I thought Barrera won the last fight 7-5. I did not think he won rounds 11 and 12, which a lot of otheres feel he did.

Anyways, Juarez is such an interesting opponent for Barrera. He's a short compact guy, with awesome power, a pretty wide array of power punches, tight defense, excellent timing, pinpoint accuracy and a left hook to die for. He is not a guy to be underestimated and I think Barrera knows that now more then ever. But it seems Juarez is being counted out by many this fight. Not sure why. He came damned close to winning last fight had he turned it on in the earlier rounds. His workrate was just to low.

I think the best thing Barrera did last fight was jab and move. It was a masterful display of boxing, using the jab, circling Juarez moving every which direction, creating angles for his straight punches, ect. In the rounds where he stuck to this plan, he won imo. The only problem was he was getting timed with the left hook moving in and out. Another reason why Juarez can't be counted out. He stays patient and because his timing is so good and he has such great power, he is ALWAYS a threat.

Barrera's strategy of brawling with Juarez, and almost smothering the shorter stockier fighter may have been more crowd pleasing but it left him much more venerable to those short left hooks and uppercuts of Juarez. If Barrera is going to be fighting on the inside in this fight, I suggest he try to back Juarez against the ropes or something, taking away Juarez little step back manuever where he fires the left hook. IMO he can win a comfortable decision if he just has a healthy mix of brawling/boxing. In the first fight I think he got caught up in doing one or the other rather then mixing up what he does. Juarez is a fighter who is going to have his high spots regardless of how you fight him, but if you don't let him get settled in and give him new looks every once in a while, then I think Barrera will find the task of beating Juarez much easier.

As for Juarez, he just has to work more. Simple as that. He's notorious for having a low punch output because he has that 1 punch power and he hasn't really needed volume to win his fights thus far. But now that he has stepped up the competition, and he is in there against guys who aren't going to go down with 1 punch, he is going to have to start punching more. It's not like he is going to have to turn into Manny Pacquiao or anything, but he can't wait til he gets inside anymore to start throwing punches. One of his best punche is his straight right hand, best used when he has a fighter moving out and he catches him over top. But again, that's not going to work against fighters like Barrera. So towards the end of the last fight, he was crouching low, throwing the right over the top to get Barrera on the defensive and rushing inside to do his work. In the rematch, I don't expect Juarez to hold off until the 8th round to employ this strategy. Pressure is the key for Juarez to win this fight imo.

Very unpredictable fight, hoping that Juarez doesn't wait until the later rounds to put the heat on Barerra this time. I'm thinking Barrera decision, but it's going to be a hard fight.