Boxer Mike Alvarado linked to crashed SUV

Denver police are investigating an incident in which an SUV linked to welterweight boxer Mike Alvarado crashed off a snowy bank into Colorado’s Sloan’s Lake on Tuesday.

“Mike’s fine, he told me he has nothing to do with it, and that’s good enough for me,” Alvarado’s manager-trainer Henry Delgado told The Times on Thursday. “I believe him.”

A police spokesman told Denver’s CBS 4 that authorities are seeking a man and a woman who walked away from the green Cadillac Escalade before it rolled into the lake with a smashed hood.

The vehicle was involved in an earlier Tuesday crash in Denver, with the driver fleeing after rear-ending another car, police spokesman Sonny Jackson told the television station.

The Denver Post reported Thursday that police believe Alvarado purchased the SUV though it is not registered to him.

Alvarado was detained earlier Tuesday for an outstanding warrant from an unrelated traffic violation and later posted bond, the Denver Post reported.

Alvarado, 33, fought for the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt in October, losing in Broomfield, Colo., to Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov by 10th-round knockout on HBO.

Delgado said he and Alvarado (34-2, 23 knockouts) are planning to leave for Los Angeles on Monday to begin training at Bell’s Azteca Gym for a May fight against an undetermined opponent.

Alvarado promoter Bob Arum said he too believes his fighter “has nothing to do with” the SUV’s rolling into the lake. Arum said he heard from one of his employees that another man was in the vehicle.

“Mike told me, ‘I don’t know all what’s going on, but I will find out and let you know as soon as I do,’” Delgado said. “I got on him. I wanted to be sure. I am.

“Mike just wants to redeem himself in the ring. He forgot what it took to get him there and trained only three weeks for Provodnikov. Fighting at home wasn’t good. You’ll see. Next time, you’ll see the old Mike.”