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View From The Tube: Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Rocky Juarez II PPV |
Barrera Erases Any Doubt, Wins Wide Decision
Vasquez Jumps Off Canvas Twice In Route to Come From Behind Victory
Guzman Beats Barrios in Barnburner
By ROBERT JONES
- FightNightNews Starr Writer
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Not that anything about boxing is easy, but it was pretty apparent that Marco Antonio Barrera (63-4 42
KO's) had a whole lot less trouble beating Rocky Juarez (25-3 18
KO's) the second time around.
It wasn't as thrilling as their "Fight of the
Year" candidate just three months ago, but Barrera did what he had to do to win the fight, this time clearly. |
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Barrera, the defending WBC featherweight champion, got off to the same start he did in the first fight, controlling the center of the ring and throwing a jab, that would quickly begin to swell the right eye of Juarez.
A lot of experts in the boxing media suggested that Juarez would get off to a quicker start this time a round. It was believed that Juarez, who is a notoriously slow starter, would be able to capitalize on the success he had in the second half of there first encounter.
Barrera continued to throw his jab in the face of Juarez, who was just looking to land one punch. While he was waiting to land that punch, Barrera landed an uppercut, and later in the round, a perfect one, two, right down the middle
Juarez slightly picked up the action in the third. With Barrera on the ropes, Juarez attacked his body with a four punch combination. Juarez threw a few hooks, with the left and right hands, but nothing landed solidly. Still, it seemed that Juarez was in the fight.
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That would be a wrong assumption however, as it seemed Juarez would take almost the rest of the fight off from this point on. Rounds four, five, and six were more of the same thing, jabs by Barrera, as Juarez refused to throw more than one punch at a time. Halfway through the fight I had Barrera pitching a shutout with one round close.
In rounds seven and eight, Juarez landed a combined 18 punches, not nearly enough to even steal a round. Meanwhile, Barrera continued to box beautifully, leading unofficial judge Harold Lederman to say,
"This is the definition of ring
generalship." |
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The action got a little sloppy in round nine as both fighters got tangled in each
others' arms. Announcer Jim Lampley began to marvel about the path
Barrera's career had taken him, from an all out Mexican warrior to a brilliant boxer. He even said Barrera is fighting a
"Bernard Hopkins type fight."
The final three rounds were more of the same, as the crowd, 90 percent of them Barrera fans, began to grow restless. It
wasn't Barrera's fault, though, and he was doing everything he needed to do to win. In the final round you expected Juarez to come out guns blazing, but it was just more of the same plodding around looking to land one shot, but never throwing more than one shot at a time.
The judges' scorecards were much closer than anticipated, but no errors in scoring would be revealed tonight. The scored were 117-111 and 115-113 twice. From the view from the tube, I scored the bout 119-111.
In the middle of the fight Lampley said,
"Barrera's holy grail is a rematch with Manny Pacquiao." Barrera, speaking English, first said,
"I'll fight whoever my boss (Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions) puts me in
with." However, when Larry Merchant brought up a Pacquiao rematch,
Barrera's eyes brightened and he said,
"That's my best fight out
there," meaning he would love that fight.
Barrera once again stated that he would say
"bye-bye" to boxing after next year. He gave the reason that his son wants to spend more time with his father.
Juarez was predictably disappointed after the fight, but it seemed to be more directed at Barrera than himself,
"He didn't come to fight, I tried to convince him to fight me, but he
wouldn't." Juarez then went on to praise
Barrera's ring skills, saying,
"He kept a good jab out
there."
Israel Vasquez (41-3 34 KO's) proves once again that a boxing match
isn't over until the fat lady sings, or in the case of boxing, until Michael Buffer announces the outcome.
Jhonny Gonzales (33-5 28 KO's) got off to a great start in the championship fight for Vasquez's WBC super bantamweight title. His long jab constantly found its mark on Vasquez throughout the first round. Vasquez's one spot of the opening round came when a right hook landed on the nose of Gonzalez. Gonzalez's nose would immediately start to bleed and it wouldn't stop throughout the fight.
It was more of the same in round two. Gonzales was still landing his jab at will, but now was starting to hook off the jab, and follow that with a right hand.
