number1contender.net

HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

September 6, 2008

Toyota Center-Houston, Texas

This is the first boxing event at the Toyota Center and has drawn a crowd of 13,477.

1. WBO Latino Junior Lightweight (130 pounds) 12-Round Match:

Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KO's, 130 pounds) vs. Jorge Barrios (47-3-1, 1 NC, 34 KO's, 130 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. Josenilson Dos Santos was the last champion. He won the title when it was vacant on August 22, 2008, and immediately vacated it.

Juarez was an outstanding amateur boxing who took home the silver medal for the United States in the 125 pound weight class at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympiad.

The Houstonian is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Juan Manuel Marquez on November 3, 2007 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona. Juarez took a severe beating in that match. An accidental clash of heads had Juarez bleeding heavily with 1 minute to go in round 1. That cutbled throughout the match. Marquez would open up an additionalcut on Juarez' right ear in round 8. The Mexican boxer was landing hard pinpoint combinations at will to Juarez' facethe entire match. The Showtime commentators felt the match could have reasonably been stopped in round 10. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/9/1/recap-of-last-rocky-juarez-match.html

That match forced Juarez to take a long break from the ring and this will be his first match in over 10 months. The previous longest break between official matches for Juarez was around 6 months. During the layoff, Juarez had surgery on his left eye to deal with a cartilage buildup. Juarez said he entered the match with Marquez with the eye problem. He said theeye problem was so bad if he were asked to pick up a pepper shaker off a kitchen table he could not see well enough to tell if he were picking up the pepper or salt. It is unclear how anyone close toJuarez let him in the ring in that condition. It is terrifying that a commission would clear a boxer that cannot see to compete. It appears it was an Arizona tribal boxingcommission that clearedthe dangerously unfit Juarez to compete. It does not appear to be the same Arizona tribe that cleared Tommy Morrison to compete in MMA, but still does not speak well of the sanctioning process forcombat sport athleteson tribal lands in Arizona.

Juarez is The Ring magazine'snumber 10 ranked contender at 130 pounds to their vacant championship in the weight class.

Barrios had a good amateur boxing career that culminated when he qualified to represent Argentina at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. However, Barrios decided to turn pro to earn moneyto help his family rather then go to the Olympics.

Barrios is also coming off the longest layoff of his career. He needed to get surgery for a severe cataract problem on his left eye.

The Argentinean's last match was a round 3 knockout victory over Decho Bankluaygym at Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 21, 2007.

Barrios is The Ring's number 5 contender at 130 pounds.

At 28-years-old, Juarez is 4 years younger then the 32-year-old Barrios. Barrios holds the height advantage standing 5' 6" tall, while Juarez stands 5' 4" tall. Juarez has the reach advantage with a 22" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 21" arm length of Barrios. They both have rehydrated to unofficially weigh 146 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Texas, and the other is from New Mexico. The referee is Rafael Ramos. Harold Lederman will be HBO's unofficial scorekeeper for this event.

Juarez wins a relatively even round 1, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Barrios, 10-9. With over 1 minute to go in round 2, there is some swelling beginning around the right eye of Barrios. Barrios wins round 2 big, 10-9. The Argentinean wins round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. With 1:01 to go in round 3, the referee stops the action to deduct a point from Barrios for hitting low. Barrios had been warned once for low blows in round 2, and is incredulous at this deduction. The camera did not pick up an egregious low blow live, and Juarez did not sell a hard shot to the groin that should have caused the referee to move in and take a point. This is odd. Juarez needs no time to recover, and the match immediately resumes. With about 30 seconds to go in round 3, cuts have been opened up on both boxers. That probably means it came from a clash of heads. Barrios would have won round 3, but the point deduction makes the round even, 9-9. After 3 rounds, the match is even on my scorecard, 28-28. Lederman scores round 3 even, 9-9, and has Barrios ahead on his scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-27. The replays show that Barrios did hit Juarez low, but it was accidental and northwest of where it would have really hurt Juarez. A warning there would have more appropriate then the point deduction.

A lot of the punches Barrios throws in round 4, and throughout the entire match, have been either blocked or slipped by Juarez. However, Juarez is not punching back. Barrios is defensively flawed. His body is constantly exposed, and he throws looping punches that leave his chin exposed for counter punches up the middle. Juarez is accurate and effective when he punches. The native Houstonian is rarely punching, though. Barrios wins round 4, 10-9. Lederman scores round 4 for Barrios, 10-9. According to CompuBox, Juarez is throwing an average of 44 total punches per round for the first 4 rounds. That would be a decent amount of punches thrown for an averageheavyweight. Wladimir Klitschko will throw over 60 punches a round on occasion. Elite boxers at 130 pounds will be throwing 100 punches a round. In round 4, Juarez threw 39 punches and Barrios threw 79 punches. Barrios dominates round 5 and wins it easily, 10-9. In round 5, Barrios started to land some of the biggest punches of the match. Something may be wrong with Juarez, because he is not boxing like a person of his stature should.Juarez has the body language of the guy brought in to be the "opponent" and is not out to win. He seems to be showing a lack of confidence, and to betoo afraid to be hit torisk punching. Barrios wins round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Barrios wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Barrios leads on my scorecard, 58-55. Lederman scores round 6 for Juarez, 10-9. However after 6 rounds, Barrios leads on Lederman's scorecard, 58-55.

