If boxing could be likened to a meal, this weekend’s featherweight world title fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Kevin Kelley would be a cordon bleu feast.
Both Barrera and Kelley have featured in some of the most gruelling and memorable fights in recent years, both are superior athletes and both have the characteristics of which legends are made.
Barrera is regarded as the best featherweight in the world, even though he has distanced himself from all the major sanctioning bodies. He acquired the title of the featherweight champion of the world following his convincing victory over ‘Prince†Naseem Hamed on April 7 2001 and since then has had no need to align himself with a sanctioning body to affirm his status.
Born on January 17 1974 in Iztacalco, Mexico, to a well-off family, Barrera was a bright child who
attained high grades at school.
He went on to study law at the University of Mexico. He continued his studies throughout most of his boxing career, but decided to put them on hold after his first clash with Eric Morales in February 2000. By then he was already a two-time World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior-featherweight champion.
Barrera turned professional at the age of 15 in 1989 and scored 12 knockouts in his first 16 fights, before beating Josefina Suarez for the Mexican super-flyweight title. He made five successful defences of that crown and then won the vacant North American Boxing Federation super-flyweight title against Eduardo Ramirez. He won his first champion-ship by beating Daniel Jiminez on March 31 1995 for the WBO junior-featherweight title.
He successfully defended the title eight times, knocking out the likes of Frank Toledo and Kennedy McKinney. The McKinney fight was a scintillating slugfest with McKinney tasting the canvas five times and Barrera once before the former International Boxing Federation world champion eventually succumbed in the 12th round.
Barrera’s first defeat in 43 outings came via a fifth round disqualification in November 1996 against
Junior Jones. Barrera had been in serious trouble when his corner men ran into the ring, which resulted in him being disqualified.
He lost a close points decision to Jones five months later, but regained the then vacant crown with a fifth round stoppage of Ritchie Wenton in October 1998.
After two more defences Barrera faced Morales in a World Boxing Council (WBC)/WBO unification bout. Morales was awarded a disputed split decision win following a bruising encounter that was generally regarded as the fight of the year.
The WBO felt so strongly about the decision that they refused to acknowledge Morales as the winner and reinstated Barrera as their champion. When Barrera went head-to-head with the then undefeated Naseem Hamed, the Prince was the 13-5 favourite.
Barrera surprised everybody by putting up a masterful display of tactical boxing to outpoint Hamed to win the International Boxing Organisation featherweight crown. He then compounded his claim to being the best featherweight in the world by beating Enrique Sanchez, Morales and Johnny Tapia in successive bouts.
While Barrera does have good punching power, he prefers to wear his opponents down with relentless pressure. He can fight strategically, as well as mix it with the best of them. He’s not afraid to take a punch in order to land one though and this could be the window of opportunity Kevin ‘the Flushing Flash†Kelley will be looking for.
Kelley, himself a former two-time world champion is renowned in the ring for his fistic speed, skill and generalship, while outside the ring he is known for his quick wit, skilful analysis and verbal tenacity. Kelley turned professional in 1988 and won the WBC featherweight world title five years later with a 12-round decision over Gregoria Vargas.
He made two successful defences before losing by way of a seventh round stoppage to Alejandro Gonzales, ending a 41-fight winning streak. A year later he beat Louie Espinoza to win the World Boxing Union (WBU) featherweight world title and defended it four times before challenging Hamed for the WBO version of the belt.
The gutsy Kelley took Hamed on and dropped the Prince twice before succumbing to the big-hitting champion’s power in the fourth round.
Kelley has faced the who’s who of the featherweight division and has had a number of memorable brawls with the likes of Hamed, Morales, Derrick Gainer, Clarence ‘Bones†Adams and Tommy Parks. He is widely regarded as the man who popularised the lighter weights to American television audiences with his
exciting fighting style and outspoken manner.
‘I don’t care about winning belts,†Kelley told the media during an international conference call held last week, ‘I want to beat Barrera. As kids we grow up watching [Sugar Ray] Leonard and [Tommy] Hearns and we want to do the same things that they have done. That’s what we strive for. Those great showdowns.â€
Kelley’s only remaining ambition in boxing is to be inducted into the hall of fame, while many believe he has done enough to earn that privilege, he’s not convinced. He believes he needs one more victory, one more important victory. A victory over Barrera. ‘If you’re inducted,†says Kelley, ‘you go from being a legend one day, to being a living legend today.â€
While Barrera is certainly the favourite to win this one, when you’re facing a man with a heart as big as the ‘Flushing Flash’sâ€, anything can happen.
On the local front, Joseph ‘Smoking Joe†Makaringe will be squaring off against Zambia’s Bruno Sakabunda for the World Boxing Association Pan Africa welterweight title this Friday in Giyani. A win in this bout for Makaringe will almost certainly open the door for a rematch for him with former WBU welterweight kingpin Jan Bergman. Makaringe has been eyeing a rematch with Bergman ever since he was stopped by the former world champion in something of an upset two years ago.
Following that encounter Bergman won his world title and was not interested in defending against a man he had already beaten. The picture has changed somewhat now as Bergman relinquished his WBU title earlier this year and unsuccessfully challenged Jawaid Khaliqu for the IBO welterweight title in March.
Before a match with Bergman can happen, however, Makaringe must beat Sakabunda. The Zambian is something of a closed book and there is some doubt about his record. It’s unlikely that Makaringe will have any problems with Sakabunda — but, having said that, he did battle to find his form against Colin Mayasela in his last outing.
Mayasela, also a natural junior-welterweight out-boxed Makaringe for the most part and the national champion can count himself lucky that the challenger ran out of steam in the latter rounds of their fight.