Future Hall Of Fame fighter Juan Manuel Marquez made his return to the ring this Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood, California, as he took on the experienced Denver native, Mike Alvarado. Both men were on the comeback trail after suffering defeats late in 2013 — Marquez losing a decision to Timothy Bradley and Alvarado being stopped by Ruslan Provodnikov. This bout had looming prize awaiting the winner, as whoever emerged victorious would be the mandatory challenger for WBO welterweight champ, Manny Pacquiao.

Coming into the fight, Alvarado held a height and reach advantage over Marquez, and it was clear early that ‘Mile High’ was hesitant to be overly aggressive and play into Marquez’ counter punching style, choosing instead to stay on the outside and look to pick his shots from range. Marquez meanwhile worked quick and accurate combinations to the head and body, being much more effective in the early rounds.

The 40 year old Marquez showed no signs of aging, looking extremely sharp and explosive compared to his opponent. Alvarado was unable to impose his game on Marquez and took a consistent body assault.

Midway through the fight, there was a visible sing of desperation in Mike Alvarado’s corner, as they urged Alvarado to use his youth and attack the older Marquez. Mike did come out in round 7 with a little more aggression, but Marquez showed his superior craft and abilities by landing the more effective blows.

Late in round 8, Marquez had his brightest moment as he landed a powerful right hand — a shot reminiscent of the one that knocked Manny Pacquiao out in 2012 — and sent Alvarado crumbling to the floor. Mike Alvarado looked in real trouble but to his luck, the round ended after he got up from the knockdown.

Just as the fight was looking to be close to ending, Alvarado landed a flurry of shots up against the ropes in round 9 and sent Marquez to the ground — his first big moment of the fight. Despite the knockdown — as history has shown — Marquez just gets stronger and more dangerous after touching the canvas.

Both fighters came out in round 10 exchanging blows, neither backing down despite having been hurt moments earlier. A back and forth fight broke out, but Marquez was able to counter more effectively and get in the precise blows, and even stunned the bigger Alvarado late in the round.

After round 10, Mike Alvarado’s face was showing signs of wear, a deep cut beneath his left eye and swelling around the eyebrows showed who was inflicting the most damage. The Denver fighter was given clear instructions that a knockout was needed to be able to win the fight.

The final 2 rounds were thrilling, with both fighters looking to set the final stamp on the match. Surprisingly, neither man slowed much despite the high paced nature of the fight. As the fight went down the stretch, Juan Manuel Marquez came on top once more, showing superior class to that of Alvarado’s — doing enough to seal the fight in his favor.

The fight was competitive in a couple of rounds, but overall it was clear who the winner was. The judges read out their scores, 117-109, 117-109, 119-108, all in favor of ‘Dinamita’ Marquez.

With the win over Alvarado, Marquez has set the stage for a fifth and likely final match up with Manny Pacquiao — a fight that has been 10 years in the making, since the two fighters first squared off in March of 2004. Pacquiao is coming off an impressive rematch victory over Timothy Bradley and is looking for a measure of redemption against Marquez who definitively won their fourth fight by 6th KO.

Pacquiao through the years has become more of a boxer and less of a power puncher, as he has not scored a knockout in nearly 5 years, while Marquez has seemingly gotten stronger and more powerful as he has gotten older. The fifth fight will have high stakes for both men, as another KO loss for Pacquio will surely send him into retirement, while Marquez looks to make history by becoming the first Mexican fighter to win titles in five weight divisions.

Whether a fifth fight happens now is squarely on the shoulders of Juan Manuel Marquez, but seeing as a career high payday and possible history awaits the Mexican legend, he will more than likely take the fight, and hope to put one last exclamation point on the series and repeat the moment that shocked the whole boxing world.

One thing is clear after this Saturday night, and that is that while Juan Manuel Marquez is getting older, he is not showing it, as he looked sharp, quick. While Marquez still has some vulnerability with his chin, he worked over Mike Alvarado like a surgeon, and showed that at age 40 he is as good as he has ever been and is showing no signs that his legendary career is coming to an end.