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Barrera celebrates Mexican Independence by liberating Peden of title
MON September 19, ROGER GORDILLO, Ringside - It's a special weekend that has been set aside for top Mexican fighters to display their craft, while the great people of Mexican heritage celebrate their roots and history. In what always has been a huge success for promoters and probably the biggest time in boxing, 'Mexican Independence Day' weekend is typically reserved for selected greats like Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya.
Former super-bantam, featherweight and current WBC 130-lb champ Marco Antonio Barrera received a chance to fill the big shoes and make a statement that he's indeed one of the best Mexican fighters of all time.
Now standing at 61-4, with 42 KO’s, Barrera bested upset minded Australian Robbie Peden, over 12-rounds this past Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.
Peden, who fell to 25-3 with 14 KO’s, surrendered his IBF title in a rather lackluster performance in the main-event on the "Parade of Champions", HBO pay-per-view card in a WBC/IBF super featherweight unification.
The bout was filled with anticipation and an all out war was expected. Barrera and Peden have a history of sparring together having gone over two hundred rounds, including in recent times, when Peden severely hurt Barrera in 2002, which forced a postponement with arch rival Erik “El Terrible” Morales.
Some boxing insiders and fight fans where left to wonder, "Did both fighters know more than they were letting on as both were familiar with each other?"
It was clear as the fight began, sparring is sparring and fighting is fighting, typically two completely different subjects in boxing.
In the opening round Peden came out fast and attacked Barrera, but soon after, Barrera launched an onslaught that would control the rest of the fight, picking apart Peden for the duration.
Credit Peden, who came in almost a dozen pounds heavier than his foe, as he would attempt to adjust, giving different looks, including his impersonation of Roy Jones, as Peden danced with his hands to his sides. Whatever Peden tried, Barrera simply had the solution.
In the fourth, Barrera would suffer a cut near his right eye which was ruled to be caused by a legal blow by referee Richard Steele. The ice-veined Barrera wasn't fazed and had very little trouble with the wound.
In the tenth, Barrera was deducted a point for a low blow, but continued to pour pressure on to make it a 9-9 round.
In the twelfth, Barrera hurt Peden with some big shots, almost putting him down, but ran out of time as the bell would sound. The judges' score cards read, John Keane, 118-109, judge Dave Moretti, 118-108 and judge Michael Pernick, 118-108, all in favor of Barrera making him the new IBF and WBC super featherweight champion.
Parade of Champions Undercard Results
In the co-main event, 'Sugar' Shane Mosley took on undefeated Mexican fighter and WBC #11th ranked Jose Luis Cruz, in what was Mosley's second fight back at welterweight and his first fight underneath the Golden Boy Promotional banner.
Mosley, 41-4, commented before the bout that he would look better than when he took decisions over business partner and former opponent, Oscar De La Hoya in 2000 and 2003. Unfortunately Mosley and his fans, 'Sugar' showed no signs of his former self, often hesitant to fully commit or let his hands go, however, there were times Shane displayed speed, but nothing like promised.
The fight was fairly cut and dry with Cruz, 28-1-2, plodding forward as the aggressor trying to catch Mosley, while the former three-time champ would just pick his shots. With big fights in the near future, Mosley needs to work on combination punching and his power, as he could not shutdown a very slow, but game Cruz. The final cards read all in favor of Mosley as judge Chuck Giampa scored it 96-94, judge C.J. Ross had it 97-93 and Duane Ford with 98-92.
Former 130-lb champ Jesus Chavez challenged and stopped Levander Johnson for the IBF lightweight title via an 11th round TKO.
A celebration for Chavez at the post-fight press conference quickly became a somber setting as word spread that Levander was rushed to the hospital to be treated for trauma received in their match.
Like normal, Chavez, 42-3, charged forward with unrelenting pressure, throwing punches in bunches from the start, dominating every round, yet never seemed to inflict much damage on Johnson. Chavez connected on many hard, clean punches, but Johnson, 34-5-2, still tried to use his footwork and the jab to keep the shorter Chavez away.
As of today, after a successful surgery, Levander is currently in a drug induced coma and will be for a few more days to allow his brain to heal with out being overloaded with other commands. At the end of set time period, Levander will be expected to come out of his coma and only then will doctors know if there are any long lasting effectives of his injury. The entire TalkingBoxing.com family wishes Levander a safe recovery and he will remain in our prayers!
Lightweight prospect Vicente Escobedo made quick work of his opponent Gregory Piper, dropping him once in the first and twice in the second. Referee Robert Byrd stopped the action on the third and final knockdown. Escobedo moved up to 7-0 with 7 KO's.
Super bantamweight rising star Abner Mares, 6-0, took on the tough undefeated Selso Bosquez, 3-0. From the start, Mares looked great in his second fight under the tutelage of trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. In the 4th round, Mares would hurt Bosquez and with a glazed over look on the ropes, referee Kenny Adams jumped in and stop the bout at 2:45 of the 4th round.
Photos to come...
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