By Ryan Burton

Mike Alvarado started out slowly on Saturday night in his unanimous decision loss to Juan Manuel Marquez that took place at the newly renovated Forum in Inglewood, Calif. After the fight he admitted that he should have started faster and chalked the loss up as a learning experience.

"I wasn't sure how the fight was going to go. I didn't step on the gas like I should have. It was a good learning experience for me. That is just the way the fight went," Alvarado explained.

The Colorado native had more success in the second half of the fight and even scored a knockdown in the 9th round. He said that in hindsight he should have pressed for the knockout but that he couldn't tell how hurt Marquez was.

"I know I could have jumped on him, put more pressure on him and threw more punches. I could have got him out of there.

"I wasn't sure how hurt he was was. I wanted to jump on him but Marquez has mad heart. He is a legend," Alvarado stated.

As for his future plans, Alvarado said that a rubber match against Brandon Rios has to happen at some point in the not to distant future. The first fight took place in Carson, Calif., not too far from Oxnard where Rios resides. The second fight took place in neutral territory in Las Vegas and Alvarado feels that it is only fair that the third bout takes place in his hometown of Denver.

"That fight is inevitable," Alvarado said with a big smile on his face. "That fight is always there no matter what. This time he has to come to my hometown," Alvarado told BoxingScene.com.

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