By Jake Donovan
Former junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios kept his career afloat for one more evening after dominating journeyman Wilson Alcorro en route to a 10-round unanimous decision Friday night at Club de Regatas in Corrientes, Argentina.
Scores were 100-92, 100-90.5 and 99.5-93.5 in favor of Barrios, who has won three straights since a 2008 knockout loss to Rocky Juarez.
There was concern over how Barrios (50-4-1, 35KO) would look in fighting for the first time in 2010, with his inactivity due to legal issues stemming from his involvement in a car accident that killed a pregnant woman earlier this year.
The issue was raised earlier this week, reminding Barrios of his past even as he attempts to move on with his life. Whatever memories linger from that fateful day, he was able to carry himself like a professional in the ring for his first fight in more than ten months.
Alcorro, a late replacement for Humberto Martinez, never stood a chance on paper and even less so in reality, as Barrios dominated the action from the opening bell, save for a brief rough patch or two.
The pattern of the fight was the same throughout. Barrios fought in his usual reckless manner, wading in face first ad he sought to mount a body attack. Alcorro never seemed to have any answers, just following around the house fighter while serving as a punching bag for most of the evening.
At no point in the bout did the threat of a knockout loom, nor did the pace of the bout ever change gears. Alcorro was more game in the latter stages of the bout, but by that point was already deep in a hole on the cards and stood no chance whatsoever of winning.
Barrios rallied the troops in the final round, drawing raucous applause as he danced as hard as he could to close the show in spectacular fashion. The knockout never came, though his efforts were enough to convincingly send Alcorro to the loser’s column. The Colombian southpaw falls to 28-13-3 (18KO), snapping a modest two-fight win streak in the process.
It’s been an emotional year to say the least for Barrios, who is forced to battle out-of-ring demons while trying to find a way to remain relevant in the ring at 34 years old. While the win is his third straight, it’s been years since he’s delivered the type of performance that suggests he has anything left to offer today’s top lightweights.
The Argentinean has been through several wars in his career, including his bloodbath with Acelino Freitas in 2003, scoring a pair of knockdowns but also violently hitting the deck twice himself in suffering a 12th round knockout loss in his stateside debut.
Despite the loss, his stock went way up in defeat, so much that he was able to secure the services of then-rising promotional outfit Golden Boy Promotions, who presented Friday night’s card.
Less than two years later, he was back in the title picture, delivering a career-best performance in scoring a fourth round knockout win against Mike Anchondo, who lost his title on the scales the day before and then in one-sided fashion once the bell rang.
Barrios’ alphabet reign lasted for more than a year before conceding the title to Joan Guzman in September 2006. He’s only lost once since then, but it also happened to come in his lone meaningful fight over that same stretch, blowing an early lead against Rocky Juarez before being stopped in the 11th round of their HBO-televised bout two years ago.
His connection with Golden Boy means that at least one more title shot or notable fight is somewhere in his future. Whether or not he’s earned the right to be there is open for debate, but what he is able to do with the opportunity once he receives it remains to be seen.
In other action, fringe welterweight contender Hector David Saldiva scored an impressive third round stoppage over Jailton De Jesus Souza.
This year was supposed to serve as a breakout year for Saldiva, who was featured on the televised under card of Floyd Mayweather’s domination of Shane Mosley. Saldiva appeared well on his way to joining the rich and famous, flooring Said Oulai early into their bout before being drilled twice and stopped in the opening round.
The suspicion was that he would never be heard from again, but there was too much potential to be dismissed that easily.
Rightfully, Golden Boy Promotions has refused to throw in the towel, standing behind their product and properly showcasing him on this card. Saldiva didn’t disappoint, dragging De Jesus Souza into deep waters before drowning him with a sea of power punches that resulted in referee intervention.
Saldiva picks up his second straight win and third win overall in 2010 as he improves to 35-2 (28KO). De Jesus Souza drifts in the opposite direction, falling to 12-2 (10KO), with both of the Brazilian’s losses coming in his past three bouts.
The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and aired via same-day tape delay on Telefutura.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
