* The Marco Antonio Barrera super-thread *

SuzieQ49 · Nov 21, 2014

MAB definitely should have got the nod over Morrales in 1st fight, and I also give MAB the edge over Morrales overall.

IntentionalButt · Nov 21, 2014

SuzieQ49 said: ↑

MAB definitely should have got the nod over Morrales in 1st fight, and I also give MAB the edge over Morrales overall.
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All three IMO. Surprised more people don't score it that way. :huh

Guess everyone is afraid to counter the poetic "each got a gift" criss-cross narrative.

5_Burowz · Nov 21, 2014

IntentionalButt said: ↑

All three IMO. Surprised more people don't score it that way. :huh

Guess everyone is afraid to counter the poetic "each got a gift" criss-cross narrative.
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What because you said so? Don't be such a sanctimonious *****

Dos Huevos · Nov 21, 2014

Morales was robbed!!

IntentionalButt · Nov 21, 2014

5_Burowz said: ↑

What because you said so? Don't be such a sanctimonious *****
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ok bb i'll try

IntentionalButt · Nov 21, 2019

IntentionalButt said: ↑

#5 Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia vs. John Lee Anthony Tapia (no relation )

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Ah, now this one is near & dear to my heart...

Johnny Tapia is my hands-down favorite boxer of the 1990's...and he is flanked on either side as FOTD (my fave-of-the-decade) by close personal friends (from the 80's: his amateur teammate & traveling buddy Mike Tyson, and from the aughts: his conqueror and torch recipient MAB). Longtime posters will remember that my original avatar on ESB was of Tapia hugging Barrera post-fight, and they understand the personal significance of this match and why it was so bittersweet for me: two fighters that were instrumental (perhaps the most influential, my inclination to root for both of them in all their other fights paralleled only by my desire to root against Naseem Hamed) to my deepening of interest and ultimate transition from casual to diehard, side by side, chumming around once the final bell rang despite having inflicted numerous bruises and lacerations on each other (more in one direction than another)...the changing of the guard, an older, bigger (sentimental) favorite bested at the hands of a newer, objectively greater favorite.

No, they were not related (although Marco's mother's maiden name - which he stitched onto his boxing trunks - was indeed Tapia, and on her side he did have an uncle Miguel who lived in Johnny's hometown of Albuquerque) but they were friends. They knew, liked and respected each other. That hadn't stopped Johnny from knocking out Marco's brother Jorge in 1997 for the WBO super flyweight title - but that was just business. And this wasn't Barrera seeking out revenge; this was business. In fact it was Tapia who sought him out, wanting to give himself the stiffest possible test in his new stomping grounds by going after the best featherweight in the world, even if that meant trading leather with a pal.

My pal @Addie - the only poster on here (at least the only fellow non-Mexican) that can maybe lay claim to being a bigger MAB fanatic than I am - compiled a "greatest hits" cache of Barrera animated GIF images last year...of which this one is my personal fave:

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In less than eight seconds, everything I love about both men encapsulated - perhaps better than I could possibly hope to convey in mere words on my best day.

Now, a cynic might look at this and wonder if maybe I'm letting my emotions cloud my judgment and rating the victory over Tapia higher than it deserves. I'd dismiss these cynics with a quote from the Black Mamba himself, aka Uncle Roger..."Most people DKSAB". They certainly, if they weren't around in the 90's...or even if they were, and make an ignorant statement like "Tapia was old and didn't belong at featherweight; this isn't that great a win" - they clearly DKSA Mi Vida Loca.

We're talking about someone who started his career 46-0-2 ..and not fighting cupcakes, either. From his pro debut he went undefeated for over eleven years, and was only ever defeated by a single opponent (a very good one, Paulie Ayala) in anything even remotely close to his prime (and it was on its downturn in '99, if he was even still in his prime)...and that was at super bantamweight. Tapia fought the majority of his bouts for better part of a decade at super fly, which is honestly his natural weight. At a push you could maybe say he was a natural bantam - but Johnny was the epitome of the adage "it ain't the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog". Then after thirteen years on the job he trudges up to featherweight and becomes a 5x world champion in a third weight class, upsetting the fourth reign of solid incumbent (and true-blue natural 126lber) Juan Manuel "El Mantecas" Rubio Medina. In a pure baller move, not content to have cut the path of least resistance to simply babysit a title and milk some easy defenses, lest he give anyone the ammunition to call him a paper champ, Tapia immediately dumped the belt so that he could test his mettle against the consensus #1 feather on earth - a man who didn't hold any of the ABC titles but was recognized as "the man" by Ring Magazine ...as well as by anybody with a clue that followed the sport.

