By James Slater: On a short U.K mini-tour of after dinner speaking gigs, living legend Marco Antonio Barrera had some interesting things to say to his enthralled Wolverhampton audience this past Saturday night. Looking a whole lot younger than his 38 years, a mop-topped “Baby Faced Assassin” said that while he feels there are a number of current world champions he could defeat at this stage in his life, he will only take “good money fights” if they are offered to him.
The future Hall of Famer, who last fought in February of 2011, scoring a 2nd-round stoppage over Jose Arias, said he has particular interest in a fourth fight with archrival and fellow Mexican great Erik Morales. All “El Terrible” has to do, the young-looking, beaming Barrera said, is send him an e-mail and the fourth fight could be on. This is certainly a fight that would prove attractive; especially in light of how good 35-year-old Morales, a current WBC champ, is looking at veteran stage.
But Barrera again said that the money would have to be right:
“I am waiting this year,” Marco told The Express and Star. “If there’s a good offer with good money then I will take it. I want good fights but, if it comes to the end of the year and there’s still nothing, I will hang up the gloves. I am still strong, and looking at the current situation with the champions , there are several of them that I could beat.”
Barrera last fought up at 140-pounds and that weight class is pretty much full of major belt-wearing talent right now. However, if the man who captured belts all the way from super-bantamweight to super-featherweight – facing great, great fighters such as Morales, Kennedy McKinney, Junior Jones, Naseem Hamed, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez along the way – were to drop back down to 135-pounds he’d maybe have a shot at winning another big fight.
But what does one of Mexico’s finest-ever fighters have left to prove? In great shape, mentally and physically, Barrera, 67-7(44) was at his absolute blinding peak around ten or twelve years ago. How much would Marco be able to roll back the years if he fought again this year after a year-and-a-half long layoff? Barrera’s last significant fight was the bloody loss he suffered at the hands of Britain’s Amir Khan; who was at the time coming back after his brutal stoppage loss at the hands of Breidis Prescott. Khan won that one via 5th-round TD, but Barrera, who still thinks about the fight, said on Saturday that the fans missed out on a great fight.
“I am still really sad, because the public did not get the see the fight that they all wanted to,” Barrera said of the 2009 loss. “ Many people don’t know, but I still have the pictures. There were more than 30 stitches in the cut, and it [the fight] should have been a no-contest.”
Barrera did add how he hopes Khan, who he feels is still developing, can go on to reach his full potential. Barrera, who knows a thing or two about fighting the absolute best, said Khan is not yet ready for either Mayweather or Pacquiao.
Many fans will likely disagree with Marco’s opinion that he could rule again today should he return, but not so many will disagree with his opinion on Khan not being ready for the two top P-4-P best on the planet.