A while back, Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera fought countryman Jesus Soto Karras in an exhibition, and the 47 year old great looked pretty good it must be said. Now, reports are saying there will soon be a press conference to announce Barrera’s official ring return. Barrera is set to face fellow former champ, Daniel Ponce De Leon, in a six-rounder at welterweight in Albuquerque on November 20th.
Also set to feature on the card is heavyweight contender Johnathon Rice, who is of course coming off that upset stoppage win of the previously unbeaten Michael Coffie. So far, Rice 14-6-1(10) has no opponent listed. It will, though, be the Barrera-De Leon fight that gets the most attention. Barrera, an incredible 67-7(44) has kept himself in shape since having what was felt at the time to be his final fight – this his 2011 KO win over Jose Arias. There was talk (and maybe still is) if an exhibition bout between Barrera and his one-time fierce rival Erik Morales, but for now Barrera is focusing on De Leon.
De Leon, 45-7(35) is 41 years of age and he last fought in 2014, when he was stopped by Miguel Roman in a super-featherweight encounter. Welterweight does seem to be a step far too high for the former WBO super-bantamweight champion. Who knows what De Leon has been doing since that last fight, if he has kept himself in good shape the way Barrera has done?
Like Barrera, De Leon thrilled us with his great fights back in the day, even if De Leon never quite reached the heights Marco did. For six rounds (or less), these two former kings of the ring just might give us a good fight. Let’s face it, these type of fights, so popular in certain quarters, lambasted in others, are not going anyway any time soon.
Let’s hope we do not see another farce similar to the one that went down in Miami, Florida on Saturday night. As Evander Holyfield proved, looking physically great is no indication that a veteran fighter can still do it.
Naz Vs Barrera 2
Naz Vs Barrera 2