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There's a tendency (I do it myself) to believe that "greatness" in a boxer relies upon the total mastery of the pugilistic essence: to hit and not be hit. Muhammad Ali over Joe Frazier. Sugar Ray over LaMotta.
But this seems a real tragedy, because while a lot of us are hyping up technically excellent boxers who aren't legitimisting those apparent talents by facing live opponents and building a career based on hand-picking and paper belts (there's one right now, and if you don't know the recent fighter to whom I'm referring then Y'all Must've Forgot) we have a genuine great amongst our midst: The Baby-Faced Amigo.
Admittedly, he's more of a Middle-Aged Faced Assassin these days, and the "too many miles on the Volkswagen Jetta clock" situation will surely see him unstuck if he tries to remove the Pacquaio blot on his record.
But for a single stoppage (TKO) loss on his record to "blight" his career is nonsense at this stage... Barrera has a 17-year career and has shown a healthy disregard for sanctioning bodies in the quest of always fighting the best competition.
From a middle-class background, the Amigo fights because he enjoys the challenge, and with his tally of fights rapidly approaching 70, he's a vastly experienced pro who commands respect. Though a fine boxer in his own right, boxers like Floyd of course look better from purely asthetic points of view. But it's ludicruous to allow asthetics to keep Barrera away from the extreme upper reaches of the mythological "P4P", even if his appearance there now looks in doubt as he enters his 33rd year - an old age for his weight class.
Barrera has shown that to be a "multi weight" champ you don't have to negotiate your way through the easiest challenges, or slavish hold onto your "0" by taking paper belts. While all the flash Harries of the boxing world have been nicking the headlines, this Amigo has been building his legacy on pure sweat. He's respected, sure, but still not enough. We need to **** off the paper champs and boxrec confidence tricksters and give this Senor our full respect... we'll miss him when he's gone.
But this seems a real tragedy, because while a lot of us are hyping up technically excellent boxers who aren't legitimisting those apparent talents by facing live opponents and building a career based on hand-picking and paper belts (there's one right now, and if you don't know the recent fighter to whom I'm referring then Y'all Must've Forgot) we have a genuine great amongst our midst: The Baby-Faced Amigo.
Admittedly, he's more of a Middle-Aged Faced Assassin these days, and the "too many miles on the Volkswagen Jetta clock" situation will surely see him unstuck if he tries to remove the Pacquaio blot on his record.
But for a single stoppage (TKO) loss on his record to "blight" his career is nonsense at this stage... Barrera has a 17-year career and has shown a healthy disregard for sanctioning bodies in the quest of always fighting the best competition.
From a middle-class background, the Amigo fights because he enjoys the challenge, and with his tally of fights rapidly approaching 70, he's a vastly experienced pro who commands respect. Though a fine boxer in his own right, boxers like Floyd of course look better from purely asthetic points of view. But it's ludicruous to allow asthetics to keep Barrera away from the extreme upper reaches of the mythological "P4P", even if his appearance there now looks in doubt as he enters his 33rd year - an old age for his weight class.
Barrera has shown that to be a "multi weight" champ you don't have to negotiate your way through the easiest challenges, or slavish hold onto your "0" by taking paper belts. While all the flash Harries of the boxing world have been nicking the headlines, this Amigo has been building his legacy on pure sweat. He's respected, sure, but still not enough. We need to **** off the paper champs and boxrec confidence tricksters and give this Senor our full respect... we'll miss him when he's gone.
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