On Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, California, Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado squared off in a welterweight title eliminator bout with both men potentially eyeing Manny Pacquiao for their next bout.
Each fighter was coming off of a disappointing loss in their last outing, so it was more important than ever for the fighters to dig deep and come away with the win.
On paper, Marquez was the clear favorite of the two, but we were told to expect a bloody war.
Round 1: Marquez started off working his jab from the outside and mixing in some hooks, while bobbing and weaving to avoid the shots from Alvarado. There was plenty of respect between the two fighters who were not over committing or getting too aggressive early. Marquez ripped some shots to the body when Alvarado opened up to come in and continued to pick his shots from a distance. Alvarado mounted very little of an offensive attack in the round as Marquez began to look more comfortable in the final minute.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, MarquezÂ
Round 2: The pace continued to be slow in the second round, with Marquez continuing to pick his shots. Marquez was mixing the shots to the head and body and Alvarado did not seem to have much of an answer.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (20-18, Marquez)
Round 3: Alvarado was looking to counter Marquez, but he was hesitant in his counter attacks and could not find a home for any of his punches. Marquez was methodically moving around the ring. Â Alvarado was beginning to show some damage over his right eye at the end of the round as Marquez continued to execute his gameplan.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (30-27, Marquez)
Round 4: Marquez was stringing together more combinations in the fourth round and moving around the ring well, while Alvarado was simply covering up and trying to block most of the shots. He was avoiding taking any devastating punches, but he was also not throwing any of his own which means he was not scoring on the judges scorecards.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (40-36, Marquez)
Round 5: Alvarado was coming forward more in Round 5 as he began to realize the fight was slipping away from him. Unfortunately for Alvarado and his team, Marquez wasn’t giving much and the more seasoned fighter was able to land the more significant shots of the round.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (50-45, Marquez)
Round 6: Alvarado didn’t seem to have much of a pep in his step entering the midway point of the fight and it showed as he lacked a sense of urgency. Marquez continued to outbox Alvarado from a distance and even worked in some slick body shots and uppercuts when the two got toe-to-toe.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (60-54, Marquez)
Round 7: It was more of the same from both fighters in the seventh round as the pace again slowed down. However, in the closing thirty seconds, both men unloaded some wild flurries before separating. Marquez finished the round with a jab.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez (70-63, Marquez)
Round 8: The two men circled and exchanged straight shots throughout the first half of the round, before Marquez showed some more impressive head movement to land his lead attacks, dodge out of the way of Alvarado’s punches and then counter with another strong shot. Marquez finally landed his biggest shot of the night by scoring a big knockdown as the round was coming to an end.
FanSided scorecard: 10-8, Marquez (80-71, Marquez)
Round 9: To start off the ninth round, Alvarado found his biggest shot of the fight that he landed to score a knockdown of his own. Alvarado was finally finding success in a round.
FanSided scorecard: 10-8, Alvarado, (88-81, Marquez)
Round 10: Instead of keeping on the pressure and looking to build off of his Round 9 knockdown, Alvarado slowed back up and allowed Marquez to use his patient attack from the outside to showcase his better skill set.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez, (98-90, Marquez)
Round 11: Alvarado was going to need a knockout if he wanted to earn the win, but Marquez was pouring on the attack and appeared to have more left in the tank. Alvarado landed another huge shot that nearly floored Marquez, but the referee determined it was not a knockdown.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Alvarado, (107-101, Marquez)
Round 12: In the final round, Marquez again opened up to look for big finish as a nasty mouse formed under Alvarado’s left eye. The two men were slugging it out as the round came to an end, but it was clear this was Marquez’s fight.
FanSided scorecard: 10-9, Marquez, (117-110, Marquez)
Official Result: Juan Manuel Marquez def. Mike Alvarado via unanimous decision (119-108, 117-109, 117-109)