Barrera pushed to the limit by Juarez in Split-Decision Victory
Chris Robinson, BRC (May 22, 2006)
Photo © German Villasenor
On Saturday night the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Rocky Juarez engaged in a high-energy affair, resulting in split decision for the three-time champion. The fight featured plenty of action with Barrera taking the lead early and Juarez coming on strong down the stretch. Barrera hangs on to his WBC Jr. Lightweight belt and moves to 62-4 with 42 knockouts while Juarez now stands at 25-2 with 18 stoppages.

Juarez pressed from the outset, keeping a tight guard as he stalked his older and more experienced foe. Barrera stayed disciplined in a boxing style and looked to lead with his jab. The early rounds were competitive but Barrera appeared to edge the first two. Juarez had more success in the third and cracked Barrera right on the button with a left hook towards the end of the stanza, resulting in a near knockdown as Barrera was staggered.

As the middle rounds approached Barrera stepped up his energy level and began working Juarez’ body with much success. Juarez was cut, his face began to swell, and the champion distanced himself from his challenger on the scorecards. It was vintage Barrera, as he boxed beautifully and stayed ferocious on the inside but Juarez wasn’t planning on going quietly.

Barrera had the lead going into the 9th but Juarez pressed forward and appeared to edge the round, leaving the stage set for a highly entertaining ending to the fight. In rounds 10 and 11 Barrera appeared to be tiring and Juarez looked like the stronger fighter. Juarez stood chest to chest, thrashed the champion with uppercuts, and left hooks to the body. Barrera stood his ground but it was obvious that the tide was in the younger fighter’s favor.

In the final round both men finished strong as Barrera once again dug deep to hold off Juarez. When the final bell rang I had the sense that Barrera had still come out on top despite being bloodied and pushed farther than he has in a long time. Judge Duane Ford scored the bout 115-113 for Juarez, Anek Hongtongkam had Barrera ahead 115-113, and Ken Morita saw Barrera up by a razor thin margin of 115-114. Afterwards Barrera seemed to feel the judges' verdict was fair, however Juarez felt he had done enough to pull out the victory and was open towards a rematch.

Coming into Saturday’s contest, many felt that this was a low reward, high-risk fight for Barrera and he had to muster everything he could to hold Juarez off. Barrera appeared weary down the stretch of the fight and his face showed the effects. For his part, Juarez showed great patience in stalking the champion and walked through fire to score his punches. Both men ate a lot of leather and much of the action was fought in close with both fighters trading fierce exchanges.

This verdict doesn’t do anything to elevate Barrera’s career at this point but if he plays his cards right he could still have a chance to ride off into the sunset with one last big fight. Marco has been in more wars than we can count and at 32 years old, it does look like the curtains will soon be closing on his illustrious career. He wasn’t at his best Saturday but he fought like a champion and is still a very dangerous foe for anyone in his weight class.

This was a great night for Juarez, who raises his stock despite not scoring the win. Humberto Soto upset him nine months ago in a hard twelve rounder and some questioned his worth after that fight. Saturday he showed great grit and he was able to keep his cool as he challenged one of the sport’s finest champions over the past ten years. With this performance, Rocky’s career has come full circle in a sense and at 26 years of age, we can expect to be seeing much more of him in the future.

(Writer’s note: On the HBO telecast the original verdict was announced as a draw, as Judge Ken Morita has the fight even at 114-114. However, roughly an hour after the telecast, Jim Lampley came on with breaking news that Morita’s card had been tabulated incorrectly, thus resulting in a 115-114 score and a split decision victory for Barrera. Regardless of the judges’ call, this close fight could have gone either way.)


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