By Jake Donovan

Mike Alvarado inched closer towards title contention after his 10-round decision win over Gabriel Martinez on Saturday evening.

Scores were 100-89, 100-90 and 99-90 in their Fox-Sports televised main event, which aired live from the Softball Country Complex in Denver, Colorado.

Chants of “303” filled the arena in honor of the Denver area code and acknowledgment of Alvarado representing his hometown. The undefeated 140 lb. contender didn’t disappoint in the slightest, coming flying out of the gate with an opening round knockdown.

Martinez bounced back and actually held his own in the second, but never to where Alvarado didn’t dictate the terms of the bout. The hometown chants once again picked up, though would eventually taper off once it was sensed that an early night wasn’t in store.

Action slowed a bit in the middle rounds, though a foul quickly heated up the outdoor venue. Alvarado was patiently boxing until he saw an opening and moved in for the kill. A right hand upstairs appeared to produce a knockdown late in the sixth, but whether or not it was detected will remain a mystery.

A follow-up right hand by Alvarado came while Martinez was on his knee, resulting in a bit of a flop and overacting. The referee bit, and waved off the knockdown, instead warning Alvarado for the infraction. At the very least, it awoke the crowd who rallied behind their homeboy in hopes that the action would remain at that level.

Alvarado turned up the aggression in the seventh, while Martinez went into retreat mode save for the occasional 18” punch aiming at a 36” target.  Action once again slowed in the ensuing rounds as the bout developed into a posing contest, but Alvarado picked it up in the final round in efforts to close strong and send his fans homes happy.

All it took was for their guy to score the win, as the crowd erupted the moment “…from the 303” followed the reading of the official scores. The win is Alvarado’s fourth in a span of just over eight months as he improves overall to 31-0 (22KO).

Martinez falls to 27-3-1 (14KO), dropping his second straight.

Plans call for Alvarado to contend for a major title as early as by year’s end. Of course, that would require a titlist stepping forward and willing to accept his challenge.

Sitting at the top of the heap are Amir Khan and Tim Bradley, whom many in the industry would love to see face each other in order to determine divisional supremacy. Whether or not that happens, it’s highly unlikely that either will look in Alvarado’s direction until they are absolutely forced.

There was a point when he was being steered towards a shot against then-titlist Zab Judah, who backed out of negotiations the moment a far more lucrative showdown with Khan was made available.

For now, the plan is to continue to build up Alvarado as a gate attraction, as proven is the case with Saturday evening’s impressive turnout. The greatest obstacle thus far has been keeping momentum going, though he seems to have cleared that hurdle.

Two separate trips to prison slowed down Alvarado’s career progress, which explains why the former amateur boxing (and high school wrestling) standout is only now at age 31 on the verge of vying for a title.
 
Better late than never, however, as the division remains hot and is threatening to lose some of its star power, with Khan and Bradley both eying more lucrative paydays seven pounds north at welterweight.

Alvarado one day plans to move up in weight class, but not before collecting and defending belts at 140 and striving to bring big time boxing to the Mile High area.

UNDERCARD

Robert Marroquin bounced back from the first loss of his young career with a sound points win over battled tested veteran Jose Angel Beranza in their Televisa-televised co-feature.

It was smooth sailing in the early going for the still-rising prospect, boxing smartly and even scoring a pair of knockdowns against the normally sturdy Beranza, who was also docked a point for excessive spitting out of his gumshield.

However, the fight developed into a laboring fare down the stretch, due in part to Marroquin going into cruise control mode. Also playing a role was Beranza’s late surge, turning up the aggression once he sensed his younger foe was no longer interested in going full throttle.

Still, it was far too late to make an impact on the cards as Marroquin had the fight well in the bag. Scores of 78-71 (twice) and 79-70 were in favor of the 21-year old, who improves to 20-1 (14KO).

Beranza drops his third straight as he falls to 33-21-2 (26KO).

All in all, it was a solid showing for Marroquin, who suffered an upset loss at the hands of Francisco Leal earlier in the year. Big things are still in store for the Dallas native, who turns 22 in August.

Hometown favorite Sammy “Sam Bam” Martinez (5-0, 4KO) impressed in his televised swing bout, scoring a second round stoppage of debuting Martin Quezada (0-1). The official time was 2:33 of round two.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.