Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
On March 26, 2014, Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado held a press conference to announce their May 17 bout in Inglewood, California. The conference was held in the Forum Club at the legendary Forum arena.
The bout will mark Marquez’s return to an historic venue of which he was an important part. Marquez enjoyed a spectacular four-year run at the Forum during the 1990s, a time where boxing in Los Angeles was very much alive.
“I started my career here in this historical place,” said Marquez, “I feel like when I was 23 years old because I started my career in this place.”
Indeed, for many years, the Forum was a mainstay of Southern California boxing. Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Thomas Hearns have all fought there.
“Forum Boxing really did a wonderful job for the sport of boxing, and particularly in the development of Mexican boxers,” stated an excited Bob Arum. Arum was a part of the team that brought Muhammed Ali to the Forum in the early 1970s for his second fight with Ken Norton.
After the press conference, Arum told Round By Round Boxing that “Southern California has established himself as a major market for the sport.” Arum expects more boxing events in Southern California, whether it be at the Forum, the Stub Hub Center, or any other major venue.
He was delighted to have the Forum back, which is a good sign for boxing fans. Over ten years ago, however, things were quite different.
In a 1999 Los Angeles Times article, written at the very end of the Forum’s historic run, Steve Springer bemoaned the apparent death of Southern California boxing, stating that the Forum would come to be known as “a graveyard of boxing.”
Springer was there during the Forum’s final boxing show, which was held a week before his article was published. Jesus Pimentel was among those who paid their respects.
According to Springer, Pimentel “lost a decision to Chucho Castillo in front of 16,595” at the Forum’s first boxing show on June 14, 1968.
Since its first boxing show the arena has seen its glory rise and fall. For many years after his 1999 article, Springer was right. However, Los Angeles fans have come to see a kind of renaissance of local boxing as a slew of great cards have been announced for the coming months.
Besides Marquez and Alvarado, fans will be able to see Chris Arreola, Bermane Stiverne, Keith Thurman, Lucas Matthysse, and perhaps even a Middleweight showdown between Gennady Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. If these early Los Angeles events prove to be successful, we might be in for a full-on renaissance in the future.
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Today, however, things will be taken one step at a time as Alvarado prepares for a tough bout with Marquez. Alvarado is convinced that he will retire Marquez.
“Retiring a legend is gonna be huge for my career,” stated an otherwise respectful, but confident Alvarado.
Alvarado’s team, led by Henry Delgado, told Round By Round Boxing that Alvarado’s fight with Marquez will be the most important fight of his career. Furthermore, as a win would guarantee him a shot at the WBO Welterweight title, Delgado offered no doubts as to Alvarado’s ability to fight at the Welterweight limit of 147.
“Mike can go up and down. He doesn’t have problem with the weight. It depends on where the money is at and what the better fight is,” said Delgado.
The gameplan, according to Shann Vilhuauer, Alvarado’s boxing trainer, is to beat him up. We’re going to push him back, be aggressive, show him our power–everything.”
Marquez was diplomatic in his comments to the media, noting that Alvarado is a risky opponent.
“I practically put my entire career on the line, We have a tough fight against Alvarado, who is a strong fighter, who also uses a bit of boxing technique,” said Marquez.
The May 17 showdown should be an exciting fight, and boxing fans can expect many more Forum events if Marquez vs. Alvarado proves to be a major success.
