By Ryan Burton

As previously reported by BoxingScene.com and other outlets, a matchup between former four division champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado is close to being finalized for May 17th in Inglewood, Calif. The fight would take place at the recently renovated Forum which used to be the home of the Los Angeles Lakers.

BoxingScene.com recently caught up with Alvarado's trainer Shann Vilhauer to get his thoughts on the fight.

"It is something that Mike has wanted for a long time. Mike has wanted this fight for 3 to 4 years now. We always felt that Marquez was tailor made for us. Marquez is a great boxer, obviously one of the best boxers ever. I just think that Mike is the bigger and stronger guy. This is something that we have wanted for a long time," Vilhauer explained.

The fight will reportedly take place at a catchweight of 144 pounds. Alvarado has fought most of his career at 140 pounds and at 33-years-old, it has gotten increasingly harder for him to make weight. Vilhauer feels that the extra weight will be a big advantage for his fighter.

"That is the best thing that can happen. Mike's perfect fighting weight is 143 or 144 pounds. Those last 2, or 3, or 4 pounds are always the hardest to take off. The fact is in the last fight he couldn't get the last 3 pounds off and it showed at the weigh in. We had to go back and get that last pound off. This will be perfect at 144," stated Vilhauer.

Marquez stopped Manny Pacquiao with a highlight reel one punch knockout in December, 2012. Prior to the knockout, Marquez had been knocked down and was bleeding profusely from his nose and had received a lot of punishment. In his last fight, Marquez was defeated by Tim Bradley via unanimous decision. Vilhauer has seen both fights and says that both fights point to his fighter having a great chance to win.

"I totally think that is what is going to happen (when Marquez was getting hit frequently prior to knocking out Pacquiao). Everyone says that Marquez timed that right hand and set it up but I don't think so. I think that was a lucky shot and if that hadn't happened he would have got knocked out by Pacquiao in the next round. Then Bradley was just on another level that night and Marquez was always a step behind. Then for him to say he was robbed. Come on. Everyone knows he wasn't," Vilhauer told BoxingScene.com.

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