Doghouse Boxing Breaks Down Barrera vs Marquez
 By Juan Zurita (March 17, 2007) Doghouse Boxing
In a matchup that should’ve happened many years ago, the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera will battle fellow Mexico City native, top ten pound-for-pounder, Juan Manuel Marquez. Both will be fighting for the pride of their homelands, but for personal gratification as well. For Barrera, a victory would mean another defense of his WBC Super Featherweight strap and the opportunity to add another top name to his resume and further enhance his Hall of Fame legacy. For Marquez, this fight provides one last chance to notch a victory over a marquee name that could ensure his own place in Canastota.
Boxing experts and fans are very much split as to who will rise as the victor in the end. Many favor Barrera’s overall experience to prevail while others predict that Marquez’s fresher body and underrated boxing skills will help him to come out on top. For many, this is definitely one of the hardest fights to predict in years, because they are so many different factors to consider.
Profiling the Combatants
Marco Antonio Barrera – The current WBC Super Featherweight Champion, Marco Antonio Barrera really needs no introduction. The legendary, three-division Mexican Champion, has been blazing a storm through the 122-130 weight classes since the mid 90’s. For Barrera, it all began at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, CA, where he quickly rose as a fan favorite with his aggressive, rock em’ sock em’, seek and destroy style. With the fall of the great Julio Cesar Chavez, Mexican boxing fans looked to Barrera to fill their void and for many years that’s what he did. His nagging pressure style coupled with the patented Mexican left hook to the liver left boxing fans always yearning to see more of him with each successful outing.
On the way up towards prominence, he notched impressive victories over the likes of Daniel Jimenez, Frankie Toledo, and Agapito Sanchez before locking horns with Kennedy McKinney on HBO’s first installment of its HBO Boxing After Dark series. The bout proved to be his coming out party as he and McKinney would wage war for eleven closely contested rounds before Barrera finally broke him down in the twelfth and final stanza. With the victory, Barrera’s stock rose greatly and he seemed to be on top of the world until he crossed paths with American spoiler, Junior Jones.
In his first bout with Jones, Barrera ran into the unexpected when he was put down by a perfectly timed hook. Jones poured it on as the last seconds of the fourth round waned, before Barrera’s cornerman jumped into the ring to save him. Instead of awarding Jones a knockout victory, Jones was awarded a disqualification victory due to the cornerman incident. The rematch proved to be much different as the two played chess for twelve rounds, but again Jones came out on top this time earning a unanimous decision victory.
After the Jones setback, Barrera contemplated retirement, but something inside him urged him to go on and make another run at it. Barrera would then string six victories in a row before tangling with bitter rival, pound-for-pounder, Tijuana’s son, Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales. Barrera entered the bout as the clear underdog, but the contest proved to be one for the ages. In fact it was voted the 2000 Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine. Barrera lost the official decision, but most felt he deserved to win. With that showing, he proved that he was back and that he should never be underestimated again.
In 2001, Barrera faced off against another one of the world’s top pound-for-pounders, in Britain’s brash, Naseem Hamed. Again, he entered the bout as the clear underdog, but again proved all of his critics wrong by putting together an unexpected display of boxing wizardry. Barrera shocked the boxing world by utilizing a master game plan where he used movement, a well-timed jab, and controlled aggressiveness to dismantle Hamed. The performance was so vintage that it literally sent Hamed into retirement.
With that victory, Barrera further climbed up the pound-for-pound ranks and reaffirmed that he was something special. From 2001-2003, he continued to raise his stock by avenging his earlier defeat to Morales, and notching victories over former champions, Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley.
Once again when he seemed to be on top of the world, another one of his pound-for-pound quality streaks was spoiled, this time by the Filipino buzzsaw, Manny Pacquiao, via a shocking eleventh round TKO. However, not one to call it quits, he again jumped back on the comeback trail and has been on another streak since. During that time frame he has defeated Paulie Ayala, secured a second victory over Morales to win their historic series, and he tamed Rocky Juarez twice.
