by James Slater – 37-year-old New York heavyweight Monte Barrett has said in the past how he will retire from boxing when the time comes, as opposed to letting boxing retire him. However, before his exciting but losing fight with former cruiserweight champ David Haye, Barrett told this writer how he wants to leave boxing content, with “all his bullets fired.” Will Monte feel he is ready to walk away from the sport now that he has lost for a seventh time, or will he believe he has yet more ammo to, as in the case of Rocky Balboa in the sixth of his movie appearances, “get out of his system?.”
Losing to Haye the way he did, after both troubling the Brit and even flooring him in a spirited effort, was in no way a bad showing from Barrett. Sure, he lost, but he may have lost to a future heavyweight champion of the world. Also, “Two Gunz” looked anything but a spent force in the November fight. Monte was in top shape, was still fast, carried some power and showed he still has fighting heart – the kind that allowed him to get up from four knockdowns and attempt to get up from a fifth. As such, if Barrett, 34-7(20) does decide to continue boxing there would be a number of fans willing to watch him do so.
Barrett is a smart guy, and he will not merely carry on for the sake of it if he feels he has nothing left to give at a high level. Simply boxing on to make a few bucks, risking his health in doing so, is not this fighter’s style. No doubt he will have had a long think – he may still be thinking about it, actually – and will decide what to do in 2009; either hang ’em up or fight again. There would, more than likely, be a fair amount of bouts available for the 37-year-old should he announce he will fight on.
Losing to Haye was no disgrace and Barrett remains a name fighter capable of providing thrills. Although he would never want to become known as a journeyman or trial horse, there are a number of up-and-coming fighters who a fight against would provide Barrett with not only a decent payday, but also another chance to rise some in the rankings. In the past, Barrett made a name for himself as something of a guy who exposes untested yet hyped heavies – either beating them (see Dominick Guinn, Owen Beck and Tye Fields) or being robbed of a win he should have got (see Joe Mesi). Barrett was convinced he’d do the same thing to Haye (and some people do feel some of Haye’s flaws were exposed in his bout with Monte), but he didn’t. There is no reason to believe he won’t be able to beat, or at least severely test, some more of today’s young wannabes, though.
How about a Barrett-Kevin Johnson fight? How about a clash between “Two Gunz” and Chris Arreola, now that it seems “The Nightmare” will not be getting a shot at Wladimir Klitschko in May? Or how about Barrett Vs. Jason Estrada and/or Eddie Chambers bouts? All would be interesting, and Barrett would have to be given a great chance at getting a win in either – progressing back up the ratings if he did emerge victorious. It’s clear to see, that should he wish to do so, there would be no shortage of decent fights for Barrett to continue his fighting career in.
A nice guy who has had his share of bad breaks during his now near 13 year career, it would be good to see Barrett earn some more glory and get himself a big win or two before quitting.
One thing is sure, “Two Gunz” can be relied upon to give his best in the ring, whoever he’s in with. Would you like to see him fight again?