Alvarado: Marquez doesn’t belong in the ring with younger lions anymore

By Boxing News - 05/16/2014 - Comments

alvarado7By Dan Ambrose: Former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) sees 40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) as an old lion that is standing in his way from a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao that would set him up for life with millions in the bank. Alvarado doesn’t want to let Marquez ruin his big payday fight against Pacquiao. Alvarado realizes that he can’t lose this fight due to what’s at stake for him. Marquez has already made his millions in his four fights with Pacquiao, and now Alvarado wants his turn at going to the bank.

“He [Marquez] doesn’t belong in the ring with younger lions anymore. He’s a grandpa lion,” Alvarado said while laughing long and loud. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. I’m really not worried about Marquez. I just think it’s time for him to pass that torch. It’s in me to exploit that out of him. If the knockout comes, it comes, but I’m always ready to fight to the distance. At first [when I found I was fighting Marquez], I was like, ‘It’s crazy,’ but now I’m like, ‘He’s in my way; I got to handle business.’ Now I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to stay at this level.”

Alvarado, a two-time state wrestling champion in high school, plans on using his size and youth to batter Marquez and show him that he’s too old and too small to be in the ring with him. Alvarado’s trainer feels that he’s punching with more power now, and that he has a good chance of hurting Marquez.

It’s not likely that Alvarado will be able to knock Marquez out, because no ones done that to him during his long 21-year pro career. But Alvarado definitely has a good chance of beating up Marquez and winning a decision in this fight. The power that Marquez had in his knockout win over Manny Pacquiao in 2012 seems to have disappeared since that fight, and he looks smaller and older now. He’s going to have problems against Alvarado without that power, because he doesn’t match up well against him.



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