In the Square Circle

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Before this last Saturday night, I watched on youtube Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Prince Naseem Hamed.  Why do you ask?  Not only was the twelve round affair for the IBO featherweight title a great example of a fighter rising to the occasion but that is how I want to remember the “Baby Faced Assasin” instead of the shadow of what he once was that was on display at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England as he was defeated by up and coming English prospect Amir Khan.

Although many would argue that Barrera’s decisions over his arch nemesis Erik “Terrible” Morales could be his most memorable fights, I for one, find it hard to cheer for either fighter in that trilogy.  As I have mentioned before, I am Chicano and not always do I favor fighters because of a nationalistic fervor, but in most occasions my Aztec pride does make me slightly lean towards my paisanos.  Despite his coldness and unfriendliness outside the ring, I symbolically supported the Tijuana’s Zona Norte native’s antics inside the ring against Barrera of Mexico City because  Since I am originally from the south side of San Diego and he being from the north side of Tijuana, we were practically neighbors.

At the time of the April 7th, 2001 clash with the pride of the United Kingdom, Prince Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera was coming off his first loss to Morales via split decision a mere fourteen months earlier and was in a rebuilding stage of his career.   After losing his WBO super bantamweight strap to “El Terrible”, Barrera defeated Luiz Freitas, Jose Luis Valbuena and Jesus Salud before climbing the four pounds to meet Hamed at featherweight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Legend has it that Hamed was given the choice to face either one of the most dangerous fighters from Mexico for that HBO date and decided on Barrera, thinking he was the easiest of the two.

We all know how big of a mistake that was.

I won’t go into a play by play of the fight for you hear because I would not like to take out the joy of discovering the fight for yourself in case you have never seen it or it has been some time since you have.

All I will say is that you will find a Barrera so focused and so determined to prove to the world, to Hamed but more importantly possibly to himself that he was not done despite that at that point he had been a professional fighter for twelve years and many critics stated that he was on the downward side of the mountain.

As Hamed used every unorthodox move in his arsenal, Barrera was not deterred as he countered with solid boxing skills to defeat the Prince decisively.  So much so, that after an easy rebound fight in his own soil, Hamed retired from the sport with his only loss at the hands of Barrera.

Last week, in his 20th year as a professional, Barrera traveled across the pond and nine pounds heavier from his first meeting with an English Muslim, to face a younger and taller one in his opponent’s home turf.

To spare you the embarrassment you might feel by watching this video in case you haven’t seen it, I will give you a synopsis of what transpired.

Khan, a former Olympic medalist with the experienced Freddy Roach in his corner, began the first round fighting from the outside taking advantage of his lankier frame.  Despite Khan’s attempt to fight at a distance, towards the end of the first stanza, there was a horrendous clash of heads that caused a horrible gash along Barrera’s hairline.  Later it was reported exclusively by MyBoxingFans.com that the gash required thirty stitches to close.

Like a true warrior, Barrera kept fighting on despite the blood gushing from the wound and Khan’s superior speed and power until it was mercifully stopped in the fifth round, awarding Khan the technical decision as well as the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title to along with his WBA International title.

The question is, would the outcome been different without gash?

I truly do not believe so.  Although Barrera was at a disadvantage because of the cut and the blood dripping into his eye, it was obvious that the man who began his career at the age of 15 as a flyweight did not carry the 135 lbs of the lightweight division well.  The blood did not make his foot work shoddy or his once thunderous punches now be like a mild sprinkle on the body of the much quicker and stronger Khan.  The blood did not speed up the quick jab and elusiveness of Khan and his general command of the pace of the fight.  The blood might of helped Khan’s right hand get there easier but it was still going to get there.

Barrera stated after the bout that he would continue to fight and that he wishes to fight before the end of the year.

Say it isn’t so, Marco…

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