Juan Manuel Marquesz boxing news
Alvarado was knocked down by a scorching right hand from Marquez in the 8th. It was the identical shot that Marquez used to knock Manny Pacquiao out cold in the 6th round of their fight in 2012. The different here is that Marquez didn’t have the muscles that he had then.
After well over a decade, boxing returns to the historic Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California. This afternoon Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1) and American Mike Alvarado (34-2-0) stepped onto the scales for their last formality before Saturday’s crossroads bout. This wasn’t your typical weigh in full of trash talk and posturing, but rather respect and compliments. There was a procedural and professional demeanor from the fighters, seemingly focused on the must win situation that lie ahead.
We saw the first hint of old age setting in on 40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) in his loss to former WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley last October in Marquez’s 12 round split decision loss.
The judges were being kind to give Marquez a split decision loss in that fight because he arguably deserved to lose by a unanimous decision. But importantly than the fact that he lost the fight was how old Marquez looked in that fight, and how much he had slipped from his fine performance in 2012 against Manny Pacquiao. Marquez looked like a shadow of what he was in that fight, both in punching power and in appearance.
“C’est magnifique mais c’est pas la guerre.” (It’s magnificent, but it isn’t war).
~Marshal Pierre Bosquet in 1854, as he watched English cavalry charge toward their doom in a brave but ill-advised attack upon a deeply entrenched Russian artillery battery during the Battle of Balaclava.~
Although Tennyson’s poem remains the most famous piece of writing about the Charge of the Light Brigade, Bosquet’s quote may well be the most succinct, and appropriate description of what took place that day. You really can’t hope to do much better in terms of trying to express the mixture of admiration and incredulity that one would feel when watching an event like this take place before your eyes. And, that’s the reason why this author has decided to begin the article with these words; because he has a feeling that they’ll be uttered by more than one boxing fan as they watch an entirely different sort of battle take place at the Inglewood Forum this Saturday.
The fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California is ready to add to its already rich history after being refurnished in time for this Saturday, May 17th on HBO. Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado are both attempting to reboot their careers after suffering losses in their last outing.
The biggest unknown heading into Saturday nights tilt is how much has the great Mexican boxer declined since his epic knockout of Manny Pacquaio in December 2012. From the sounds of it, Mike Alvarado is in a good mental state after a lackluster training camp in preparation for his war with Ruslan Provodnikov that resulted in him quitting on the stool in front of a ruckus hometown crowd in Denver last fall.
The Forum famously housed the 1980’s Showtime Lakers. It also became a hot spot for boxing diehards with monthly shows that drew legions of fans and legendary fighters. The Forums next chapter should start out with a bang when these two combatants faceoff. The proverbial dangling carrot for the winner is a fight with Manny Pacquiao later this year.
The 40-year-old great goes head-to-head with the all-action Mike Alvarado this weekend, live and exclusive on BoxNation, knowing that victory on Saturday night will propel him into a fifth meeting with his famed nemesis Pacquiao and a shot at his WBO welterweight crown.
The chance to seize yet another world title, this time at 147 pounds, offers Marquez the unique opportunity to become Mexico’s only five-division world champion, with the veteran currently alongside Mexican icons Erik Morales and Jorge Arce as a four-weight champion.
BOB ARUM: Well, all of you who are participating in this conference call know the obvious, this is one hell of a fight. Juan Manuel Márquez, future boxing hall-of-fame entrant faces off against the Denver Mile High man Mike Alvarado. The card is fabulous from top to bottom, with fighters from all over the world. Turkish fighters, Russian fighters, and African-American fighters, Méxican, Méxican-Americans – everybody is going to be represented on this card. And it’s so wonderful, for me personally, to have Top Rank open up one of the landmarks — the “Fabulous” Forum. Today we will hear from Juan Manuel Márquez and Mike Alvarado.
40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) has his eyes on a fifth fight against Manny Pacquiao if he can get past Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) in their HBO televised fight this Saturday night at the Forum, in Inglewood, California, USA. Marquez wants the Pacquiao fight because he’s the WBO welterweight title holder, and Marquez wants the opportunity to win a fifth division world title.
For him winning fifth world title will somehow validate his long 21-year pro career. You can’t help thinking that even if Marquez beats Pacquiao to capture his WBO title, Marquez will continue on and have some other goal that will keep him fighting. Hopefully, Marquez doesn’t get it into his head to try and capture a junior middleweight title, because that would be really pushing it.
“We all want the fifth title. It’s very important to all of us,” Marquez said. “That’s the motivation now to keep going. The first thing is Alvarado, but we know that the fifth fight with Pacquiao is a possibility.”
The 4th fight turned out to be a climatic episode of the famed rivalry and a defining moment for Juan Manuel Marquez. This was the third KO loss for Manny Pacquiao in his stellar career and normally it would mean the end of the road for a 34 years old welterweight . He has rebounded from the fiasco, rebuilt his bona fides and the dramatic turn of events has set up the stage for a 5th episode.
I’d like to focus on the knock down and KO punches thrown by Marquez in the 3rd and 6th round of the 4th fight as it was basically (but not exactly) the same shot. It appeared Marquez had adapted the punch specifically for his rival, a tailor made “Pacquiao special”. The move was designed individually for Manny Pacquiao taking into consideration his southpaw stance, fighting style, temper and usual reaction to attack. It could be argued that the KO was caused by a lucky strike, a fluke combined with lack of focus on Pacman’s part who believed (not without reason) that his opponent was finished. It has to be taken into consideration though that Marquez laboriously executed his game plan under severe stress while he was being outclassed and on the verge of being stopped by the congressman.
Former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) wants to not only beat 40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) in their fight on May 17th, but also send Marquez into retirement. For Alvarado, it’s about redeeming himself from his recent 10th round stoppage loss at the hands of Ruslan Provodnikov and also doing it in a fashion where he sends Marquez into a permanent retirement. I guess it’s one of those two for the price of one deals.
“Redeeming myself and retiring the legend is even better,” Alvarado said to Radio Raheem. “I’m destined to be great. I’m good but I’m not better than good.”