Marco Antonio Barrera Blitzes Jose Arias In Two Rounds
Feb 12, 2011 • 10:16 AM ET
By Jake Donovan
Former three-division world champion Marco Antonio Barrera enjoyed an easy night’s work on Saturday evening, scoring two knockdowns en route to a second round stoppage of Jose Arias.
The official time was 2:39 of round two of the Fox Deportes-televised main event later this evening at Coliseo Olimpico de la UG in Guadalajara, Mexico.
It wasn’t immediately clear what to expect of the night. Barrera didn’t look particularly sharp in his comeback fight last June, struggling to a 10-round decision over Adailton De Jesus in a bout that was supposed to ignite a run towards his plans to become the first Mexican in boxing history to capture titles in four separate weight classes.
His performance on Saturday evening lent far more hope towards pursuing that goal, even if it remains a pipe-dream at best.
The opposition notwithstanding, Barrera looked sharp for the brief encounter. The Mexican came racing out the gate, scoring a knockdown early in the opening round.
To his credit, Arias never wilted, even while under the realization that he was hopelessly overmatched. The transplanted Dominican, himself having made a ring return in 2010 after more than a decade away from the ring, pumped his jab and tried his hardest to turn the mismatch into an actual prizefight, but his efforts were to no avail.
Barrera scored another knockdown in the second round, sending Arias crashing into the ropes for a mandatory eight count. The bout continued, but an ensuing volley by the future Hall of Famer left referee Jesus Saucedo no choice but to stop the slaughter.
The win is Barrera’s second straight as he improves to 67-7 (44KO).
Arias, who padded his record with seven straight wins over stiffs while fighting exclusively in Costa Rica last year, suffers his first loss in 20 years as the 43-year old falls to 15-2 (9KO).
Where Barrera goes from here is anyone’s guess, as things are beginning to fill up at 140.
Included among his comeback tour is a technical loss at the hands of Amir Khan, who has since moved up, captured a belt and is now eying a summer showdown with Tim Bradley.
Former longtime rival Erik Morales takes on Marcos Maidana on April 9. Thanks to the wonderful magic of the sanctioning bodies, a title will be made at stake, giving Morales a chance to beat Barrera in the race to become Mexico’s first ever four-division titlist.
The only other major belt in the division (as if five isn’t enough) will be decided upon in a vacant title match next month between Zab Judah and Kaiser Mabuza.
Wherever Barrera next turns, it’s clear that he has his work cut out for him, if there is any purpose at all to this latest comeback.
TELEVISED UNDERCARD
Former featherweight title challenger Martin Honorio looked sensational in scoring a one-punch second round knockout of Adrian Tellez in their televised co-feature.
A counter left uppercut was enough to end the night and get the Mexican back in the win column, with the stoppage coming at 1:22 of the third round.
Honorio, who hadn’t fought since a split decision loss to Argenis Mendez last May, controlled the bout from the opening bell to the explosive ending, imposing his will on the Mexican journeyman.
Tellez was a brave and willing opponent, though a little too brave for his own good. An exchange on the inside left him wide open for a left uppercut from his countryman, crashing on his jaw and sending him sprawling to the canvas, with referee Jesus Saucedo waving off the bout soon thereafter.
Honorio improves to 29-5-1 (15KO) with the win, his first since last March. Tellez falls to 11-7-1 (8KO) with the second loss in his past three fights.
In a major upset, upside down journeyman Jonathan Lecona-Ramos outworked super flyweight prospect David Gaspar en route to an eight-round unanimous decision. Scores were 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75. Lecona-Ramos (7-8-2, 3KO) was the aggressor for most of the bout and was effective enough with his jab (and at times, his head) to leave Gaspar (16-3-1, 9KO) with a swollen and bruised left eye.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
