*** The Marco Antonio Barrera super-thread ***

¡Guerra el asesino con un cara de bebé! :happy

This guy is the reason I ever became more than a casual fan of boxing. I am surely not alone.

He deserves some retrospective veneration, and to be reintroduced to newcomers who reached the sport only after Barrera's halcyon days.


A quick overview:

Amateurs

Barrera racked up a powerhouse amateur record of 104-4 (sometimes misrepresented as 56-4 or 55-4 as listed on Boxrec; the confusion stems from him at one point in time having amassed the sterling record of 56-0 before his first loss...so the legend of the 56 consecutive wins has gotten conflated with his overall amateur win total, when in reality he went a still extraordinary 48-4 in the second half of his amateur stint, which ended around the same time puberty did for the as of then still rather literally Baby Faced Assassin, who became 5x Mexican national champ along the way all before turning pro at fifteen, after falsifying documentation regarding his age to pass himself off as the minimum requisite seventeen!) and he would later avenge himself of at least one amateur loss in the pro ranks.

Professional

His name is of course inextricably linked most closely with three fellow greats of the era in the feathery range - all three of whom are wont to eventually be enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, two of them almost surefire inductees their first year of eligibility. Fittingly, he keeps pace with them right with the pack, neither too far ahead nor behind. Of the aforementioned three, he memorably dominated one in perhaps his signature performance, fought on terms as close as you will ever find in any boxing rivalry with the second in a bitter and enthralling trilogy, and found his number was had by the most famous third in two unflattering encounters.

There is so much else to appreciate in his 23 years of prizefighting than his seventy-one rounds of struggle with that legendary trio, however.

Consider that for a moment: 23 years of gladiatorial service - with a comfortable enough upbringing and law degree, no less! He fought not because of financial, but inner burning need - and he was counted among the best on the planet for all but a few years' worth, numerable on both hands with fingers to spare.

He retired at least thrice as far as I know - once, astonishingly enough, after reaching the 'mountaintop' at the ripe old age of 21 upon capturing his first world title against Daniel "Cobrita" Jiménez; again following his loss in the Manny Pacquiao rematch, and then once and for all in 2011. (although he was still murmuring about making a comeback as recently as last September - !!!! - but most observers by now consider and hope for him to be permanently retired. He is, of course, 40 - which is more like 70 for someone who debuted at flyweight and participated in so many wars - and with going on four years now of ring-rust...)

He should become HOF eligible for a presumptive first-ballot 2017 induction based on his last date of action, despite his probably sincere but never materialized pretenses of planned activity beyond 2011.


Now, on to illuminating the purpose of this dedicated thread.

This was a rough stab taken recently at identifying the best ten wins of Barrera:

To expand upon that, rounding out a list of Barrera's "top fifteen scalps" and picking up where I left off with Agapito Sanchez and Mzonke Fana at eleven and twelve respectively...

#11 (individual win #13) - E. Sanchez
#12 (individual win #14) - Valbuena
#13 (individual win #15) - Salud
#14 (individual win #16) - Jiménez
#15 (individual win #17) - Toledo

Week by week, counting down from #17 through #1 and carrying through most of the rest of the year, I'll post videos and in-depth analysis of each of these wins, placing some of the less celebrated ones in historical context and providing the editorial POV of someone who followed Barrera ardently when most of them occurred. :good

 

#17, Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Frankie Toledo:

• [yt]spR_H2MITLM[/yt]

First, let it be said: this is far and away the worst of the wins on this list, way down at number seventeen - and it really is still a very good win. That is telling in and of itself, when examining Barrera's resume.

