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By Patrick Kehoe - Time defiles every mortal effort to sustain athletic excellence eventually leaving sports fans only the recourse of memory as a final consolation.
Marco Antonio Barrera acted out the role of the wily veteran, calculating and posing more often than his younger self would ever have allowed for, instead of punching it out with Manny Pacquiao, during their Mandalay Bay rubber match for super-featherweight supremacy. His best, at 33, was good enough to stave off a knockout loss but not sufficient to garner victory. Youth, ambition and desire had made him a featherweight legend. Not even the fists of Junior Jones or Erik Morales, defeat and brain surgery in 1997 could dissuade Barrera from his objective to be a great fighter. He often pointed out that boxing was a dangerous sport, like many sports, and that taking risks, competing at the threshold of tragedy was endemic to a fighter’s life. But training to acquire the skills for performance and protection was also the rigorous route to competence and, perhaps, excellence. [details]
Marco Antonio Barrera acted out the role of the wily veteran, calculating and posing more often than his younger self would ever have allowed for, instead of punching it out with Manny Pacquiao, during their Mandalay Bay rubber match for super-featherweight supremacy. His best, at 33, was good enough to stave off a knockout loss but not sufficient to garner victory. Youth, ambition and desire had made him a featherweight legend. Not even the fists of Junior Jones or Erik Morales, defeat and brain surgery in 1997 could dissuade Barrera from his objective to be a great fighter. He often pointed out that boxing was a dangerous sport, like many sports, and that taking risks, competing at the threshold of tragedy was endemic to a fighter’s life. But training to acquire the skills for performance and protection was also the rigorous route to competence and, perhaps, excellence. [details]