 Return of the King!
Marco Antonio Barrera batters Paulie Ayala in comeback fight!
Ringside report by
Francisco Salazar
Photos by
Chris Cozzone
The card was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Top Rank and DiBella Entertainment.
Instead of merely saying he's back, Marco Antionio Barrera emphatically demonstrated against Paulie Ayala that he is still here.
The return of Barrera to the ring was a success as he stopped former world champion Paulie Ayala before a loud 5,723 at the Home Depot Tennis Center in Carson, CA.
The bout headlined a six bout card, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Top Rank Promotions.
In the first three rounds, it looked like the vintage Marco Antonio Barrera, not the fighter who people last saw being dominated by featherweight king Manny Pacquiao in his last outing. Barrera used strong defense, sharp combinations, and hand speed to noticeably frustrate Ayala through the first three rounds.
 Ayala began to change things around in the fourth, fifth, and six rounds. He began to aggressively come forward, land more lead left hands, and use his craftiness to move in and out.
The turning point in the bout came in the eighth when Barrera scored two devastating knockdowns over Ayala. It looked like the Barrera of old, when Barrera landed a left hook to the body that had Ayala wincing in pain and taking a knee. It was a replay as Barrera landed left hooks that dropped Ayala for the second time.
Although he got up gingerly, Ayala fought on.
Ayala mustered enough strength to come at Barrera in the ninth round and it looked as though Ayala was not feeling the effects of what had happened to him the night before.
However, in the tenth, Barrera landed a six-punch combination, punctuated with a murderous left hook to the body, dropping Ayala to his knees on the canvas. Referee Pat Russell wisely stopped the fight at 2:34 of the final round.
Afterwards, Barrera showed his gratitude for fighting in front of a pro-Barrera crowd. "I have a lot of respect for Ayala," said Barrera after the fight. "I was not sure if he was going to stay down on the first two knockdowns. I'm sure he had something left and he did."
 Ayala had nothing but praise for the Baby-Face Assassin. "This guy is a living legend," said Ayala, who has thoughts of retirement. "He's a great counter puncher. I had trouble breathing when I was on the canvas. I had no problems with the referee stopping the fight."
Asked about comparing both Barrera and Erik Morales, Ayala said, "Morales is the harder puncher, but Barrera goes hard to the body."
Although boxing people and reporters would want to think that Barrera is back, there some who urge caution when considering that. "Barrera fought a good fight tonight against an old pro," said HBO Boxing analyst Larry Merchant. "We will know that Barrera is back to being an elite fighter when he defeats another elite fighter. This was a good comeback fight for Barrera.
Barrera, from Mexico City, Mexico, improves to 58-4, 41 KO's. Ayala, from Fort Worth, TX, drops to 35-3, 12 KO's.
 Taylor retires Marquez!
Post-fight report by
William Trillo
Photos by
Chris Cozzone
In the co-feature, middleweight contender Jermain Taylor scored a ninth round TKO over former IBF 154lb champion Raul Marquez.
The fight began in front of the obviously pro-Marquez crowd with Taylor letting Marquez bring the fight to him as he tried to figure out how to deal with the experienced and talented ex-champ. Marquez was slipping and ducking his way while making Taylor miss many of his hard thrown punches. As Taylor tried to land wild uppercuts, Marquez stayed just out of the way and made Taylor work hard to land any effective blows. Meanwhile, Raul was unable to land any telling blows of his own.
By the third round it appeared that Taylor was starting to get his timing and distance down while Marquez was showing signs that he was going to be in for a long night. To his credit, Marquez kept coming forward and at times was able to frustrate Jermain with just enough movement to keep any significant punches from finding their mark.
In the fifth round an accidental head butt occurred that cut Taylor just outside of his left eye. The blood seemed to awaken both fighters and some of the best exchanges took place right after the cut was opened.
