by David P. Greisman (photo by Ron Gallegos)
How important is one title fight in comparison to the whole of a career?
For journeymen and hard-working-but-rarely-rewarded contenders, a title opportunity is invaluable. Despite the condemnation of sanctioning bodies and trinkets, a title belt – even one as gaudy as vending machine jewelry – is akin to the capstone project in an undergraduate’s senior year, the proverbial cherry on top.
But when the fight in concern is the 67th in an already hall-of-fame career, with 12 more rounds added to the 414 that came before, what does the resulting win, loss or draw mean aside from a mark on the ledger?
For Marco Antonio Barrera’s 67th fight, suspicious scorecard tallying errors changed an initially-announced draw against Rocky Juarez into a split-decision victory, with judge Duane Ford scoring the bout 115-114 Juarez, and Anek Hongtongkam and Ken Morita finding the fight, respectively, 115-113 and 115-114 to Barrera. “The Babyfaced Assassin” left with his face swollen and bloodied, but he also retained his WBC 130-lb. belt, his pride and the ability to schedule megafights against an array of possible opponents.
Had the original verdict remained, Barrera would have added a D to his 61 W’s, four L’s and one ND. Yet at 33 years old and with more than half of his life spent boxing professionally, the letter would have indicated a draw as well as the direction his career could go. With the draw’s neutral nature – it is neither a victory nor a defeat – that direction is one of ambiguity. And despite the change to a 62nd W, that ambiguity still exists as uncertainty of whether Barrera’s career will continue as one of destiny or will venture toward its downslope.
The experience Barrera accumulated en route to becoming one of the greatest Mexican boxers ever allowed him to overcome a very-bloody nose and a hungry, capable opponent. Breathing through his mouth to compensate for his nose, Barrera’s stamina waned. Yet in the 11th round, Barrera’s hard body shots and the occasional punch upstairs kept Juarez from taking over the action completely and taking a lead on Ken Morita’s crucial scorecard. Tied at 95-apiece by Morita’s judgment after 10 stanzas, Barrera’s efforts in those three minutes were enough that – barring a knockdown in the last round – he had sealed a draw. Morita’s even 12th (one that looked to have been written originally as 10-9 for Juarez) supplied the split-decision win.
But perhaps factors beyond a bloodied nose contributed to Barrera’s diminished energy. According to BoxingScene.com’s James Blears, Barrera did not do his usual altitude training at Big Bear Lake in California. Against an opponent who applies constant pressure, endurance is essential, yet as many veteran fighters age, they no longer want to put in the same hard work as they once had, both in training camp and in the ring.
Roy Jones Jr. made a similar mistake with Glencoffe Johnson when he bypassed using his legs, choosing to attempt to get by on his usual speed and athleticism but doing so against the ropes. While the technique didn’t come back to haunt him against Clinton Woods and in his first bout with Antonio Tarver, Johnson was able to relentlessly maul Jones until he left him unconscious.
Barrera took the lead against Juarez thanks to an excellent early jab, good foot movement and a decent body attack. Skill and technique, though, went out the door as Barrera tired and Juarez closed the distance, and grit and toughness took their places. But the likelihood of the same positive outcome would be much less should Barrera receive his desired rematch with Manny Pacquiao. For against the onslaught of the Filipino Firebomber, Barrera would need the full supply of savvy and stamina to revenge his 2003 knockout loss at Pacquiao’s heavy hands.
How important is one title fight in comparison to the whole of a career? When it comes to getting by a Juarez as opposed to getting kayoed by a Pacquiao, it means plenty. And when it comes to the pride that Barrera will attempt to regain should he face Pacquiao again, that title fight will mean even more.
The 10 Count
1. Last Thursday, Julio Diaz outpointed Ricky Quiles to win the interim IBF lightweight belt, while on Saturday, Jose Armando Santa Cruz stopped Chikashi Inada for the WBC’s own interim 135-lb. trinket. Anything for a buck, I guess, or whatever amount the sanctioning fees are worth. But while Diaz and Santa Cruz are waiting, respectively, for Jesus Chavez and the winner of Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo III, I think it’d be nice if the two contenders faced each other in what would be an excellent battle. It won’t happen, though, even if Chavez-Diaz and Corrales- (or Castillo-) Santa Cruz do not occur either. As noted above, title shots will always carry value, and the managers of Diaz and Santa Cruz would be crazy to risk their fighters’ chances.
