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When the fight between Marco Antonio Barrera, 62-4 (42s), and Rocky Juarez, 25-2 (18), earlier this year ended in controversial fashion (twice), many fans were left wondering if Barrera still had “it.” While “The Baby Faced Assassin” did pull off the split decision victory, when the original declaration of a draw was overturned, it did appear that all the ring wars had finally caught up with the future hall of famer. It seemed that he was being beaten to the punch by Juarez, the younger, stronger and hungrier former Olympic Silver Medallist.
It all started in 1989 for Barrera, when at the age of 15, he had his first professional fight; a second round knockout over David Felix. The Mexico City native then went on to obtain his first title in 1992, as part of a win streak that spanned 43 fights within seven years. Not only sharp with his fists, but also with his mind, Barrera attended law school at the request of his parents. While he excelled at academics, his wins started stacking higher and higher in number until it was obvious that he was destined for greatness in the ring.
In 1995, Barrera decisioned Daniel Jimenez to win his first major title, the WBO Super Bantamweight Championship. He went on to successfully defend the belt a total of eight times before dropping a pair of bouts to Junior Jones. Barrera took the losses so badly that he actually retired for a short period to rethink his plans. But a true fighter fights harder when faced with adversity and Barrera came out of retirement to regain the WBO Championship that he lost a year earlier.
In the year 2000, one of boxing’s greatest trilogies was born: Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales. While Morales won their initial meeting, the stock of both fighters rose to proportions previously unheard of. When Barrera easily dismantled the highly regarded Prince Naseem Hamed and evened the score with his nemesis, Morales, he was seemingly standing on top of the boxing world.
Then, in 2003, Barrera suffered the biggest setback of his career; an eleventh round TKO loss to Manny Pacquiao. Always the warrior, Barrera rebounded and fought back once again to take the third and final meeting with Erik Morales, winning the WBC Super Featherweight title in the process.
Barrera then played it safe, taking on Mzonke Fana and Robbie Peden before stepping up his level of opposition in May of 2006 against Rocky Juarez. In that fight, Barrera held his own but flashes of his eminent end showed. He was rocked by thunderous punches from Juarez as the crowd looked upon an aging warrior who had probably given all he had, years earlier.
When the bout was declared a draw, many showed their true feelings and booed the result. After the scores were recounted, and Barrera was declared the winner, more ill emotions were thrown the Barrera’s way.
With their first fight so close and controversial, both Barrera and Juarez elected to do it once more, on 16 September, for the sport. Many are left asking if this is a wise move by Marco Antonio. After looking lackluster, could this Barrera hold onto the legacy that the old Barrera so diligently built?
Even if all the talk is true, and Barrera does not have “it” anymore, he does deserve a chance to go out with a bang; it’s the least the sport of boxing owes him. As a matter of fact, looking at his history, it would not be surprising to see the legend show the world just how wrong they were for counting him out.
