MARQUEZ is a better fighter then BARRERA

[-Hyperion-]

he didnt get dominated by Marquez as I recall. seen the fight and it was a close fight but Barrera shot himself when he hit Marquez when he was down as well as it wasnt consider as KO so that screwed him alot but it was pretty close I got Marquez winning by a point I remeber.

As for Morales, He alway looked pretty strong and usally never looked like anyone could beat him in his time of his career intell he lost to Barrare.

part of Barrera career people consider him to retire but he fough off like the lose against Junior Jones and the lose against PAc which people though he would lose against Ayalie and Morales. but he kept winning.

if you see p4p best Mexician fighters of all time Barrera is alway ranked better than Morales

not really, morales is rated by most mexicans as a better fighter, its just that MAB is HBO's darling....

[oldgringo]

I think too many people are remembering Morales and Barrera from only the last few years since they all came to such attention from the wars with each other and Pacquiao. I think folks are forgetting when Morales was an undefeated terror tearing through his division. He had enormous boxing skill with the legs to match then as well, unlike when he was fighting Pacquiao! He was considered one of the best P4P and the best by some. He fought many great champions and won titles in three different weight divisions.

Barrera was also an absolute beast in the greatest Mexican tradition with a brawling, body punching style that slowly developed over time into one of the most all-rounded great boxer-punchers of the times. Do many guys even remember his war with McKinney in the early days! It was one of the greatest fights I've ever seen bar none! Of course, that is only one of his many, many great fights over the years with some great champions.

I firmly believe that the Barrera of the McKinney years could've beaten Pacquiao at his own game. At the later stage when they fought he had slowed down and was in the process of becoming the more developed boxer he would become. Morales would've beaten Pacquiao at any stage of his career before their first fight with relative ease. Easier than either Marquez or Barrera. He had the style and boxing skills to win the fight as well as the necessary brawling capabilities and chin to withstand and beat Pac at his own game.

Marquez is kind of a sad story in a way in that he never got the attention of his two Mexican compatriots. He had the style and skill but not the same excitement level or proper management he needed to get the big fights and attention he deserved. I think he is finally getting his dues with the fights with Barrera and Pacquiao.

Ben41193: Barrera, Morales and Marquez are all of the same generation of fighters and in absolutely no way have they or this new generation of Mexican fighters perfected any style. Marquez comes from the Beristain stable and was modeled and took a lot from Ricardo Lopez...If you watch the two they have a very similar style but with Lopez' being the better of the two. More developed from an earlier time. If anything this new generation are not nearly as good as the slightly older generation of fighters. Check out the older guys like Olivares, Lopez, Sanchez etc. In no way is it possible these 'new' guys are better or have developed the style more to perfection.

I would struggle to put either Morales or Barrera ahead of each other but I would put them both just before Marquez. Either way, they are all great, great fighters and should be remembered for their entire careers and not a couple of fights toward the end.

A very good post. I agree on many accounts.

These fighters today could only hope to be as polished and, well, perfect as a Ricardo Lopez or Salvador Sanchez. Sanchez generally fought to the level of his opponent, but he always did what he had to do to best his man. Ricardo Lopez just had it all. Beautiful technique, power in both hands, speed, grace, heart, etc...

It's like some of these guys in this thread weren't paying attention when Morales and Barrera were making their way through the division. I was younger then, but Chavez was one of my favorites back then and I remember seeing and hearing about both men's rise to prominence as they were tearing through the lower weights. Barrera was seen as an absolute killer until Junior Jones derailed his ascent. Morales was also viewed by the boxing public as a freakish talent with heavy hands (the right in particular) and a knack for pleasing the crowd.

I still believe that Pacquiao would have beaten Marco as a featherweight at any point just based on styles alone, but that's not to say that Marco wouldn't have given a much better account of himself at a different time. I just think Pacquiao was all wrong for him with his speed, energy and activity.

Anyway, nice post, good insight.

[-Hyperion-]

barrera was never that great aside of 122.......he had great accomplishments in 126(not so much in 130) by beating naz and "beating" morales, but the boxing style so much people praise is so overrated...he was a better fighter when he was a slugger at 122....

in fact his best almost pure boxing display is always overlooked because he lost, and thats the second jones fight......he got robbed IMO....i mean he landed like 120 punhces more and was like 3 times more accurate......the HBO team was on Jones' nuts too damn much....


like i said before, i think morales never got to his full potential, he was an improving fighter when weight draining and the punishment of the barrera fight got to hima nd took his legs out, In Jin Chi is IMO the fight that took even more of what erik had left in his legs, but morales' skills developed just enough to give him 4 more years at the top of the sport...

[oldgringo]

MAB is better than Morales. He alway stood up and went on track after every lose. You rarely see a fighter lose like that and comes few fight later to become p4p best

mmmm if i remember correctly erik always came back after a loss too, he "lost" to barrera the second fight, then came back and became unified 130lb champion, he really lost to barrera the third fight, he cam back and whooped the guy who blitzed barrera...

he lost 3 in a row, he came back and went out on his shield against the #2 lightweight in the world and shouldve gotten the victory....

barrera lived off his 2nd win over morales for 2 years, till he fought a good fighter in marquez and got dominated....

Precisely. Erik always came back after his losses, which in the earlier part of his career, only consisted of losing to Marco. He was always more ambitious than Marco and consistently sought out harder fights.

