A Boxing Memory: Marco Antonio Barrera

A Boxing Memory: Marco Antonio Barrera

It was a night of nostalgia in Manchester as 2022 was winding down to its inevitable conclusion. The Ricky Hatton faithful were out in force one last time as their hero extinguished his final demons. Marco Antonio Barrera was a willing dance partner for their eight-round exhibition. The Hatton band played one last time. It was surreal. A flashback without a time machine to another era. He was now 48, but an old friend needed him. The legendary Mexican willingly obliged. Barrera was cast in the supporting role for one of the very few times in his truly remarkable boxing career.

It had been over ten years since Jose Arias was dispatched in two rounds that had allowed Barrera to at least go out on a win. Just two fights earlier Barrera was the opponent for Amir Khan. Old fighters, in their decline, bring a different kind of marketability to the proceedings. When their original use has expired in the home corner, an old champion is exported into a different corner for the new kid on the block. The time-honoured, not-so-honourable tradition of a sport that rarely allows those who give so much to go out with at least some semblance of dignity. Khan left the proud old warrior a bloody mess. An accidental clash of heads opened a nasty deep cut on the forehead of Barrera. But make no mistake, Khan was on his way to victory. It was a sad night. At least for those who still remember what came before.

Before age and the decline set about dwindling the memories, Barrera could justifiably be considered one of the greatest fighters of any era. He turned pro in 1989 when he was only 15 and went 43 fights undefeated before Junior Jones unexpectedly stopped the win streak in 1996, and Jones repeated the following year to show the first time around was no fluke. Barrera had taken the WBO super-bantamweight title from Daniel Jimenez in 1995 and made eight successful defences of his title before that first taste of defeat to Jones.

Barrera tweaked the old slugging style and the now-reformed boxer set about proving that he wasn’t yet finished at the top level. The Mexican stopped Richie Wenton in Atlantic City to win the WBO super-bantamweight title in 1998 before losing a controversial split decision two years later to his fellow Mexican Erik Morales in the first fight of their truly incredible trilogy that had National pride at stake.

After years of talks, Barrera finally shared a ring with Prince Naseem Hamed the following year. Hamed, the odds on betting favourite came with the big punching reputation, but no Plan B. I’m not convinced there was even a Plan A. There were fireworks and a trapeze and a good old-fashioned humbling. Hamed lost his unbeaten record, a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather, and his self-belief. Hamed talked of getting a rematch. It never came. He knew. We all knew. The ego crashed in Las Vegas, never to return.

Barrera got his revenge over Erik Morales in 2002 but would lose to Manny Pacquiao before settling his unforgettable iconic rivalry with Morales in 2004 and in the process winning the WBC super-featherweight title and becoming a three-weight world champion. Barrera kept fighting and added the IBF super-featherweight bauble to his resume before losing successive fights to Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao in 2007, which was more or less the end for the Baby-Faced Assassin. The sad loss to Khan was followed by two wins and the win over Arias in 2011 back home in Mexico, which finally ended his Hall of Fame career.

Talk of a comeback was always seemingly in the air. Thankfully, talk was all it was. The memories of his peak didn’t need to be dimmed by a pale imitation of what came before.

Photo Credit: PA