Fearless: Marco Antonio Barrera & Juan Manuel Marquez

Juan Manuel Marquez16.02.07 – By Geoffrey Ciani: On March 17, WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera will attempt to make his fifth title defense when he squares off against Juan Manuel Marquez. The bout, which takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one that probably should have happened several years back, but for various reasons, it never came to fruition. Well, you know what they say: Better late than never!

Although their careers having taken vastly different paths, both of these Mexican fighters have been amongst boxing’s elite for over ten years. Barrera is a huge star who’s been a major attraction in the sport throughout most of his career, having fought many high profile fights, most notably, his sensational trilogy with fellow countryman, Erik Morales. On the other hand, despite his immense talent, Marquez has spent most of his career under the radar as an unknown commodity; he never had the type of high-profile fights that helped define Barrera’s greatness.

Each of these men is now 33 years old, which is practically ancient for this weight class. Despite their advanced age, both pugilists are still two of the most formidable and talented in the sport today. This fight has the potential to become an instant classic, in what will most likely be a tactical battle with lots of exciting exchanges.

Earlier in his career, Barrera was largely known as a brawler. With tremendous heart and determination, he was willing to mix it up with some of the best names this weight range has seen over the past fifteen-plus years. Over time, Barrera successfully made the transition from brawler to boxer. This was an amazing feat, and few (if any) have ever made this transition as smoothly and effectively as Barrera. We first bore witness to this when Barrera scored a major upset over Naseem Hamed. In that bout, Barrera baffled Hamed with the simplest of strategies and did so masterfully, having dominated the man who was once perceived as an invincible force.

In contrast, Marquez has always been a tactical fighter who utilized slick defensive skills and awesome counter-punching abilities. His style was never as exciting as Barrera’s, and this is probably why he never achieved the high-profile status shared by his fellow countrymen, Barrera and Morales. As such, Marquez was stuck on the outside looking in for much of his career, having been unable to secure a big bout to help raise his stock. In recent fights, Marquez has been making adjustments to become more of a crowd-pleaser. He’s become more aggressive and seems more apt to go for the knockout then he was in his younger years. Whereas Barrera successfully made the transition from brawler to boxer, it appears, now, that Marquez is attempting to do the opposite.

What makes this bout most interesting is the fact that each of these men share a spectacular common opponent, having both faced menacing pound-for-pound talent, Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is a sensational young fighter who possesses freakish power which was put on display in his contests with Barrera and Marquez. Pacquiao dominated Barrera back in late 2003, and ultimately stopped him inside the distance. Against Marquez, Pacquiao scored three knockdowns in the first round. For Marquez, this was his first high-profile fight, and after the disastrous first round, Marquez turned things around and out-boxed Pacquiao for most of the remainder of the bout. In the end, the bout was scored a draw, although, it probably should have been awarded to Pacquiao, for one judge erroneously scored the first round 10-7 in favor of Pacquiao when it should have been scored 10-6.

Logic dictates that the winner of this bout will go on to have a rematch with Pacquiao. Any other course of action following this fight wouldn’t make any sense. If Barrera’s victorious, he has a chance to avenge his loss against the mighty Pacquiao. Barrera is an outstanding technician who’s great when it comes to making adjustments. Furthermore, since his loss to Pacquiao, a blueprint of sorts has been written on how to go about beating him. If anyone is capable of making the necessary adjustments a second time around, no doubt, that person is Marco Antonion Barrera. If Marquez wins, he has a chance to be better prepared in the early-going. Once Marquez settled down after surviving that first round slaughter, he dictated the fight against Pacquiao, and there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t do it again—without the three knockdowns.

Golden Boy Promotions handles both fighters, and has called this fight “Fearless” which is rather fitting. Indeed, both pugilists have exhibited ‘fearless’ attitudes throughout their respective careers. That they are both willing to square off helps illustrate this fact, especially when one considers the winner will likely take on the daunting challenge known as Manny Pacquiao.

This should be a helluva fight!

To contact Ciani:

geoff@eatthemushroom.com

To read more by Ciani, please visit The Mushroom Mag, home of Seeking Madam Mushroom:

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