by James Slater – Last night, in Jalisco, Mexico, ring legend Marco Antonio Barrera won his tune-up fight against late replacement opponent Freudis Rojas, but he also picked up a bad cut that could possibly affect the 35-year-old’s planned March 14th bout in England against Amir Khan.
33-year-old Rojas of Cuba, a very late, emergency-like replacement for original foe John Nolasco – who failed to appear at the bout’s official weigh-in – was a fighter Barrera had never even heard of before the bout. After getting rid of a little more of the ring rust his thirteen month layoff had put on him, Barrera was the victim of a blatant and deliberate head butt by Rojas in the 3rd round.. The foul immediately prompted the referee to call a halt to the proceedings and DQ the late sub, and it left the former multi-weight world champion with a nasty gash over his left eye.
According to reports, one of which is on FightNews.com, the cut could make Barrera’s March 14th date with Amir Khan one he will not be able to now make. The cut will take a number of weeks to heal, and obviously, this could affect Marco’s ability to train and to spar. Thus far, no announcement has been made by any member of the Barrera camp, and maybe this writer and others are guilty of making a mountain out of a mole hill. It may be that the March fight, still six weeks away as it is, will indeed go ahead as planned.
However, until such time as this is confirmed, it’s likely to be a nervous time for both Khan and his promoter Frank Warren – both of whom absolutely want the fight to go ahead unhindered and as planned. Over the course of boxing history, accidental injuries such as cuts have forced the delay of many a fight, but due to the quite blatant way in which the now 1-8-1(1) Rojas rammed his head into that of Barrera there is likely to be much anger being felt right now.
Will six weeks be enough time for the cut to heal and for Barrera to get in the sufficient sparring while it does mend? Only time will tell, but it’s sure to be a pretty agonising time for the two fighters, the promoter of the bout, and all those who have bought their tickets and made the necessary travel arrangements.
Freudis Rojas entered last night’s bout as a completely anonymous figure, he may well have earned himself a footnote in boxing history, however.
For the record, Barrera improved to 65-6(43).