In the sixth it was evident that Taylor's jab was finally finding a home and he was able to land some good combinations that seemed to have Marquez hurt at times. Taylor closed out the round with a beautiful right hand but Marquez weathered the storm and returned to his corner still willing to fight on.
Round seven was uneventful as the fighters seemed to take a slight break for most of the three minutes. However, the next two rounds belonged to Taylor as he was popping Marquez at will, frustrating the ex-champ and breaking him down with good accurate and sharp punches. A bleeding and battered Marquez finally went to the canvas in round nine. It was the first time he had even been down. He beat the count, but as the round came to an end, trainer Ronnie Shields wasted no time in stopping the fight.
Shortly after the bout ended, Marquez stated "No more boxing for me. I'm sticking to announcing."
It was another impressive win for Taylor (21-0, 16 KOs). Marquez ends his career at 35-3 with 24 KOs.
Undercard results
By
Bret Newton
at ringside
Photos by
Chris Cozzone
Bantamweight contender Jhonny Gonzalez destroyed former IBF flyweight champion Francisco Tejedor in the first round of the non-televised opening bout for the Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Paulie Ayala showdown. It a good confidence builder for the 23-year old Gonzalez (24-4, 20 KOs) but perhaps the end of the road for 38 year old veteran Tejedor (46-22-2, 31 KOs), who has lost his last ten fights and has won only three fights in his previous twenty starts. Gonzalez was calm, cool and collected as he came out at the opening bell establishing his jab. The youngster tested the experienced ex-champ with rapid-fire combinations and movement. Tejedor had no answers and Gonzalez wisely wasted no time as he moved in to finish his business with his defenseless opponent. Gonzalez maneuvered Tejedor into the ropes with a series of punches. A quick combination and a prefect straight right hand sent Tejedor to the canvas. Tejedor got to his feet as referee Alan Krebs completed the count. The time of the knockout victory was 2:59 of the first round. Gonzalez won the WBO NABO bantamweight title in his previous fight with an impressive sixth round stoppage of former world title challenger Alejandro Felix Montiel but his title was not at stake in this above weight fight. Expect to see the heavy-handed Gonzalez fighting for world title soon.
In a female bout, Rhonda Luna and Lisa Martin went toe-to-toe in an all-action war. Both women, who tasted heavy shots from the opening bell, fully entertained the cheering crowd with every exchange. Luna clearly got the better of the shots in and went out blasting each final ten seconds of every round. Martin had her moments with some nice left hooks to the chin of Luna, but Luna came right back, forcing her way in with huge hooks with both hands, snapping Martin's head back viciously. There were no knockdowns. Official scores were 40-36 on all cards for the winner and still undefeated Rhonda Luna, who moves to 6-0 with 1 KO.
In the closing bout, light heavyweight Dallas Vargas (now 16-1, 10 KOs), halted tough and game Jorge Garcia in round four of a scheduled eight. Vargas, applying pressure from the beginning, landed some clean straight rights to the head to start the action. Garcia crumbled to the canvas in the second round from a left hook to the body, however he jumped right back in, forcing Vargas to the ropes, landing left and right hooks. The end came at the end of round four with a vicious barrage of punches by Vargas. When Garcia failed to protect himself, the referee intervened. Garcia falls to 3-13.
Heavyweight Orlin Norris pounded out an easy unanimous decision (80-71 on all judges cards) over Mike Peak (now 20-18-2)in an eight round bout. From the start, the former cruiserweight champion Norris began to apply pressure, backing Peak to the ropes then unleashing uppercuts with both hands to the head and body. Norris was chased Peak from corner to corner until an uncalled knockdown in round five (ruled a "shoulder push down"). Peak stayed down, looking to take an eight count. In round seven, Norris punished Peak to the body with a left hook and back up to the head with an uppercut that buckled Peak’s legs and sent him reeling into a corner. The referee immediately jumped in with a standing eight count. Peak made it out of the round and stayed out of range the rest of the fight. Norris moves to 56-8 with 29 KOs.
(photos of Norris vs. Peak by
Bret Newton
)
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