Who would you have favored to win between 2 great technicians? I think 2004 would have been a good time for them to fight, although Barrera was just coming off a beat down against Pacquiao. Barrera ended up fighting Paulie Ayala and a rubber match against Morales while John had just became champion at 126 that same year. Chris John managed to beat JMM but would he have been able to deal with Barrera?
Barrera was far more popular and had the higher profile wins against Hamed and Morales but I think Chris John is criminally underated and he would outbox Barrera.
John performed better against JMM but I'm not sure that means he beats Barrera. Styles make fights and all..
One things for sure this would be a nice competitive chess match with some good action. Chris John was an underrated champion with nice boxing skills who can give Barrera a tough night.
Marquez clearly beat John by atleast 2 or 3 points even with the point deductions it was a gift for John in his backyard.
What John did against Marquez was keep the fight tight and low contact, with disciplined boxing - and then count on fight going his way at home, which it did. It was close, but I don't think He'd have any chance of getting that kind of decision as a B-side if the fight was held in the U.S. I liked Chris, He was a quality fighter. Well conditioned, disciplined, solid all-around - but Barrera was clearly superior. Motivated MAB takes it comfortably imo, maybe even by late stoppage.
Barrera, narrowly. John was a good fighter, & Barrera, while his superior, looked shell shocked by Pacquiao (watch their rematch, Barrera is gun shy to the point of humiliation). It would be close.
I've never held that view, and I'm a Dinamita superfan. From a recent thread positing rather generously that Márquez ought to be 63-1 in his career:
This. I love Chris John as much as the next guy but he made his whole career off a shoddy decision vs JMM and then camped out with one belt for 20 years. Barrera smokes him. I didn't think he really won the fight, but it was close. He did fine, but I felt like JMM landed the better punches throughout. I'm going to rewatch today. Not a bad idea.
I felt it was a clear win for JMM and I think John is getting a bit overrated in this thread. He mostly defended his title in his backyard in Indonesia against modest opposition, apart from a controversial decision over JMM his best win is probably Rocky Juarez. John was a good champion but nothing spectacular or stand out about him IMO despite his many title defences. As for JMM's losses he definitely lost to Bradley, Mayweather. I had JMM beating Pacquiao 3-0-1 overall although they were all close fights, but I definitely think JMM should've got atleast 2 wins over Pacquiao. JMM also had another lucky win vs Julian Wheeler who was ahead on points going into the last round and was DQed for excessive holding it seemed like a bit of a lucky break for JMM IMO.
