Larry Merchant said it best when he described the Marquez-Barrera bout as being transported back to the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium in the 70s…Memories of Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Danny Lopez and Bobby Chacon were like ghostly apparitions smiling down at the performances of both Barrera and Marquez.
I did think Marquez slightly edged out Barrera. Barrera looked gassed out in the final round and Marquez pressed the issue. The final round was the clincher for me. But you can make a very strong argument that the bout could have been scored a draw. I never pay too much attention to punch stat numbers but I have never seen the punches landed/punches thrown numbers so close.
Marquez came damn close to downing Barrera in the 7th round. Definitely the best round of the year thus far. Barrera didn’t cop out and hold on though. He threw this perfect right hand which felled Marquez. Marquez pitched forward and outstretched his arms to break his fall. His head still propped up, Barrera stood above him and clobbered him again while he was down.
To Marquez’ credit, he fought on without complaint. This is what separates a great fighter from the mediocre. How many fighters have you seen being the victim of a blatant foul (Luis Santana, MMA’s Renzo Gracie) only to use that as an excuse not to continue. Marquez didn’t even complain. He got up and went at his opponent with savage zeal in the next round.
Emanuel Steward was the only one of the commentators to pick up on the foul but it was after the fight, stating that it was adrenaline that kept Barrera punching. Lampley only made a perfunctory comment when watching the foul on a replay. It brought to mind a fight between Nigel Benn and Iran Barkley in the early 90s where Benn hit Barkley in much the same way Barrera hit Marquez and Alex Wallau of ABC went self righteously berserk. No such response from the HBO team.
Nady noticed the foul and took a point away. But he inexplicably did not count the knockdown which would presumably have given Barrera an extra point.
This is all academic, however, because the scores were lopsided in favor of Marquez. I don’t know what fight they were watching, one judge had it 118-110 which means he only gave two rounds to Barrera (huh?)
All things aside, this was an incredible fight with shifts in momentum and the ending was always in doubt. It was a throwback fight and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Mexican boxers are without peer in this sport.
I did think Marquez slightly edged out Barrera. Barrera looked gassed out in the final round and Marquez pressed the issue. The final round was the clincher for me. But you can make a very strong argument that the bout could have been scored a draw. I never pay too much attention to punch stat numbers but I have never seen the punches landed/punches thrown numbers so close.
Marquez came damn close to downing Barrera in the 7th round. Definitely the best round of the year thus far. Barrera didn’t cop out and hold on though. He threw this perfect right hand which felled Marquez. Marquez pitched forward and outstretched his arms to break his fall. His head still propped up, Barrera stood above him and clobbered him again while he was down.
To Marquez’ credit, he fought on without complaint. This is what separates a great fighter from the mediocre. How many fighters have you seen being the victim of a blatant foul (Luis Santana, MMA’s Renzo Gracie) only to use that as an excuse not to continue. Marquez didn’t even complain. He got up and went at his opponent with savage zeal in the next round.
Emanuel Steward was the only one of the commentators to pick up on the foul but it was after the fight, stating that it was adrenaline that kept Barrera punching. Lampley only made a perfunctory comment when watching the foul on a replay. It brought to mind a fight between Nigel Benn and Iran Barkley in the early 90s where Benn hit Barkley in much the same way Barrera hit Marquez and Alex Wallau of ABC went self righteously berserk. No such response from the HBO team.
Nady noticed the foul and took a point away. But he inexplicably did not count the knockdown which would presumably have given Barrera an extra point.
This is all academic, however, because the scores were lopsided in favor of Marquez. I don’t know what fight they were watching, one judge had it 118-110 which means he only gave two rounds to Barrera (huh?)
All things aside, this was an incredible fight with shifts in momentum and the ending was always in doubt. It was a throwback fight and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Mexican boxers are without peer in this sport.
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