2 Ko’s. He enjoyed a fine international amateur career and won the 2016 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships in Russia in the flyweight division and competed at the 2021 World Championships. He made his pro debut in July, 2022 when he beat Jhon Gemino via a wide eight-round unanimous decision.
His second outing was against Pete Apolinar on New Year’s Eve and he won another wide unanimous eight-round decision after dropping Apolinar with a combination earlier in the fight.He then beat Jeo Santisima by 12-round unanimous decision to capture the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Featherweight Title. He stopped Luis Moncion Ventura in the third round and did the same to former world champion Anselmo in his last outing.
Tsutsumi isn’t known as a power puncher though and has earned just two stoppages in his first five fights for a current knockout ratio of 40 per cent but has stopped his last two opponents. He is jumping in right at the deep end though as he’s not wasting time fighting four and six-rounders. He went a full 12 rounds in just his third pro contest and now has 34 pro rounds under his belt. Tsutsumi measures just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with an unlisted reach and was born in Chiba but fights out of Tokyo.
As for the veteran Alvarado, he’s now 35 years old and climbs through the ropes with a mark of 34-14 with 22 Ko’s. He has a pair of wins and a defeat in his last three contests after losing five consecutive fights by unanimous decisions. He lost his WBA World Title in his first defence in January, 2021 by scores of 113-112 across the board to Roger Gutierrez even though he dropped him twice in the third round and once in the final stanza.
Gutierrez also beat him in a rematch by a close unanimous decision seven months later. The two first met in 2017 when Alvarado won via a seventh-round TKO after Gutierrez suffered a cut eye and his corner threw the towel in. Alvarado has boxed 311 rounds since turning pro in 2008 and has pretty good power as 64.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has stopped just one of his last eight opponents.
He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and had won eight fights in a row with five of them coming by stoppage before losing his crown to Gutierrez. Before that, he had lost six of his previous nine contests so he’s definitely a streaky fighter. Alvarado’s been stopped just once in pro career however in 14 defeats so he certainly has a solid chin. The only man to halt him was Andrew Cancio in the eighth round of their first meeting in 2015. Alvarado then stopped Cancio after seven rounds in their 2019 rematch to win the WBA belt.
The biggest wins in Alvarado’s career have come against Gutierrez, Cancio, Jayson Velez, Denis Shafikov and Juan Pablo Sanchez. He’s also lost decisions to Yuriorkis Gamboa, Orlando Rizo, Jezreel Corrales, Rocky Juarez, Eric Hunter, Joseph Diaz, Manuel Avila, Lamont Roach, William Zepeda and Mark Uranov. Before winning the title, Alvarado was basically considered a solid journeyman who had taken on some good opponents and had been competitive against them. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBC Silver Featherweight and WBC International Silver Super Featherweight Crowns.
Prediction…
Tsutsumi is a full decade younger than Alvarado and is fighting at home but he obviously lacks Alvarado’s experience. Both boxers have fine skills with Alvarado possessing the edge in the power department. Tsutsum may not be able to stop Alvarado due to his chin but he should be able to outbox him and continue to work his way up the rankings while Alvarado’s career is winding down.
Another stiff test passed for the younger Tsutsumi.
Play: Tsutsumi -2000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Hayato Tsutsumi betting • Rene Alvarado betting