The combatants traded right hands in the center of the ring to start the third. Gonzales would quickly go back to his bread and butter though, the jab. Around this point
Vasquez's eye starting swelling up bad.
Vasquez would go down in the fourth after a left hook landed off the top of his head. Vasquez, who landed on his rear, would rise after a couple of seconds looking dejected. Gonzales, testing
Vasquez's recuperative powers, immediately went after him, but he was greeted with a big right hand. After that he went back to his jab for the rest of the round. It seemed that the championship was well at hand for Gonzales.
Vasquez's eye was now black and blue and it
wasn't getting any better because the jab continued to be shot into it. It seemed that Gonzalez might have been getting just the slightest bit tired, as
Vasquez's shots seemed to be getting closer and closer to landing as round six came to an end.
Gonzalez landed another left hook near the end of the seventh that sounded like an explosion had gone off in the arena. This once again dropped Vasquez on to his rump, but this time he landed harder and looked more hurt. Luckily for Vasquez it was near the end of the round, so he had a minute to recover.
The recovery period must have done him well because out of nowhere he landed a straight right hand that dropped Gonzalez. It seemed like just a minor glitch on the path to the title though because Gonzales got right back up and went right back to the jab in the final two minutes of the round.
Gonzalez went down in round eight from what appeared to be a body shot, but referee Kenny Bayless ruled it a push. Vasquez now looked like the fresher fighter and was throwing punches with a renewed vigor. Vasquez would land a left hook and a right hand to punctuate the round.
Gonzalez would bounce back in the ninth round by landing left hooks on top of his jab. Even though he appeared to be getting tired, he still seemed like if he could end the fight on his feet, he would be the new champion. Unfortunately for him, his corner thought differently.
A low blow to start the 10th caused Vasquez to bend over in pain. No point was taken, but a stern warning was given to Gonzalez. The warning Gonzalez could have used instead was for the punches Vasquez was about to land on him. With a minute left in the round Vasquez landed a massive left hook, followed by a right hand, and once again Gonzales went down. He got up to his knee and waiting for the count to get to eight before he got up. In the meantime
Gonzalez's trainer, Oscar Suarez, was waving the white towel, indicating he wanted the fight stopped. Just like that, Vasquez had come out of nowhere to retain his title.
In the aftermath of the fight it was told that
Gonzalez's father, as well as his
son's trainer all the way up until this fight,
didn't want the fight stopped and was mad at Suarez. Gonzalez
didn't put up much of a protest. It appeared that when he rose from the knockdown he was okay to continue. Gonzalez was indeed tiring and he could have very well been hurt again if he would have continued with the rest of the fight. It was a questionable stoppage, but one can see where the trainer was coming from, wanting to protect his fighter from further damage.
The first world title fight of the evening was a little bit tainted with the vacating of the championship because Jorge Barrios could not make the 130-pound weight. But, by the end of this fight, that small fact was far away from the minds of the fans.
Joan Guzman was moving up to the 130 pound division for the first time in hopes to capture the WBO junior lightweight championships. Most of
Guzman's previous fights have been at the super bantamweight level.
Guzman came out blazing in the opening seconds of the first round, showing his rapid fire speed, while delivering a left hook followed by a right hand that slightly wobbled Barrios, who already was bleeding from the nose. Barrios landed enough punches to cause a small knick over the left eye of Guzman. One round in, both fighters were bleeding, and this had
"a good fight" written all over it.
Both fighters traded punches as round two began, but it was
Guzman's left hook that was doing most of the landing. Barrios began having a little success going to the body but referee Vic Drakulich thought some of the shots were a little low, so he gave him a warning. Upon review of the end of the round replay, it appeared that the shots were indeed legal. Merchant said that Drakulich has a tendency to
"over officiate" in big fights.
Barrios was the aggressor for the first part of the third round. He would chase Guzman around the ring with Guzman occasionally throwing counter shots and looking for his left hook. This round was probably the slowest round of the fight.
Guzman yelled at Barrios at the beginning of round four in an effort to try to get Barrios to duke it out with him. Always the good sport, Barrios obliged by running in and trying to get off a few shots. Barrios closed the round with solid bodywork to Guzman along the ropes. Guzman would spend round five trying to walk down Barrios, just looking for his left hook.
