By Mark Vester

On the undercard to Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a junior welterweight contest saw prospect Mike Alvarado (22-0, 15 KOs) knockout former world champion Cesar Bazan (48-11-1, 31 KOs) in the fourth-round.

A duel of jabs began the first-round. Two right hands from Alvarado pushed Bazan to the ropes in the first minute. Bazan came back with an uppercut, but Alvarado continued to throw power punch combinations that were much harder. Bazan began to target the body to open up Alvarado's defense and threw uppercuts between the arms.

Bazan stayed in Alvarado's face in the second and gave as good as he got. Alvarado began to move forward with his power shots in the third. Bazan held his ground and the two would trade big shots for the final twenty-seconds. The two continued to trade in the fourth-round, when a crushing right hand sent Bazan down for the full count.

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