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Marco De La Hopkins | Barrera Beats Juarez in Rematch
WED September 20, BUSTER PARIS - Rocky was clearly irked – he dropped his hands to his sides, somewhat shrugged his shoulders and gave an exasperated look that pleaded and begged for the man in front of him to fight – to stand still and go toe to toe – like he did with Morales – hell, like he did last fight -- c’mon already - lets go to war.
Marco Antonio Barrera was having none of that noise and once again landed a couple of jabs, then just as his right hand yet again thudded the face of Juarez he was out of range and showing all of us what the definition of ring generalship is.
Saturday – September 16, 2006 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV - Marco Antonio Barrera (W 63 - 42 ko's - & L 4) and Rocky Juarez (W 25 - 18 ko's - & L 3) were fighting a rematch to put an end to speculation as to who really won their last fight back in May. (5.20.2006).
After their May 20th bout I had serious questions and doubts about the future of Marco Antonio. I wondered aloud if he was on that final road – if all the battles and wars he’d been in had finally caught up to him and maybe he was done – maybe it’s time for him to hang up the gloves --- publicly I never fully leaned one way or the other, but truth be told – I was thinking it as a real likelihood and probability.
When we saw him at the weigh in for the rematch I couldn’t believe how great he looked. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look to be in such great shape. He was rock solid.
The fight itself was pretty one sided – and all for Marco Antonio - there was always the threat of Rocky landing the big punch because he is more than capable of that, but it just didn’t seem likely as Barrera wouldn’t allow him a clean shot – and Rocky simply didn’t get to land many successful or dangerous blows.
Barrera was the more effective puncher and used his jab perfectly. He kept firing it off into Juarez’s face and Marco Antonio was master of the squared circle – he would move around almost dancing, was on his toes and attacking at all sorts of unfamiliar (to Juarez) angles – and he was actually effective even while backing up. It was simply a brilliant performance and a lesson to anyone interested in the art and skill of boxing.
It’s funny – during the 8th round the crowd began booing – it takes a certain kind of fan to appreciate a great tactical and controlled fight – and Marco Antonio deserved a standing ovation rather than boos.
HBO’s Jim Lampley summed it up perfectly when he stated that “Juarez needed violence not technique” – and Jim is right on – great point.
What happened was Rocky tried to fight Barrera’s fight – don’t get me wrong – he tried to make the engagements more of a scrap and a brawl, but Marco Antonio denied almost all attempts at that. There were actually a couple of skirmishes where ironically enough I thought Barrera got the better out of them.
Juarez tried to adjust and tried to match technique with technique, but it just didn’t hit the mark and really showed how much of a Pugilistic Master Marco Antonio Barrera is.
Another element of Barrera’s brilliant performance was that he was so relaxed and there was something eerily “Hopkins-esque” about the way he was fighting.
He was relaxed, calm, poised, incredibly paced, very much in charge and in control of himself and of Rocky - and he was technically awe-inspiring. All that was missing was the B-Hop smile.
Even between rounds you could tell who was winning the fight. Juarez looked completely beat up and was constantly being tended to. His right eye was closing more and more each round.
And in the other corner - Barrera was comfortable, more or less tranquil and kind of looked like he was at the movies and waiting for some popcorn.
At the end of night everybody had Marco Antonio Barrera as the winner -- Judge Hubert Minn scored the bout 117-111 and Judges Chuck Giampa and Dave Moretti had it much closer at 115-113 --- I had it 119-109.
Barrera did an awesome job and should be very proud of himself – I don’t know exactly what is going on over at Golden Boy Promotions, but wow – a great card, a great night of boxing and there’s an amazing synergy and spirit of unity over there where the fighters are protected and they seem to be sharing information and tips with each other – Barrera fought like Marco De La Hopkins tonight and I couldn’t be more impressed.
We all must be pretty convinced that Marco Antonio Barrera is nowhere near the end of his road and even though he is talking about retiring in 2007 – he doesn’t “need to” – and I love this new trend of fighters getting out of the game even though there’s still more left in the tank.
Buster Paris can be reached at: bparis@talkingboxing.com - and always enjoys receiving your thoughts, comments and questions
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