Pacquiao vs Marquez Undercard: Mike Alvarado and Breidis Prescott Verbally Agree to Terms

The HBO pay-per-view undercard for the November 12 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez is close to having its first confirmed fight, as Rick Reeno reports that Mike Alvarado and Breidis Prescott have a verbal agreement for a 140-pound fight.

Alvarado (31-0, 22 KO) is starting to get his career firmly on track after years of outside-the-ring issues stalling his professional life. He fought on the Pacquiao vs Mosley card on May 7, stopping Ray Narh after three rounds in the pay-per-view opener after Narh forfeited the night to his own bowels after bad chicken messed him up or whatever it was that he ate. Alvarado, 31, was last in action on July 30, dominating Gabriel Martinez in his native Colorado on Top Rank Live.

Prescott (24-3, 19 KO) is coming off of a controversial points loss to Paul McCloskey on September 10. Bad Left Hook scored the fight for Prescott, 28, but he did fade badly in the second half of the bout, which has been a problem for him in numerous fights. It seems his power is all but zapped after three or four rounds, which turns him into a pretty mediocre fighter overall. Prescott was hoping a win over McCloskey would land him a rematch with Amir Khan, but when the judges in Belfast gave the cards to McCloskey, that was totally shot.

This is a fine undercard fight. Alvarado is a guy who loves to bring action, and Prescott usually isn't too hard to find, either. It does have the potential to be a letdown if you're expecting wall-to-wall action, but more realistically it's probably just an entertaining fight, and it's the type of bout Alvarado needs. He's not exactly young, and he could use a win over a guy with some name value (however limited it may be) on a big card like this one. And for Prescott, it's a big chance to all but erase the debated loss to McCloskey by coming back so quickly and notching a victory over a solid opponent.

Other rumored fighters for the undercard have been lightweight titlist Brandon Rios (who may also headline on Showtime on December 10), Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones (who seems more likely for the Cotto vs Margarito show on December 3), and Timothy Bradley (who needs to clear up his legal issues and sign with Top Rank for that to happen).