Grotesque.
That’s the only word I could come up with to describe the gash on Marco Antonio Barrera’s head, a cut that ran straight along the gap created by the 35-year-old Barrera’s receding hairline. As soon as you saw Barrera’s head clash violently with Amir Khan’s skull, you knew it was bad. The blood began to flow instantly and soaked several gauze pads in between rounds.
As for the fight itself, well, it didn’t leave me quite so speechless.
I was among the many pundits who weren’t sure how Saturday night’s lightweight showdown would go. On one side of the ring you had Khan, a highly touted Olympic silver medalist who had been brought back to earth in stunning fashion by the unheralded Breidis Prescott, who scored an emphatic first-round knockout of Khan last year — and in 54 seconds.
On the other side you had Barrera, a once mighty super featherweight champion who despite two consecutive losses to Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez refused to hang up the gloves. Would Khan be able to bounce back against such a crafty opponent? Could Barrera reinvent his career in his third fight at lightweight?
The former turned out to be true. The latter? Not so much.
Khan was spectacular. Fighting in front of a raucous home crowd, and with wonder trainer Freddie Roach operating out of his corner for the second time, Khan took the fight to Barrera. His long arms were surgical, striking like arrows on Barrera’s face, and his relentless pressure had the Mexican backing up the entire fight. Officially, the fight was stopped after the doctors decided one pint of blood was enough for Barrera to lose from that cut. But sliced up or not, there is little doubt Barrera eventually would have been stopped.
The question (and isn’t this always the question in boxing?) is what’s next?
Khan thinks he is ready for a world title shot against an elite lightweight. I’m not so sure. As impressive as Khan was against Barrera, he didn’t answer the one question that has been on everyone’s mind since the Prescott fight: what happens when a heavy hitter lands a clean shot? Against Barrera, Khan was the much bigger fighter and was never really threatened. But how would the lanky Brit have fared against someone like Juan Manuel Marquez, who has the power and skill to land power shots? Could Khan beat one of the handful of paper champions? Probably, but titles in boxing are worthless. Khan should look to make a rematch with Prescott and prove that he is capable of going the distance with a stronger fighter before stepping up the competition.
Barrera, meanwhile, has become delusional. After the fight he blamed the cut for everything short of the tanking U.S. economy, saying he believed he would have won the fight. Huh? At 135 pounds, Barrera looked slower and weaker than he did in his final days at 130, and it was clear to everyone watching that Barrera’s career was over.
But for whatever reason (and the unscrupulous Don King probably has a lot to do this), Barrera believes he is still a legitimate contender and will likely press on, risking his own health and legacy in the process.