In the best exchange of the fight Drakulich stepped in and took a point away from Barrios. Before the questionable point deduction, both fighters were swapping blows to the head and body, as the crowd rose to its feet. The point deduction caused Merchant to boo Drakulich,
"That is a terrible call." As round six came to an end, Guzman landed a right hand that slightly staggered Barrios, but it was more from being off balance than being from really being hurt.
Halfway through the fight it appeared Guzman was up on the scorecards, especially since Barrios had been deducted a point. He continued to widen his lead in the seventh. As Barrios lunged to
Guzman's body, hoping to land a shot, Guzman landed a big left hook. By the end of the round
Barrios' face was beginning to look like some kind of distorted rainbow, colors ranging from black, blue, and red.
Rounds eight and nine provided interesting action. With Guzman on the ropes, Barrios fired to the body. However, Barrios would not cover up at all, so Guzman would land punch after punch on
Barrios' head, which would just bounce off, as if he was the Tin Man. I thought the fighters split these rounds on the scorecards.
It was around this point that Guzman started slowing down a little bit. It
didn't appear he was tired, rather it just seemed like he was trying to land big shots. Barrios was always coming forward and when he needed to, Guzman threw counterpunches, usually successfully, to ward off the attack. These were hard rounds to judge because Barrios was the more active, but Guzman was way more accurate.
As the championship rounds began, you would think from the commentary team that this fight was out of reach for Barrios, but this was hardly the case.
Guzman's periods of inactivity were hurting him. Guzman no doubt had the better boxing ability and hand speed advantage, but Barrios was the more aggressive fighter always coming forward.
Guzman landed left hook after left hook off the head of Barrios as round 11 began. Barrios continued to try to weather the storm by going
Guzman's body. At the end of the round, back to the ropes, Guzman threw a left hook counter that almost dropped Barrios. Overall this was probably the best round of night.
Both fighters hugged in the center of ring as the final starting bell sounded in what is going to be a Fight of the Year contender. Barrios continued coming forward in an unrelenting manner. Guzman even took a brief break in action to take a look at how much time was left in the round with less than a minute to go. Both fighters ended this fight the only way it should be concluded with hard power punches. As the final bell sounded, the crowd cheered for the effort of both fighters.
If you had been following the unofficial scorecard, you probably believed that this fight was a whitewash in
Guzman's favor. But my final scorecard, as well as the official scorecards, was a lot closer. I scored the fight 114-113 for Guzman. Judge Bill Graham agreed with my card, while Carol Castellano gave it to Barrios, 114-113. The deciding judge, William Cerch, scored it 115-112 for the winner and new WBO junior lightweight champion, Joan Guzman. His record improves to a perfect 26-0 with 17
KO's, while Jorge Barrios drops to 46-3-1 33
KO's.
Jorge Paez Jr. (11-0, 7 KO's) escaped his hardest fight up until this point of his young career. Derrick Campos (6-3, 5
KO's) rocked Paez with a left hook just seconds into the four round affair. Paez recovered, using the ring and his boxing skills to get back into the round. Still, due to damage caused by the initial punch, Campos should have been given this round.
Paez came back with a renewed vigor in the second round, knocking down Campos with a combination of a right hand left hook, halfway through the round. Campos would rise quickly and land a left hook of his own that sent Paez stumbling backward.
Round three was a close round because both fighters were fairly inactive. Paez tried to stay away this round, perhaps trying to recover from the end of the previous round. Campos did even less, though, giving the round to Paez.
Paez, fighting for the second time in a month, controlled the action for the first 2:45 of the fourth and final round, until Campos landed a left hook that deposited Paez onto the canvas. If there had been more time left on the clock referee Jay Nady may have stopped the fight because Paez was on very shaky legs when he rose. Nevertheless, the bell rang and the 18-year-old Paez had just survived his toughest test to date.
From the TV, I scored the fight 37-37, but judges Robert Hoyle and Jerry Roth gave it to Paez, 38-36, while Dalby Shirley scored the same as I did. Campos goes back to Topeka, Kansas with a great story about how he almost knocked out highly touted prospect Jorge Paez Jr.
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