Even if nobody else quite believed he would be able to climb this mountain (Barrera was a horse of a completely different color than Medina...clear on the other side of the good vs. great divide), Johnny himself believed. At the risk of sounding too cynical, it may well be that his own trainer exploited that belief for personal gain while not quite sharing it. Freddie Roach had already stumbled - fairly recently at this point (only 1½ years having passed since Pac vs. Ledwaba) - upon a goldmine in the much younger Emanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (without the homegrown American fan base of a Tapia, but on the other end of the punching-power spectrum, and with fewer years & rounds on his tread and thus a lot more upside) and his previous star pupil James Toney had already lapsed into some very inconsistent ballooning habits, boxing his way into contention at cruiser and then literally eating himself out, with brief stints at heavyweight borne of sheer endomorphic necessity (true, he still had important victories over Jirov and Holyfield ahead of him, but the decline would be precipitous ...and excruciating to watch thereafter, and it wasn't long before Freddie bailed on him). It could be that Roach foresaw that his new charge having a showdown with MAB was plausible, or even inevitable, and decided to use Tapia for a guineapig -cum-sacrificial-lamb, having a look at what MAB was capable of in the opposing corner and trying some things out against him. Just saying...

Tapia may have been a good deal older, smaller, and lighter-hitting than Barrera, yes - and they were good friends outside the ring - but that didn't stop them from pummeling each other literally black & blue for 12 exhilarating rounds. Tapia was still a world class talent (for a natural super fly to have just dethroned a sitting featherweight titlist, he needed to be...all the more to do so without much KO power, even down in his native division) and he pushed Marco to find a new level, in what is, by my estimation the finest ring performance of his career (the schooling of Hamed was his greatest strategic performance, minor but important distinction), at least in terms of the violent innovation and fluidity of his signature all-inclusive (body+head) combination punching. Even with two blackened eyes, Tapia's crazy little ass was still eager to jump inside and take all of the best shots MAB could dish out - just to prove he could, and that he could hit back the moment Barrera let up. Tapia fought incredibly well, a tiny feather-fisted pressure machine, and versus most other featherweights probably would have bagged several rounds (in my opinion, and that of the judges & commentators, there weren't more than perhaps two in this for him, with his greatest offensive moments coming with extended rallies in the 6th & 7th) - but the Mexico City man fought on a higher plane, great with a capital G. Tapia probably knew heading into the final third or so that he was likely behind on points and that a KO, given his own lack of pop at feather and Barrera's titanium jaw, was exceedingly unlikely - but he gave his amigo the gift of a willing canvas on which to paint his masterpiece. Tapia fought like hell just for the fun of it, because that is how the deeply troubled individual got his kicks ...and in the process he allowed Barrera to put on a clinic.

Right until the final bell they went at it hammers & tongs, like a pair of roosters in a Mexican cockfighting palenque. Immediately before and after punching the proverbial clock to punch the daylights out of each other in the twelfth round, they warmly embraced and remained close by each other with supportive displays of amiable human contact throughout all of the press conferences and media interviews all night long. No hard feelings. Strictly business for one man...and for the other strictly pleasure, as being in the ring was the only rush that ever kept Johnny on the straight & narrow. (read his biography, if you haven't. It ranks among the ATG books on boxing...)
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Yikes...a couple of dead links in this post, for varying reasons (tinypic has within the last year ceased to exist, hence all images uploaded to it no longer being hosted, including that GIF - and that upload of Barrera vs. Tapia has either been taken down or the person's account has been deleted)

I was going to plug in another upload of the fight to embed, but it turns out the only high-quality version of it now extant online has British commentary. A few are floating around of the original HBO broadcast, albeit very low quality rips (that might even have come off VHS copies).