After his first brutal fight against Barrera he moves up and takes on Kelley, Espadas and Chi within the next year and a half. After he loses to Marco for the first time in their second bout, he follows it with a rugged fight against Paulie Ayala...and soon after, a move up to 130. Then he responds by unifying the WBC and IBF titles against two very capable champions in Carlos Hernandez and Jesus Chavez.

After the second close Barrera loss, he responds by beating Pacquiao in an amazing fight when he could have retired.

Morales always came back. And that's not even factoring in the Diaz performance, where he showed us why he was such a great fighter and proud champion.

[big paulie]

[QUOTE=-Hyperion-;3019997]barrera was never that great aside of 122.......he had great accomplishments in 126(not so much in 130) by beating naz and "beating" morales, but the boxing style so much people praise is so overrated...he was a better fighter when he was a slugger at 122....

in fact his best almost pure boxing display is always overlooked because he lost, and thats the second jones fight......he got robbed IMO....i mean he landed like 120 punhces more and was like 3 times more accurate......the HBO team was on Jones' nuts too damn much....


barrera had as many if not more wars than erik and he still managed to have a long career, erik shouldnt have struggled to make 122lbs granted but most fighters boil down. as for barrera not being as good at 130 because at 122 he was more of a slugger, wtf? this is boxing not mma and barrera should be credited with being able to change up to a boxer and being pretty damn good at it

[big paulie]

barrera was never that great aside of 122.......he had great accomplishments in 126(not so much in 130) by beating naz and "beating" morales, but the boxing style so much people praise is so overrated...he was a better fighter when he was a slugger at 122....

in fact his best almost pure boxing display is always overlooked because he lost, and thats the second jones fight......he got robbed IMO....i mean he landed like 120 punhces more and was like 3 times more accurate......the HBO team was on Jones' nuts too damn much....


like i said before, i think morales never got to his full potential, he was an improving fighter when weight draining and the punishment of the barrera fight got to hima nd took his legs out, In Jin Chi is IMO the fight that took even more of what erik had left in his legs, but morales' skills developed just enough to give him 4 more years at the top of the sport...

bull**** about second jones fight, barreras best fight for pure boxing was v enrique sanchez (just before or after naz) it was a masterclass

[-Hyperion-]

barrera had as many if not more wars than erik and he still managed to have a long career, erik shouldnt have struggled to make 122lbs granted but most fighters boil down. as for barrera not being as good at 130 because at 122 he was more of a slugger, wtf? this is boxing not mma and barrera should be credited with being able to change up to a boxer and being pretty damn good at it

barrera didnt have more wars than erik, at least not two way action wars....

barrera's resume at 130 is poor, he has a victory over morales, then a weak 2 year reign, a loss to marquez and yet another loss to pacquiao...

and yeah when he was a slugger at 122 he was better, he wasnt as small as he was at 126 and 130, he had more power, he was more precise, he had good defense, he had more punch resistance, he was fatser.....it simply was his more natural weight, he performed better there, i never said he was better because he was a slugger, i said he was better when he slugged...

and yeah his later boxing style is overrated, the only time he beat a elite fighter when boxing above 122 was against Hamed....and Hamed couldnt even pressure...the other times he tried boxing against elite opponents he got beat: morales 2, marquez and pacquiao 2...

like i said the 2nd junior jones fight is the one time Barrera really boxed masterfully against an elite opponent...

[big paulie]

barrera didnt have more wars than erik, at least not two way action wars....

barrera's resume at 130 is poor, he has a victory over morales, then a weak 2 year reign, a loss to marquez and yet another loss to pacquiao...

and yeah when he was a slugger at 122 he was better, he wasnt as small as he was at 126 and 130, he had more power, he was more precise, he had good defense, he had more punch resistance, he was fatser.....it simply was his more natural weight, he performed better there, i never said he was better because he was a slugger, i said he was better when he slugged...

and yeah his later boxing style is overrated, the only time he beat a elite fighter when boxing above 122 was against Hamed....and Hamed couldnt even pressure...the other times he tried boxing against elite opponents he got beat: morales 2, marquez and pacquiao 2...

like i said the 2nd junior jones fight is the one time Barrera really boxed masterfully against an elite opponent...

then you havnt seen many barrera fights. barreras defence was better at 130 than at 122 and of course he was faster at 122? if he had remained a slugger he would have had a shorter career, possibly been caught by a hamed hayemaker etc

[-Hyperion-]

then you havnt seen many barrera fights. barreras defence was better at 130 than at 122 and of course he was faster at 122? if he had remained a slugger he would have had a shorter career, possibly been caught by a hamed hayemaker etc

so what, for that shorter period of time he wouldve been a better fighter....

i never said he shouldve slugged with hamed, he did well to box, but that was an easy fight style-wise for him....

well maybe he got punched less becauzse he wasnt inside as much, but barrera had great defense for a brawler, especially after the loss to junior, because he wasnt as confident on taking shots anymore....

[big paulie]

so what, for that shorter period of time he wouldve been a better fighter....

i never said he shouldve slugged with hamed, he did well to box, but that was an easy fight style-wise for him....

well maybe he got punched less becauzse he wasnt inside as much, but barrera had great defense for a brawler, especially after the loss to junior, because he wasnt as confident on taking shots anymore....

try and get hold of barrera v enrique sanchez, its a great fight. sanchez was a young former champion and no pushover