did you know back when he was undefeated, monte barret was the orginal animation model for HBO boxing game.
I just saw this. Some things to note about Barrett is that he is as his name emplies. He is "two gunz" that is he punches with both hands. He likes to slug it out. Bigcat if you put Friday in with Barrett you have to be mindful of the slugfest. Barrett excels in that environment. Look what he did against Beck and Mesi when the fights got to that point. Barrett might not be the hardest puncher but he really didn't have to be. He had a big target in front of him who liked to maul his opponents. He worked behind a sloppy jab and gave up his height easily by falling in. If this fight had continued it would have looked identicle to Willard-Dempsey. Fields would have taken a serious beating. The one thing I can't defend Barrett over is his dismal performance against Rahman. He should have plowed right over Rahman by making it a slugfest but he elected to stay outside, despite rocking the Rock in the early going. It was a bitter sight for me as a Barrett fan. Who knows what to expect now. I will say though that I think Barrett is not quite done as a gatekeeper yet. He'll be a tough fight for any newcomers besides the decorated amateurs.
Judging from his body language Barrett didn't appear to be afraid of Fields. I was quite surprised when he fought Valuev, he gave into his fears and couldn't fight worth a damn. Despite Barrett's cooperation, it took Valuev forever to knock him out. If Barrett had actually fought to win, he probably would have.
It is what it is though, no point being good in theory of you can't do it in practice. If Barrett's mentality has let him down in the past vs Rahman and Valuev then that's just part and parcel of him as a fighter and, frustrating as it may be, has to be accepted.