Marquez vs. Alvarado: Can “Dinamita” keep his unbeaten streak alive at the reincarnated Forum?

05/16/2014 Chris Carlson

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.

Juan Manuel Marquez is determined to become Mexico’s first five-division world champion

05/15/201405/15/2014 BoxNation

Boxing legend Juan Manuel Marquez is determined to become Mexico’s first five-division world champion by setting up an historic showdown with Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

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.

Márquez & Alvarado Conf Call Transcript

05/15/201405/14/2014 Top Rank

We are just a few days away from boxing’s return to the “Fabulous” Forum. The Inaugural Brawl will be headlined by an exciting fight between two top contenders – Four division world champion and Méxican icon Juan Manuel Márquez, who is undefeated in this storied building, and former junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado. The winner will be declared mandatory challenger to WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao, who recently regained the belt with his rematch victory over Timothy Bradley.

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.

Marquez targeting Pacquiao for fifth fight

05/14/201405/13/2014 Rob Smith

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.”

A retrospect of the 4th fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez – would five times be too much?

04/16/201404/16/2014 Ivan Ivanov

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.

Mike Alvarado wants to retire Juan Manuel Marquez on May 17th

03/27/201403/26/2014 Jeff Sorby

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.”

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Mike Alvarado a done deal for May 17th

03/23/201403/22/2014 Rob Smith

The WBO welterweight eliminator bout between former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) and former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) is a done deal for May 17th in a Top Rank promoted fight that will be televised by HBO from the Forum, in Inglewood, California, USA.

It’s kind of an unusual eliminator bout in that both fighters are coming off of losses. Normally, eliminator bouts involved two fighters who are coming into the fights with winning streaks and are fighting at a high level, but not in this case.

Marquez was beaten in his last fight by Bradley last October by a 12 round split decision, whereas Alvarado was stopped in the 10th round by Mike Alvarado last October.

Alvarado has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights. With that many losses in his last three fights, Alvarado really shouldn’t be considered for the fight.

Marquez Vs. Alvarado on May 17th

03/20/201403/20/2014 Selva Muthuchchamy

The fight will take place at Inglewood, California on May 17th and it will be televised live on HBO. The winner of this elimination bout will be the mandatory challenger for the winner of Pacquiao Vs. Bradley. This means there is a hope of Paquiao Vs. Marquez 5 if both of them come out victorious from their fights….. Unless there is a spoiler.

I have a strong feeling that Pacquaio will come out as the winner in his upcoming fight by an impressive performance. Lets face it: Pacquiao will go for the kill against Bradley because he needs to avenge his “loss” and he will not hesitate because of Bradley’s feather dusting punching power. Bradley will not be able to outbox Pacquiao like he did with Marquez. Pacquiao is not a “wait and counter punch” fighter like Marquez. He will move in with a strong offense and that will push Bradley to fight or run. Either way he will get caught by a fighter much faster and powerful than fighters like Kendal Holt and Prodnikov who have made Bradley taste the floor.

Juan Manuel Marquez faces Mike Alvarado on May 17th at Inglewood forum

03/14/201403/14/2014 Rob Smith

Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) will be fighting former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) on May 17th at the Forum, in Inglewood, California, USA. The winner of the fight will be facing the winner of the April 12th fight between Manny Pacquiao vs. WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley.

Marquez, 41, wants a chance to win a 5th division world title; whereas Alvarado is just looking to get his career back in order after getting stopped in the 10th round last October by the tough as nails Ruslan Provodnikov.

It’s unknown why Marquez feels that he needs to win another world title in order to somehow validate his career, as he’s already shown he’s a Hall of Fame type of fighter. Winning another world title is pretty much a meaningless thing at this point, especially if it comes against Pacquiao, who he already beat in his last fight. You have to wonder whether Marquez will feel he needs to win a 6th world title if he accomplishes his goal of winning a 5th. It goes on and on, and it’s not really worth it.

Ruslan Provodnikov…feared man at Junior Welterweight

02/19/201402/19/2014 Joseph Herron

After winning the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship by stopping heralded tough guy and incumbent title holder “Mile High” Mike Alvarado in the reigning champ’s hometown of Denver, Colorado, on October 19th of last year, most fight fans would have guessed that big fight opportunities would be easily attainable for undefeated Russian native Ruslan Provodnikov in 2014.

With sledgehammers for fists and an iron chin to match, the irresistible force at 140 pounds always displays violent drama in the ring whenever he graces the light blue canvas…the kind that brings enthusiasm to arenas and excites fight fans around the world.

The 30 year old champ represents the kind of warrior that most avid boxing enthusiasts are willing to support.

So with a fan friendly style and a piece of coveted hardware around his waist, why is the HBO featured title holder still searching for a suitable challenger?