Filipino contender Mark Anthony Barriga failed in his first attempt for a world crown when lost to Carlos Licona of Westminster, CA at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury world title fight. Two judges scored each 115-113 for Licona while one judge had it 115-113 for Barriga.
With the victory, Licona (14-0-0, 2KOs) captured the IBF world minimumweight title and inflicted Barriga’s first professional loss who went down to 9-1-0, 1KO.
The Barriga-Licona bout became anti-climatic as it was held after the enthralling Wilder-Fury matchup when most of the spectators in one of boxing’s biggest events of the year already went home.