So here (on my own personal channel) is the fight:

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And here is the GIF:

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IntentionalButt · Nov 21, 2019

Also, today is the five year anniversary of the super-thread's completion, so the moment seemed apt to shake off the mothballs and give it a . (...even though its having not been given a second glance in half a decade is sign enough that only swine undeserving of a pearl like MAB populate this forum. )

roughdiamond · Nov 21, 2019

IntentionalButt said: ↑

Also, today is the five year anniversary of the super-thread's completion, so the moment seemed apt to shake off the mothballs and give it a . (...even though its having not been given a second glance in half a decade is sign enough that only swine undeserving of a pearl like MAB populate this forum. )
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BARRERA! BARRERA! BARRERA!

tinman · Nov 21, 2019

@IntentionalButt

Interesting you put the Morales II fight as the best victory. Many would say Hamed or Morales III due to the more convincing manner of victory. But I understand your logic of Morales being fresher and having more of his legs in the 2nd fight than he had in the 3rd.

Also, you had said that if Barrera had gotten the official win in the first fight that would be your choice for top Barrera win. But I wonder why. Barrera gave a more dominant performance in the first fight (but robbed) just as he had in the third fight. So why not have the 3rd fight as Barrera's top win. As you have already explained, you felt Morales' wear and tear was already starting to creep up on him in the 3rd fight. Ok, I get the logic.

My thinking is Morales was a better fighter in the 2nd Barrera fight than the first Barrera fight. We're splitting hairs here, but the statement remains true. In the rematch, Morales is a tad more experienced, disciplined, sharper technically than he was during the 1st fight. If Morales was in his prime during the first fight, he was at his peak in the 2nd fight. That represents the apex of his H2H prowess. So if the best version of Morales that Barrera fought was the 2nd fight then that would have to be the top Barrera win. Which just so happened to take the #1 spot in your countdown. But I struggle to see the logic in putting the first Morales fight #1 if Barrera had official gotten the win.

christpuncher · Nov 21, 2019

Morales edges Barrera career wise while Barrera edged Morales head to head. I like them both.

roughdiamond · Nov 21, 2019

This is much better than what you see in the Ring now. Could get paid for this @IntentionalButt . Ever thought of it?

IsaL · Nov 21, 2019

IntentionalButt said: ↑

¡Guerra el asesino con un cara de bebé! :happy
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A correction, its' "Asesino cara de niño"

iii · Nov 21, 2019

Whoooo oooo someone 's been shown Google translate...You have to hand it to
Shadow he does look after the less fortunate...in the IQ dept...

escudo · Nov 21, 2019

My breakdown of hi epic first fight with Morales. https://imgur.com/gallery/cSqk5

IntentionalButt · Nov 21, 2019

tinman said: ↑

@IntentionalButt

Interesting you put the Morales II fight as the best victory. Many would say Hamed or Morales III due to the more convincing manner of victory. But I understand your logic of Morales being fresher and having more of his legs in the 2nd fight than he had in the 3rd.

Also, you had said that if Barrera had gotten the official win in the first fight that would be your choice for top Barrera win. But I wonder why. Barrera gave a more dominant performance in the first fight (but robbed) just as he had in the third fight. So why not have the 3rd fight as Barrera's top win. As you have already explained, you felt Morales' wear and tear was already starting to creep up on him in the 3rd fight. Ok, I get the logic.

My thinking is Morales was a better fighter in the 2nd Barrera fight than the first Barrera fight. We're splitting hairs here, but the statement remains true. In the rematch, Morales is a tad more experienced, disciplined, sharper technically than he was during the 1st fight. If Morales was in his prime during the first fight, he was at his peak in the 2nd fight. That represents the apex of his H2H prowess. So if the best version of Morales that Barrera fought was the 2nd fight then that would have to be the top Barrera win. Which just so happened to take the #1 spot in your countdown. But I struggle to see the logic in putting the first Morales fight #1 if Barrera had official gotten the win.
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zee freshurr zee betturr, nyeh? (børkbørkbørk)

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* The Marco Antonio Barrera super-thread *

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

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* The Marco Antonio Barrera super-thread *