Greater mattered more. In the pre-fight prediction, the thinking was youth and size could overcome an otherwise better fighter. There was a moment in the ninth, Mike Alvarado dropping Juan Manuel Marquez after being down the round before. The rest of the fight belonged to the future Hall of Famer. One could even have scored the fight 11-0-1, seeing as Marquez won most of the rest of the ninth, and fairly convincingly.
Juan Manuel Marquez’ dominant win over Mike Alvarado proved to be a huge boost for his legendary career as well as the network on which it aired. Both ends of HBO’s May 17 televised doubleheader at The Forum in Inglewood, California played to more than 1 million viewers, according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research. The main event, in which Marquez scored a unanimous decision in a fight that saw both fighters hit the canvas, registered 1.198 million viewers, topping out at 1.322 million viewers.
By Francisco Salazar - The war that fight fans and media expected between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado did not really materialize during the first six rounds of the fight - because both fighters saved their best for the second half of the contest. When it was all said and done, despite getting knocked down during the fight, Marquez walked out with a 12 round unanimous decision victory before an announced crowd of 12,090 at The Forum in Inglewood, CA on Saturday night. The victory over Alvarado gave the 40-year-old Marquez another significant payday or a crack at a world title belt down the line. Both Marquez and Alvarado were looking for redemptions of sorts since they had lost their previous bouts. Marquez lost a 12 round split decision to Timothy Bradley on October 12 in Las Vegas, making some wonder whether age was catching up to the fighter from Mexico City, DF, Mexico. Alvarado was coming off a stoppage loss after the 10th round at the hands of hard-hitting Ruslan Provodnikov on October 19. There were rumblings during the week of the fight that Alvarado was spending more time with friends and not enough time in the gym. From the opening bell, Marquez landed at will, repeatedly landing counter or straight right hands to the head and left hooks to the body of Alvarado. During the first half of the fight, Alvarado would be in punching range, but did little to engage with Marquez, likely wary of his punching power. Sensing he was down in the middle rounds, Alvarado tried to walk Marquez down, looking to initiate and land his own combinations. He did find some success as he let his hands go, connecting to the head of Marquez.
40-yr old Juan Manuel Marquez, a former four division world champion, tamed Mike Alvarado from the opening bell, throwing more punches in 10 of 12 rounds and landing more in 11 of 12. JM landed 57% of his power shots, second only to his 63% landed vs. Katsidis in 2010.
The Forum, Inglewood, California - Ryan Burton catches up with former WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado to discuss his tough twelve round decision loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, what went wrong in the fight, how Ruslan Provodnikov matches up with Marquez, a trilogy with Brandon Rios and more.
The Forum, Inglewood, California - Luis Sandoval catches up with former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who discusses his twelve round decision win over former WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado, the strategy to win the fight, getting dropped in the contest and more.
INGLEWOOD, CALIF. --- Mike Alvarado believes he should have been given credit for a second knockdown in the ninth round and he believes he did enough to earn the decision. The judges didn't agree, scoring the fight for Juan Manuel Marquez, 117-109, 117-109, 119-108, on Saturday night at The Forum.
Juan Manuel Marquez was 30 years old and a year into his first title reign – at featherweight – by the time Mike Alvarado turned pro in 2004. Some ten years later, both fighters are at a similar point in their career – in need of a win – yet it’s the aged veteran who carries the greater upside while Alvarado fights for his boxing life when the two collide this weekend at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The bout takes weight at a maximum catchweight of 144 lb., and airs live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing series (Saturday 10:15PM ET/7:15PM PT and local time). Both fighters easily made weight for the contest: Marquez – a former champ at 126, 130, 135 and 140 – hit the scales at a ripped and ready 141.6 lb., while Alvarado came in at 143.2 lb., looking more replenished and defined than has been the case in past fights where he was forced to shrink down to the 140 lb. limit.
Mike Alvarado threw twice as many total punches per round and landed nearly twice as many (vs. Provodnikov, Rios I & II) than Juan Manuel Marquez. Alvarado landed nearly twice as many power shots as well and threw 18 more per round. Marquez's opponents (Bradley, Pac IV & III) landed 42% of their power shots. Alvarado's opponents landed 36% of their power shots. Will Alvarado's aggressive style play into the hands of the ultimate counter puncher Marquez?
BELL, CALIF. --- Timothy Bradley will be paying close attention to the fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado on Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on HBO, because he will be working as a commentator for the international feed. Bradley is very familiar with Marquez, having pulled out a split decision over the Mexican legend in October, and he's very knowledgeable about the fight game.