MIKE ALVARADO vs CESAR BAZAN

Mike Alvarado is featured in a showcase type of fight when the unbeaten Colorado junior welter meets veteran Cesar Bazan on the Cotto-Margarito undercard on Saturday.

There doesn’t seem much mystery about this one. The fight has been made for Alvarado to have a good result.

Bazan, 33, is noted for durability but the former lightweight champion has slipped into the role of trial horse, with three losses in his last five fights.

This could be an entertaining fight, though, because Alvarado likes to put pressure on his opponents and Bazan is at his best when he has someone in front of him — the slick southpaw Paul McCloskey had a style that was always likely to have Bazan confused and confounded.

Yet while Bazan might enjoy a measure of success with his hooks and uppercuts, Alvarado looks like being much too young and strong for him. Alvarado has been coming along nicely in recent fights — his jabs, combinations and defence are all showing improvement — and he gave probably his best-ever performance when overwhelming Michel Rosales in his last fight.

Bazan has been stopped only twice in 47 fights, by Jose Luis Castillo and Miguel Cotto, so it would be a significant achievement if Alvarado can get him out of the fight inside the scheduled 10 rounds.

On paper, this looks like going the distance but I think that Alvarado might be able to wear down Bazan for a late-round stoppage, maybe in the ninth or even the 10th round.