Mike Alvarado arrested for possession of firearm

Jan

Photo courtesy of the Denver Police Department

Boxer Mike Alvarado was arrested on Saturday in Denver after police allegedly found a handgun in the glove compartment of his Hummer during a traffic stop, according to The Denver Post.

Alvarado, 34, cannot legally possess a gun because he’s a convicted felon. He was also booked on a felony warrant in a neighboring county on the same allegation, illegal possession of a weapon, according to The Associated Press.

Alvarado posted a $41,500 bond and was released.

The former junior welterweight titleholder is scheduled to face Brandon Rios a third time on Jan. 24 in Bloomfield, Colo. Alvarado’s handlers said the fight will go on.

“I’m never happy with an arrest but I’m relieved that [Alvarado] is out on bail and the fight is not jeopardized,” Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum, Alvarado’s promoter, said.

Henry Delgado, Alvarado’s longtime manager, told the The Post: “There’s no problem with the fight. 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.”

Shann Vilhauer, Alvarado’s trainer, told RingTV.com that the fighter is back on track in his preparations for the fight.

“Mike was being a knucklehead. Wrong place, wrong time. He’s out and he’s back training,” Vilhauer said.

The car was pulled over at 4:15 a.m. Saturday with Alvarado in the passenger seat, The Post reported. The fighter was arrested after the officer allegedly observed him attempting to put the gun in the glove compartment.

Officers later found a Taurus handgun inside the compartment, according to The Post.

“Due to my previous contacts with the defendant, ” the arresting officer reportedly wrote in an affidavit, “I knew him to be a convicted felon.”

Alvarado was was also arrested during a traffic stop on a similar weapons charge in in October 2013, according to The Post.

“I’m not going to speak to the substantive aspects of the arrest because that’s not my business,” said Arum. “If it was a crime like domestic abuse or something like that, I would speak out but this was something that is not that. Otherwise, I have no comment about it.”