2. I loved the shimmy that Emanuel Augustus used to shake off Marteze Logan’s clinches on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights. If only Augustus could have taught that move to all of John Ruiz’ opponents years ago.
3. Heavyweight prospect and 2004 Olympian Jason Estrada outpointed journeyman Robert Wiggins in what was just his seventh pro fight. While Wiggins is not the measuring stick of a designated opponent that he used to be, the choice of the veteran Wiggins as, well, the designated opponent is a sign that Estrada’s handlers want to move him quickly from prospect to contender. In his last appearance in February, Estrada faced Yanqui Diaz, a foe who knocked out Juan Carlos Gomez in 2004 but was floored five times by Samuel Peter last year. An accidental clash of heads opened up a cut on Diaz, though, making Estrada-Diaz a one-round no contest. Putting in a 10-round shutout against Wiggins is a better outcome, but if Estrada wants to be a serious heavyweight contender, he should think about losing some weight off of his 6-foot-1, 244-pound frame.
4. Sticking with rotund heavyweights, I read recently that Riddick Bowe’s latest comeback bout was delayed by a minor injury. Since announcing his return in 2004 after nearly eight years out of boxing, Bowe has fought twice, with his last appearance an extremely close split decision over Billy Zumbrun 13 months ago. When this past weekend’s World Championship Boxing broadcast ended earlier than expected, HBO aired its Legendary Nights episode about Mike Tyson’s loss to Buster Douglas. Looking at Douglas – plumper than he was in his fighting days but weighing less than when he was plagued by health problems – reminded me of Bowe’s weight gain, but it also showed me that, unlike Bowe, Douglas knew when it was right to end his late-1990s comeback. The time is now for Bowe. Actually, the time was before he ever returned, but unfortunately that reality is yet to be realized by the aptly-nicknamed “Big Daddy.”
5. 2004 Olympic lightweight silver medalist Amir Khan outpointed Laszlo Komjathi on Saturday to raise his record to 7-0. If and when Khan hits America, I would love for Frank Warren (his promoter) to please my inner dork by hiring William Shatner as ring announcer. Shatner could then introduce Khan in the same way that he referred to Ricardo Montalban in the second Star Trek movie.
6. Every week I fill this column with a couple thousand or so of my own words. This week, though, the next three entries will be spent discussing things that other people said.
7. During the main event of ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, color commentator Teddy Atlas took Jose Navarro to task for the lulls in his offense, arguing that Navarro should have punched more. Navarro, though, threw 1343 punches over 10 rounds. If anything, it was the timing of when the punches were thrown that should have been criticized and not the amount. And of more concern (and due to the point that Atlas was aiming at), Navarro’s opponent landed 43 percent of his shots, a rate far too accurate should Navarro’s next bout be against a foe that is younger, stronger and not coming off of an extended layoff.
8. Junior lightweight Jorge Barrios knocked out mandatory challenger Janos Nagy in less than a minute on the undercard of Barrera-Juarez. After being beaten by a body shot – one that was far closer to the punch Arturo Gatti stopped Leonard Dorin with than the comparison Jim Lampley made to the liver blow Bernard Hopkins gave to Oscar De La Hoya – my father aptly prognosticated, “You are not going to see Janos Nagy on HBO again.”
9. I would like to thank ESPN2’s play-by-play man Joe Tessitore for stealing my thunder. During last week’s Friday Night Fights, Tessitore mentioned multiple rumors that super middleweight Yusaf Mack could face champion Joe Calzaghe, pending Mack’s performance that night against opponent Alejandro Berrio. After Berrio knocked Mack out, Tessitore read my mind by pointing out that the last two possible foes for Calzaghe’s next title defense – Mack and Allan Green – tasted canvas. And while Green rose from the mat to knock out Donnie McCrary, I doubt that he earned the chance to cash in on the Calzaghe sweepstakes.
10. Speaking of which, why are all these rumors about Calzaghe’s opponents naming guys who have barely even proven their right to be contenders, much less title challengers? Then again, when Calzaghe makes his HBO debut, I’m sure he’ll want it to look much more impressive than Ricky Hatton’s close win last week over Luis Collazo.
