15.03.09 – by James Slater , Photo by David Martin Warr/DKP — Last night’s fight between young star Amir Khan and ageing lion Marco Antonio Barrera was reminiscent of the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio Cesar Chavez, held back in 1996.
Back then the young star (De La Hoya) ripped his one-time idol to shreds and stopped him on cuts; last night the young star in Khan did likewise to his former idol, albeit with an accidental head-butt opening the cut on Marco’s forehead (and, it must be said, Julio entered his fight with Oscar already having been injured over his eye, the cut he’d picked up a week before the fight being concealed so as not to postpone the big event). Also bringing back memories of the ’96 bout is the way Barrera has been speaking after suffering defeat.
Very much like Chavez before him, Barrera has refused to give his conqueror too much respect for beating him. Yes, the cut was a big factor in the fight last night (as it was in the ’96 light-welterweight fight), but it cannot be denied that the 22-year-old was handling the veteran with some ease due to his superior speed, power and physical strength – just as Oscar dazzled Chavez over a decade ago.
But, like his countryman, Barrera has had precious little praise for the man who stopped him.
Speaking to Sky Box-Office after the fight, Barrera said the fight should have been stopped in the 1st, when the cut high on his forehead was first opened – thus ruling the bout a No-Contest.
“We came ready to fight, I got caught with a head-butt in the first round and it was called by the ref as a head-butt but he did not stop the fight in the first round,” Barrera said. “I don’t know why because the cut was as big before as it is now (after the fight).
“If I’d had both my eyes the fight would not have ended this way. I couldn’t see the guy from the first round, the blood was in my eye and I just couldn’t see with it.”
Barrera, who says he will sit and think about where he goes from here, said Khan, aside from with his accidental butt, never hurt him in the fight.
“I didn’t even feel his punches,” Barrera said. “He’s got fast hands but his punches did nothing to me. I didn’t feel them. I just went a little crazy because I wanted to try to fight before they stopped it.
“I am just going to talk to my family. I feel good tonight, it was just because of the cut that I lost. I’ll discuss it with my family [whether or not to carry on boxing], discuss it with Don King and we’ll take it from there. But I’m going to take a little break now.”
So, is Barrera doing Khan a disservice by saying he would not have lost but for the bad cut? Or is the living legend correct in his take on last night’s action? This one has already divided the fans and it looks like it will continue to do so.