By James Slater – 37-year-old living legend Marco Antonio Barrera scored an easy, 2nd-round TKO last night in his native Mexico, as he crushed overmatched Jose Arias of The Dominican Republic. Barrera scored a knockdown in each of the two rounds, getting the TKO win at 2-minutes and 29-seconds of the 2nd. Now sporting an amazing 67-7(44) pro record “The Baby Faced Assassin” hopes to go for a version of the lightweight title later this year.
It’s not clear where Arias, who fell to 15-2(9) will go from here..
So, first we look at the good news for Barrera: He scored his first legit stoppage win since November of 2008, and he scored it against a guy who had never previously been taken out. The bad news: Arias is a 43-year-old who holds just four wins over fighters who held a winning record when they stepped into the ring with him.
Looking at his win from all sides, there was nothing much we were able to learn from Barrera’s performance last night. Looking in reasonable physical condition at 140-pounds (the second highest weight of Barrera’s pro career), Marco showed us all he can still hit hard and accurately. However, this latest victory gives us no idea at all how Barrera would do against a Humberto Soto or any of the other reigning lightweight titlists.
As fans know, Barrera wishes to make boxing history by becoming the first man from his country to win world titles at four separate weight divisions. It will be interesting to see where Barrera goes from here; whether or not he opts to take another tune-up-type fight before going into his seemingly-inevitable title shot. The all-time great who holds wins over fellow greats like Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed and so many other standout fighters, will enter a fight with any of the 135-pound champs as a considerable underdog – but I’ll say this: Marco looks to have a little bit more left than does his countryman “El Terrible.”
Morales, of course, has the unenviable task of taking the “regular” WBA 140-pound title home with him by way of a win over the lethal-hitting Marcos Maidana on April 9th in Las Vegas. Fans may well feel Barrera has a better shot at becoming the first Mexican to grab that fourth title.
But wouldn’t it be something if both Mexican stars managed to become “world” champions all over again here in 2011!