Their first fight was originally scored a draw. That's before a mathematical error was found on the card of judge Ken Morita while transferring the scores from the judges' slips to the main scorecard. Morita originally tallied the fight 114-114. Some 20 minutes later, his card was changed to 115-114 for Barrera, giving Barrera the split decision win. Duane Ford's card also contained a boo-boo, with no bearing on the outcome. His card went from 116-114 Juarez to 115-114 Juarez. Anek Hongtongkam's card required no eraser, it remained in tact at 115-114 Barrera.

Although Juarez managed to bloody Barrera's nose and raise some swelling above and below his left eye over the first half of the fight, he wasn't busy enough and it cost him. He averaged just 39 punches per round over the first six frames to 49 per round for Barrera. Juarez's inactivity cost him five of the first six rounds on two cards and four of six on the third card.

Statistically, it was all Juarez the rest of the way. He upped his punch output to 70 thrown per round over the second half of the fight. He also outlanded Barrera 61-32 in power shots in rounds eight thru twelve and blood flowed freely from Barrera's nose all night.

Overall, Barrera landed 168 of 635 (26 percent) total punches to 135 of 651 (21 percent) for Juarez, who landed 105 of 374 (28 percent) power shots to 84 of 279 (30 percent) for Barrera.

In September 2005, Barrera totally schooled over-achiever Robbie Peden, outlanding the Australian 300-87. In Floyd Mayweather-like fashion, Barrera held Peden to single digit connects in EVERY round. Barrera landed 44 percent of his 60 punches per round, while Peden offered just 42 thrown per frame. Barrera send Peden packing by landing 51 of 94 punches in the last round. Those 51 connects by Barrera represented 59 percent of Peden's total connects for the fight.

Barrera won his version of the 130-pound title in the rubber match (they fought at three different weights) against hated rival Erik Morales in November 2004. Barrera took full advantage of Morales' sluggish start to win four of the first six rounds on two cards and five of the first six on the third card, outlanding Morales nearly 2-1 thru the first six frames. Morales got himself back into the fight in the middle rounds before Barrera rallied in the ninth and 10th, outlanding "El Terrible" 33-19 in power shots.

The last two rounds (given to Morales by all three judges) were reminiscent of their epic first fight, as Barrera landed 48 of 88 total punches in Round 11 and 28 of 81 in the finale. Morales went 39 of 106 in the 11th and 26 of 89 in the 12th. Overall, Barrera landed 49 percent of his power shots and outjabbed Morales 67-49, averaging 26 per round to 20 per for Morales. The scoring went: 115-113 B; 115-114 B & 114-114. Their first fight was 2000's Fight of the Year. The rematch was a chess match.

Barrera could have been arrested for assault after his first defense of the 130-pound title, in April 2005, against a woefully overmatched and joke of a No. 1 contender Mzonke Fana, who was last seen frozen stiff on the Don Haskins Arena ring mat.

A 4-1 favorite, Barrera was nearly chased out of the Alamodome ring in November of 2003 by Manny Pacquiao, who outlanded him 309-172 in total punches. Barrera was down in rounds three & eleven, as Pac Man landed 30 or more punches in six of the eleven rounds. Manny landed 45 percent of his power shots. Barrera put up decent numbers, landing 31 percent of his 50 punches per round and 39 percent of his power shots- he was just overwhelmed by Pacquiao.

The 309 total punches landed by Pacquiao vs. Barrera are not the most by a Barrera opponent. Kennedy McKinney landed 359 punches in their Feb. 3, 1996 shootout, (Barrera landed a career-high 436 punches) a fight that put HBO's Boxing After Dark on the map and also encouraged Barrera to change from a brawler to a boxer/puncher for the sake of career longevity.

Barrera returned to the ring seven months after the PacMan shellacking to do a similar paint job on former 122-lb champ Paulie Ayala. He outlanded Paulie 231-80, landing 51 percent of his power shots. A body shot ended the fight in round ten. Ayala landed just 24 percent of his total punches.

Marquez has won two straight since his management priced themselves out of a lucrative payday (a reported $750,000) for the rematch with Pacquiao. Instead, Marquez traveled to Indonesia, in defense of his featherweight title, for a reported $30,000 payday and lost a controversial decision (and his featherweight title) to the then 36-0-1 Chris John.

In a fight not exactly worthy of "Legendary Nights" status, they combined to throw just 982 total punches. John landed 95 of 436 (22 percent) to 129 of 546 (24 percent-46 thrown per round) for Marquez, who lost two points for low blows. Marquez also had a 108-73 edge in power connects, throwing 178 more than John. Scoring: 116-110 J; 117-111 J; 116-112 J. Some Indonesian home-cooking for Mr. John?

Last November, Marquez stayed busy with a ninth round ko of the 27-2-1 Jimrex Jaca. He landed 36 percent of his 57 punches thrown per round (11 more per round than vs. John). He also landed 41 percent of his power shots. Marquez's increased punch output allowed Jaca to land 30 percent of his power shots- none having any effect on Marquez.

In May 2004, Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round by Pacquiao and was close to being knocked out. Marquez adjusted to Manny's then-robotic style and actually outlanded Manny 158-148 in total punches after twelve rounds, with Pac Man throwing 92 more. He also had a 122-100 edge in power connects and was able to control the pace of the fight after the near disasterous first round.

Pacquiao threw 73 punches in round one and 77 in the second. He then averaged just 49 punches per round over the last ten rounds. Marquez averaged 46 thrown per round. Judge Bert Clements, unaware that he could have scored the first round 10-6, scored it 10-7, preventing Pacquiao from winning the fight via a split decision. Clements had it 113-113, while John Stewart scored it 115-110 Pacquiao and Guy Jutras saw it 115-110 Marquez.

Marquez also has a win over another common opponent, Robbie Peden. In March of '02, he stopped Peden after landing 51 percent of his power punches. He landed 48 percent overall, averaging 48 punches per round. Peden landed 21 more punches vs. Marquez than he did vs. Barrera, but didn't make it to the finish line, as he was unable to answer the bell for round eleven. Peden landed 27 percent of his total punches.

Barrera has evolved in to a boxer/puncher. Marquez IS a counterpuncher. Who makes the fight? Marquez can't win the fight throwing 40-45 punches per round. They're both 33 yrs.old. Barrera's been in the tougher fights by far and already has spoken of retirement. He's achieved everything he set out to do in boxing- capped off by his consecutive wins over Morales. Does he really want the Pacquiao rematch at this point in time?

As stated earlier, Marquez needs a win over Barrera to achieve legendary status. He displayed amazing composure and skills in the Pacquiao fight. That being said, who has shown better ring generalship than Barrera over the years (discounting Pacquiao)?

It's going to come down to the old cliche of "who wants it more." One would think Marquez, but when two proud Mexicans collide, all bets are off.

Prediction: Marquez, by split decision in a thriller that's decided in the last round. Will the judges give Marquez his props?