Top > Sport > 2006 > September > 2006-09-18

Boxing rematch not much of a match

Marco Antonio Barrera (63-4, 42 KOs) retained his WBC super featherweight title against Rocky Juarez (25-3, 18 KOs) Saturday, on route to an easy unanimous twelve round decision. Although the judges` scores were a lot closer than the fight appeared to be, at least there was no question about how the scoring was tabulated. Barrera, the solid favorite, escaped the first bout May 20 with a controversial split decision that initially was called a draw.

Some 30 minutes after the crowd had left the arena and HBO had signed off from the telecast, it was discovered one judge had added his scorecard wrong. Receiving the news in their dressing rooms, the fighters knew a rematch had to follow. Saturday night`s match already had a clear unanimous decision from all three judges.

The Mexican champion and American contender met at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. From the start of the fight, Barrera controlled the fight with his jab and never let Juarez get a rhythm going throughout their encounter. The crowd was unhappy over the lack of action, mainly from Juarez. Barrera was able to fight a slow paced boxing match of his liking. After the fight Barrera announced that he plans to retire in 2007, in order to spend more time at home.