Frank "The Shark" Toledo would in the final tally enter the books as IBF featherweight champ (albeit with a hot-potato reign of a scant few months) but more importantly he posted victories over Orlando Cañizales and Bones Adams. The former was a shell of himself making his last ring appearance, while the latter retired with an injury after four high-paced tit-for-tat rounds that saw them deadlocked in points on all three judges' cards - but the fact remains, he posted those victories ...and secured a world title. In his prime he only lost to four top class opponents: Barrera, Medina x2, and Baloyi - each multiple-time world champions. It can't be said he was a bum, going purely off what's there in black and white. Further substantiating his credentials, he was voted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, and that is a state with a wealth of boxing history.

Indeed he was no bum, and, while yet to be tested much himself, was the 2nd or 3rd biggest test of the young 35-bout veteran's career after perhaps Carlos Salazar and Daniel Jiménez (from whom the new champ had taken his WBO title before making an immediate first defense against Toledo a mere nine week later). Toledo was sharp, fast on his feet and wiry-strong Most importantly, he was a southpaw - the first lefty of note Barrera would face in the pros, after Eddie Cook. Toledo, unlike Cook, was Barrera's own size. That he was naturally talented, in tremendous shape, and well-schooled under Joe Grier is obvious to anyone inclined to observe footage of him from really any point from the early nineties until his rapid turn of the decade world title summit 'n' plummet.


...and so, what did Barrera do when confronted with this unusual puzzle (at the lower end of the scale in particular, in those days) of a lefty dashing around him, sticking in long now-you-see-me jabs with the right hand of all things, and circling away from his power? Well, he solved the puzzle and destroyed the man in five minutes flat, naturally.

Toledo had reason to swagger to his stool after the first, wherein he got tagged some but through which he made it largely unscathed by the full brunt of Barrera's fury using clever movement and showing a decent set of whiskers at times, and putting some leather on Barrera though his counters never quite gained him the champion's respect or forced a backward step.

After the next bell? The game had changed. A quick study, Barrera had gone to school all he needed in that opening session and set about the very deliberate and violent task of cutting the ring off with sneaky footwork, ducking under the southpaw 1-2, and shaving the range down incrementally until he could start drumming combinations off the hapless Toledo's face with a suddenness and relentlessness of sustained assault that more than compensated for Toledo's edge in quickness.

Barrera was no Bones Adams. :nono Toledo may have wanted to impose another high-speed-chess-slash-fencing match, but the poor man had brought a rapier to a duel whereas Barrera (who already had the boxing equivalent of a chess grandmaster brain, and this years before his refinement and transformation of style, back when he was "just" a very skillful pressure fighter under Rudy Perez's tutelage, as opposed to a well-rounded boxer-puncher...) wielded a mighty ******* sword. There was to be no cutesy exchange of body jabs while squaring up in perpetual spin at mid-range in center ring. Barrera let him believe so until about half a minute into the 2nd and then it was naught but carnage.

Toledo was stopped thrice in his career, all told, but never in this fashion...never this swiftly or savagely. In his fifth ever match, just seven months into his pro campaign, Toledo was knocked out by Fred Liberatore in a nonstop war that lasted nearly six rounds. In the Medina rematch, Toledo actually quit on his stool even though it officially reads "TKO" and not "RTD" on the record. (this was an embarrassing backfire of a gamble Toledo was taking, claiming he couldn't see following a headbutt despite there being no cut or superficial damage to his eye that might affect his vision. Ironically, he was down a point on the cards so his attempt to bail from the heat Medina was starting to put on him and force a technical decision was ill-advised to begin with...)

He was only ever annihilated by the Baby Faced Assassin.

Barrera from this night on had an opinion formulated on southpaws ("they annoy the **** outta me :twisted:") and the basic template for his lifelong approach to solution of them ("get inside that lead foot, get close, work from body to head, and SMASH 'EM! Get rid of those royal pains in the culo ASAP")

 

In due time, yes - in a fortnight, actually. (I have Salud at #15)

Next week it will be Jiménez's turn. :good

 

Uh...

I don't care.

I'm not really taking suggestions here; the whole point is this was something I was inspired to do specifically for Barrera.

 

Well, he was no Dominic Salcido, but then who is?

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