By Keith Idec
When Mario Barrios and Devis Boschiero faced off after weighing in Friday, Barrios towered over his opponent as if Boschiero were a child.
Barrios is the kid in this scenario, though.
The baby-faced, 21-year-old prospect from San Antonio will take the stiffest test of his blossoming professional career when he encounters Italy’s Boschiero in a 12-round junior lightweight fight Saturday night at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Their IBF 130-pound elimination match will be the main event of an ESPN “Premier Boxing Champions” doubleheader slated to start at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The 34-year-old Boschiero (39-4-1, 21 KOs) isn’t quite a top-15 junior lightweight, yet clearly represents a significant step up in competition for the unbeaten Barrios. In his last fight, Barrios (15-0, 8 KOs), a consistently brutal body puncher, easily won an eight-round unanimous decision against the Philippines’ Edgar Gabejan (27-33-6, 9 KOs).
“He’s a very, very tough fighter,” Barrios told BoxingScene.com about Boschiero. “He’s a veteran who has gone 12 rounds multiple times. We know he has that tough style, where he puts pressure on you, gets on the inside and he works. To beat him, we’re just gonna have to work our game plan, which is to fight the smarter fight, fight the tall fight.”
Barrios stands 6-feet-1, unusually tall for the 130-pound division. Boschiero is just 5-5½, but possesses much more experience than his precocious opponent.
Boschiero lost a split decision to Japan’s Takahiro Ao (27-3-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) in a 12-rounder for Ao’s WBC world super featherweight title 4½ years ago in Tokyo.
In 2014, Boschiero lost back-to-back 12-rounders to Romain Jacob (24-1, 8 KOs), a split decision and a unanimous decision in their immediate rematch for the European Boxing Union super featherweight championship. Both of those fights took place in Jacob’s native France.
Boschiero suffered the only TKO defeat of his 11-year pro career last September 19. England’s Stephen Smith (24-2, 14 KOs) dropped Boschiero four times and created severe swelling around Boschiero’s left eye before their scheduled 12-rounder was stopped in the sixth round in Liverpool.
Boschiero has gone 12 rounds seven times. The Gabejan bout was just an eight-rounder for Barrios, and marked only the third time in Barrios’ brief pro career that he went eight rounds.
His handlers decided to skip 10-round fights altogether to box Boschiero because the winner will become the IBF’s No. 2 contender in its 130-pound rankings. Ten-rounders typically are important barometers in determining prospects’ readiness to transition into becoming legitimate contenders, but Barrios isn’t concerned.
“We know going 12 rounds is a huge step up,” Barrios said. “I haven’t even gone 10, but in the [three] eight-rounders that went the distance we felt I could’ve gone six more rounds. So the decision me and my team made, the conclusion we came to, is this is something I’m ready for. We’re ready to go the full 12 if it does. Just how I was progressing through my last couple fights, we feel I’m ready for it. We can’t wait for Saturday night.”
Barrios also realizes it is important to beat Boschiero impressively in the first nationally televised main event of his 2½-year pro career.
“We’re gonna go out on Saturday night with a point to prove,” Barrios said. “We’re really excited to showcase to the nation what my skills are in my first main event, and how I can handle the higher-caliber fighters.”
The humble and appreciative Barrios acknowledges that he has been placed on a faster track than he anticipated after producing a 97-13 record during a 10-year amateur career. Advised by the ever-powerful Al Haymon, he realizes he has been groomed to fight for a junior lightweight world title in the near future.
Beating Boschiero would put him in position to challenge IBF 130-pound champion Jose Pedraza (22-0, 12 KOs) in the foreseeable future.
“A fight with Pedraza would be a great fight,” Barrios said. “Fans love the Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry. That’s exactly what it would be. A fight with Pedraza would be explosive, it would be action-packed. I just think it would be a great fight.”
Of course, Barrios would just as soon welcome a shot at another world champion – perhaps dynamic WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs), of Ukraine, or WBC title-holder Francisco Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs), of Mexico.
“One-thirty, it’s a packed division, with great fighters,” Barrios said. “The thought of being in huge fights like that, it’s amazing. It’s motivating.”
Barrios believes he can land a title shot by the end of this year. He won’t turn 22 until May 18, thus he’d become one of the youngest recognized world champions in boxing history if he can capitalize on that type of opportunity.
“To be able to pull that off, that would mean everything,” Barrios said. “That would be the ultimate proof that all the hard work paid off. That’s what we’re aiming for right now.”
Mature beyond his years, Barrios understands that none of that will be possible if he doesn’t beat Boschiero on Saturday night.
“That’s the whole point of this fight, to get us that much closer to a title shot,” Barrios said. “That’s what we’re gonna keep on working on.”
As much pressure as he feels, Barrios also is trying to enjoy the overall experience of headlining a televised card for the first time.
“Being on a network like ESPN, it’s like a dream come true,” said Barrios, who is trained by his father, Martin Barrios. “I grew up watching the fights on ESPN with my dad. Knowing I’m going to be in the main event on ESPN on Saturday, it seems unreal to me.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