Barrera has already stated he’s but one or two bouts away from riding off into the sunset, so the Marquez bout is of extreme important for him. His legacy may already be in tact and his place in Canastota reserved, but how fitting would it be to add yet another quality name to his ledger and end his career on a high note? Barrera wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
Juan Manuel Marquez – The challenger, Juan Manuel Marquez, became known to West Coast boxing fans in the mid to late 90s as a staple of Forum Boxing shows in Los Angeles, CA. Like Barrera, it all began at the Great Western Forum, where the hard-punching Mexico City native, consistently impressed with his smooth, technical, dissecting, counter-punching style, and quickly built up a solid fan base led by Fox Sports Boxing Analyst, Rich Marotta, who lauded him as the future Featherweight Champion of the World. He quickly climbed his way up the rankings with wins over Julian Wheeler, Darryl Pickney, and Agapito Sanchez, until he finally became the WBO Featherweight #1 contender. Soon, he became known as the fighter Naseem Hamed shamelessly ducked for 22 months. Tired of waiting for a crack at The Prince, Marquez moved on and challenged another fighter no one was eager to face, WBA Featherweight Champ, tricky, slick, southpaw, Freddie Norwood. In his HBO debut, Marquez dropped a disputed decision, but failed to impress in the process.
With none of the top names itching to get into the ring with him, Marquez continued to rack up win after win against 2nd and 3rd rate opponents. Finally, four years after challenging Norwood, Marquez earned another crack at a world title and stopped five-time champion (if you count the WBO), Manuel Medina, in seven rounds using pin-point body/head combinations highlighted by vicious uppercuts. With his new IBF Featherweight strap firmly wrapped around his waist, he then targeted WBA Featherweight Champion, Derrick Gainer. The unification match looked more like a track meet than a battle between two world class fighters as Gainer refused to engage. Apparently, in the first couple of rounds, Marquez’s hard body shots convinced Gainer to surrender his belt without complaint. Although he would’ve preferred to unify the featherweight titles in a more exciting fashion, Marquez took what he could get, and thus became the unified IBF/WBA Featherweight Champion.
On May 8, 2004, Marquez landed the first real marquee matchup of his career, against Filipino buzzsaw, Manny Pacquiao. Things started rough from the outset for Marquez as he was dropped three times in the first round, and was on the verge of grave disappointment. However, showing a ton of mettle and resolve, Marquez proceeded to correct the mistakes committed in the first round, by regaining his composure and proceeding to neutralize the Filipino warrior’s attack for the remainder of the fight. When it was all said and done, Marquez had clearly outboxed Pacquiao for the rest of the fight to earn a hard fought draw. Many even felt he had done enough to win the fight. Nevertheless, after the fight, it was now apparent to the boxing world that Marquez’s name did belong alongside the elite featherweights of his era.
Sadly, instead of using the momentum gained from the Pacquiao fight, Marquez and his manager/trainer Nacho Beristain, turned down a career high payday of $750,000 to face Pacquiao in an immediate rematch. Instead Marquez would travel to Indonesia to reclaim his WBA Featherweight strap for a measly $30,000 against unknown, Chris John. That decision would haunt him as he would go on to lose a highly controversial decision and come home with the reality of having to go back to the drawing board at 32 years of age, an age when most featherweights are planning their retirement.
As his career winds down, he senses the urgency, and this is quite evident due to the fact that in his last several fights Marquez has decided to employ a more aggressive style. And while it has resulted in him scoring some solid knockouts over Terdsak Jandaeng and Jimrex Jaca, he was unexpectedly bruised up in both bouts. Marquez has one final opportunity to show the boxing world that he’s more than just an above average fighter, perhaps a great fighter. A win over Barrera would erase the stigma of “underachiever” and will finally gain him the recognition he’s long coveted.
