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Juan Manuel Marquez eyes Mike Alvarado on May 17

Fighters Network
13
Feb

Juan Manuel Marquez and promoter Fernando Beltran will have a serious discussion about a May 17 return to the ring against Mike Alvarado today.

The former 140-pound beltholder is the current target for Marquez but the Mexican veteran's ultimate goal is a showdown with the winner of the Tim BradleyManny Pacquiao rematch.

The probable site for Marquez-Alvarado is the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., which is now owned by Madison Square Garden and recently underwent a $40 million facelift.

"I will have a conversation with Marquez tomorrow," said Beltran told RingTV.com over the telephone on Wednesday from Monterrey, Mexico. "But right now, I can't speak more about that, because I have not met with him."



Beltran did speak, as did Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, about the potential for a return bout against Bradley or a fifth fight with Pacquiao, against whom he is 1-2-1.

"For Marquez, age is just a number," Arum said of Marquez, who turns 41 in August. "Marquez wants to keep busy because he said that he wants to fight the winner of Bradley and Pacquiao."

Marquez was last in the ring for a split-decision loss to Bradley last October that followed his sixth-round stoppage of Pacquiao in December 2012. Marquez craves a rematch with Bradley, a split-decision winner over Pacquiao in June 2012, as well as a title in a fifth weight class.

"We're absolutely open to the possibility of fighting Mike Alvarado. We all know that Juan Manuel Marquez only wants to fight the best," said Beltran. "We have all of the respect for Mike Alvarado, and we know that he's a very exciting fighter. I believe that it would be a sensational match, and I feel thrilled to have the opportunity offer this fight to Juan Manuel Marquez."

Alvarado is 1-2 over the course of his past three fights. He was stopped in the seventh round by Brandon Rios in October 2012, won their rematch by unanimous decision last March and was floored twice during an eighth-round knockout loss to Ruslan Provodnikov last October. Alvarado lost the WBO 140-pound belt to Provodnikov.

"If I asked you whether or not the fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado was for a title, would you care? Well, I don't care either, because I'm telling you that the fight between Marquez and Alvarado is a great fight," said Beltran of a clash that would happen at 147 pounds.

"We're not going to take a fight with Mike Alvarado because we're planning on losing the fight. We're going to win that fight and then we're going after the winner of Bradley and Pacquiao in what would be a sensational fight."

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