In sure respects, Marco Antonio Barrera is just not your typical Mexican fighter. When in comparison with such compatriots as Julio Cesar Chavez, Ruben Olivares, and longtime rival Erik Morales, Barrera had a comparatively placid upbringing. He was in truth born into an prosperous household in Mexico Metropolis with ties to the film business and didn’t want prizefighting in the way in which his extra determined countrymen did. Earlier than successful his first world title in 1995, Barrera had already enrolled in a prep college and was intent on sometime turning into a lawyer.
“However the individuals didn’t let me retire,” Barrera mentioned in a 1995 interview, talking of the Mexican boxing followers who turned enamored along with his rising expertise. Shortly turning into a fan favourite within the Fabulous Discussion board in Inglewood, Barrera placed on a terrific present there towards former champion Kennedy McKinney, making a reputation for himself on a world stage within the inaugural broadcast of HBO’s Boxing After Darkish sequence.
However whereas a younger Barrera was famend for boxing “Mexican fashion,” as Gennady Golovkin would later name it, an older, extra mature model of Barrera exhibited among the cerebral craft he didn’t name on in his robust defeats to Junior Jones and Erik Morales. Most notably, Barrera got here in a three-to-one underdog towards unbeaten featherweight sensation “Prince” Naseem Hamed earlier than placing on a beautiful boxing clinic, fully neutralizing the “Prince” behind his jab and a properly executed sport plan that had Hamed confused and floundering.
However after a younger Manny Pacquiao steam-rolled Barrera in 2003, many thought the top had come for an awesome champion. That’s, till November of 2004, when Barrera met reigning 130 pound champion Erik Morales for a 3rd and last time and brilliantly out-hustled his Tijuana rival in one other 12 spherical epic. Barrera had mounted an surprising comeback again into the higher echelon of the game, and regardless of having 63 fights and over fifteen years of fight beneath his belt, “The Child-Confronted Murderer” was nearly nearly as good as he ever was, a maestro within the ring with the aggressive machismo that when outlined him nonetheless in reserve.
In truth, Barrera was so good in 2006 that many ignored challenger Rocky Juarez, regardless of the youthful man’s explosive one-punch energy and adorned novice pedigree. A 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist, Juarez scored the 2003 Knockout of the Yr towards Antonio Diaz with a shot that made nearly everybody take discover. However Juarez’s weak spot was his over-reliance on his energy, as many thought he nearly gave away his struggle towards Zahir Raheem in 2004 earlier than dropping his unbeaten document by the hands of Humberto Soto the next 12 months. Heading into the Staples Middle to face Barrera in 2006, Juarez wasn’t given a lot of an opportunity towards The Ring‘s quantity three ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the earth.
However regardless of being the underdog, Juarez made an announcement early, wobbling the champion with a tough left hook to the temple on the finish of spherical three. It was clear that Juarez was not content material with being outworked in the identical method as he had been in his disappointing performances towards Soto and Raheem, and was bringing the struggle to the veteran champion. Barrera’s largest weapon early was his left jab, which the veteran timed in such a method that Juarez couldn’t anticipate it as he tried to work inside Marco’s patented range-finder.
A struggle broke out within the sixth because the champion started to commerce freely in shut quarters with Juarez, Barrera getting the higher of the fight as he started to place the damaging challenger on the retreat. “El Barreta” had one other robust spherical within the seventh, however by the eighth Juarez was placing strain on the previous champion, who was beginning to look uncomfortable.
Spherical ten featured among the finest two-way motion but with Juarez preventing brilliantly on the within, ripping well-placed uppercuts and hooks beneath and across the guard as Barrera languished in shut. However then the champion picked up steam as he drove Rocky again to the ropes and related with combos of his personal. Decided to get the final phrase in, Juarez then struck with a straight proper hand which had the previous champion stiff-legged towards the ropes. It was presumably simply sufficient to safe the spherical for the challenger and convey the competition even nearer on the playing cards.
Bleeding from the nostril and small cuts over each eyes, “The Child-Confronted Murderer” appeared like an previous Aztec warrior as he went toe-to-toe and punch-for-punch with Juarez within the following spherical, giving nearly as good as he acquired regardless of showing battered and exhausted. And within the closing stanza it was Barrera who boxed with intelligence and authority, his late surge securing an in depth victory on the scorecards, although when Michael Buffer stepped into the ring to announce the winner, it was nonetheless any man’s struggle. Initially, Buffer introduced the struggle as a break up draw, not a unpleasant final result, however shortly later it was introduced that the scores have been tabulated incorrectly and that in truth Barrera had gained by break up choice.
Whereas Barrera might have marched ahead along with his profession by taking over much less dangerous fights, Marco selected to provide the sport challenger from Houston a second probability simply 4 months later, claiming “it’s for all of the individuals, for myself, and to place all of the controversy to relaxation.” And the getting old Mexican legend as soon as extra rose to the event and gained Barrera vs Juarez II in additional decisive vogue, though this might be the final important victory of his celebrated profession. In his subsequent struggle Barrera would exit in fashion in a spirited however dropping effort towards Juan Manuel Marquez, and regardless of one-sided losses to Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan within the twilight of his profession, by then the legacy of one among Mexico’s all-time best boxers was greater than safe. — Alden Chodash