Big Fight Break Down
Boxing Skills – This is where there the great debate lies. Both fighters are excellent boxers, calculating technicians, but who has the edge? The feeling here is that Marquez slightly has the edge since he naturally does what Barrera has really only been doing since his 2001 bout with Naseem Hamed. Both are counter-punches by nature, but Marquez appears to be the more fluid boxer of the two.
Edge – Marquez
Power – Marquez is naturally the bigger man and boasts a better KO percentage of 70% to Barrera’s 61%. Marquez also boasts a wider variety of power shots which consist of the left hook and slashing uppercuts.
Edge – Marquez
Defense – When both are in counter-punching mode, their defense is pretty solid, and when both step up their intensity, they’re often open to clean head shots.
Edge – Even
Speed – At 33 years of age, both have obviously seen their best days. However, at this point it appears that Marquez is the fresher of the two and his handspeed appears to be a bit better as is evidenced when comparing their most recent bouts.
Edge – Marquez
Chin – Both have been hurt in bouts, but Marquez has actually never been stopped while Barrera should have two TKO losses on his record, not just one. Still, Barrera has shown a steady beard against plenty of power punchers and seems to have only been stopped when he overlooked an opponent.
Edge – Even
Stamina – Barrera has always had great stamina, but in his third bout with Morales and in his first bout with Rocky Juarez, he appeared listless towards the home stretch. Marquez doesn’t have the stamina that he once had in his mid to late 20s, but he’s yet to show any signs of having stamina problems late in bouts.
Edge – Marquez
Heart – Marquez displayed the heart of a true champion in his bout against Pacquiao and in his two most recent bouts. Barrera has been showing tremendous heart since his battle with Kennedy McKinney and has always exemplified the heart of a Mexican warrior.
Edge – Even
Experience – Marquez has fought 50 fights since 1993 while Barrera has fought 68 times since 1989. Further, Barrera has the more well established resume against some of the biggest names in the lower weigh classes over the past decade.
Edge – Barrera
Keys To The Fight
Marco Antonio Barrera
- Utilize Plan A. Use the first several rounds to gauge whether you have the ability to outbox Marquez. If it works, stick with it.
- Utilize Plan B. If after several rounds, you realize that Marquez has your “boxing” number, step up the intensity and make a fight out of it. Marquez has shown a recent willingness to mix it up, so if his last two C level opponents were able to land and bust him up in the process, imagine what you have the potential to do to him.
- Fight smart and pace yourself. If you’re going to be the aggressor, pace yourself so you don’t run out of steam late, and allow Marquez the opportunity to sweep the championship rounds.
Juan Manuel Marquez
- Use the skills that got you here. Barrera seems to believe he’s a master boxer, therefore, show him who has the better all around tools.
- Don’t be as aggressive as you’ve been in your last several fights because Barrera is an experienced veteran that will surely make you pay. Be patient in counter-puncher mode and let Barrera come to you. This will allow you to better capitalize on his mistakes.
- If Barrera opts to brawl rather than box and he’s having success, dig deep and pull out your full arsenal of punches to get the job done each time he advances in for the attack.
Prediction
This fight is too close to call. Will it be the counter-punching borefest that most predict? Will Barrera attack as promised and will Marquez revert to his patient counter-punching style or assume the aggressive style he’s utilized over his last several bouts?
Unlike what most think, this bout has the ingredients to become a Fight of the Year type affair. And that’s what will most likely transpire.
Both fighters will use the first several rounds to feel each other out, and after Barrera realizes that he’s up against a boxer with a high degree of boxing skill he’s never been up against before, he will employ Plan B and begin taking the fight to Marquez. Marquez will tame him in the early rounds by using his edge in handspeed and slightly better counter-punching skills to win the first half of the fight. In the mid-rounds the tone of the bout will change as Barrera begins to find success on the inside by roughing Marquez up whilst digging hard shots to his midsection. The last half of the fight will find a tiring Barrera attempting to make one helluva last stand, but Marquez will have more left in the tank and will end up edging Barrera by the closest of margins to win a grueling, convincing, well-deserved decision.
Marquez via split decision.
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