Boxing News 2014: Juan Manuel Marquez Expects Difficult Fight Against Mike Alvarado

Juan Manuel Marquez will be favored to win in his upcoming showdown with Mike Alvarado on May 17 at the Forum in Los Angeles, but the Mexican boxing icon knows that there is no room for complacency.

Marquez told BoxingScene on Tuesday that he is expecting a tough fight against Alvarado, saying that the former light welterweight champion will be a dangerous opponent since he is coming off a devastating defeat.

"Alvarado is going to be dangerous during the entire duration of the fight," Marquez said.

The 40-year-old Mexican expects Alvarado to go all out, knowing that a loss would put his career in jeopardy, but Marquez vowed that he will be ready to stand toe-to-toe against his younger opponent.

"He lost to great fighters and he wants to return to a winning path, because another defeat will bring him closer to retirement," Marquez said. "So of course he is going to press, then he is going to box, and he is going to want to counterpunch, but we are going to prepare ourselves for whatever he wants to do."

Marquez also insisted that like Alvarado, he is also eager to prove that he still has a lot of gas left in his tank as he is also coming off a loss in his previous fight.

The four-division champion lost to Timothy Bradley in their WBO welterweight showdown in October last year, but he vowed to be in a better shape in his next fight.

Marquez admitted that he overtrained for the Bradley bout, and they are going to make sure not to commit the same mistake again, saying that they will focus more on improving his speed and power instead of having a lot of sparring sessions.

"Perhaps less sparring, and focus more on speed and power at this point in my career," Marquez said. "I'm the type of fighter who likes to prepare myself for three months or three and a half months, but in the last fight it didn't work for us in terms of what we wanted in speed and power, and that's why this time we are going to train less."

The winner of the Marquez-Alvarado showdown will become the No. 1 contender for the WBO welterweight title that will be at stake in the upcoming rematch between Bradley and Manny Pacquiao on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.