Juarez lands more clean punches to take round 7, 10-9. His body language is looking better, and he is being more aggressive. Lederman scores round 7 for Barrios based on his higher workrate, 10-9. Close round 8, that Barrios' probably won by being busier, 10-9. Barrios wins round 8 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. With 53 seconds to go the referee calls time to deduct another point from Barrios for hitting low. This is ridiculous. The punch was to the side ofthe belt-line and Juarez has his trunks hitched up at least 2" past his bellybutton. Juarez was never hurt by that punch and needs no time to recover. The point of fouls is to stop someone from getting an unfair advantage. There is no advantage being gained by Barrios hitting Juarez there. It is probably an advantage to Juarez, because heis being hit on apad that has been pulled up there to protect against what should potentially be a legal blow. However, after 2 point deductions, Barrios must be on the verge of disqualification for low blows. Round 9 is even, 9-9. Lederman scores round 9 the same. After 9 rounds, we both have Barrios ahead. Lederman has Barrios ahead, 87-82. My scorecard has Barrios leading, 86-83.

Juarez probably wins round 10 on appearances, 10-9. Barrios threw more punches then Juarez in round 10 and probably landed more. However, Barrios looks completely out of gas and like he is about to be knocked out. Barrios threw an astounding 160 punches in round 10 according to CompuBox. However, Barrios only landed 27 total punches in round 10. Through 10 rounds, Juarez has landed 102 of the 422 total punches he has thrown, for a 24% total connect percentage. Through 10 rounds, Barrios has landed 144 of the 879 total punches he has thrown, for a 16% total connect percentage. Lederman scored round 10 for Juarez, 10-9. Barrios has begun to spew blood from his mouth in round 11. With 17 seconds to go in round 11, a combination that is capped by a left hand send Barrios to the canvas.With 6 seconds to go in the round the referee says Barrios has successfully answered the count. Then, the referee immediately calls timeout before the action can resume. He wants the ringside doctor to look at Barrios. The ringside doctor says the cut on Barrios' lip is too severe to allow the boxer to continue. The cut/injury was caused by a punch from Juarez. Therefore, Barrios loses by technical knockout and Juarez escapes with a victory.

The official outcome from Michael Buffer is that: at 2:54 of round 11 the referee has called a halt to the contest at the advice of the ringside physician making the winner by technical knockout, and new WBO Latino Junior Lightweight Champion, Rocky Juarez. The win moves Juarez to 28-4 with 20 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Juarez landing 126 of the 476 total punches he threw, for a 26% total connect percentage. Juarez landed 77 of the 207 power punches he threw, for a 37% power connect percentage. Barrios landed 162 of the 1006 total punches he threw, for a 16% total connect percentage. The Argentinean landed 117 of the 623 power punches he threw, for a 19% power connect percentage. The nearly 400 jabs Barrios threw, more then doubled his previous career high for jabs thrown in a match.

The official scorecards are in to HBO and had Barrios been able to continue it would have been impossible for him to win on the judges scorecards. The official scorecards after 10 rounds had the match for Juarez via majority decision: 94-94, 96-92, 95-93. The 94-94 is possible and defensible. The 96-92 score is insane. It appears between the referee and the judges the hometown factor had decided Barrios was not leaving town with a victory. Luckily, Juarez saved the sport a huge embarrassment by the scoring the stoppage. The 2 judges that had Juarez winning the match, were the 2 judges from Texas.

Juarez said in his post match interview that he was trying to be careful. He also said he is not going to retire until he wins a major world title. However, he looked noticeably old saying this and he appeared to know at 28-years-old his best days were behind him.

The Houstonian faced a very good opponent in this match, however he looks very old. He is starting to take on the look of a boxer that has been in the sport for too many years. The trade off for having a good enough amateur boxing career to make the Olympics and win a silver medal is that a boxer has to have a lot of amateur experience. Juarez went to the Olympics at 20-years-old. He finished the Olympics having competed in 162 amateur matches. So even thoughJuarez is young in real life, his boxing age is much older. There are still good matches out there for Juarez at 130 pounds. However, with his skills in apparent decline it may not be the best idea for him to stick around too much longer in this sport.

Prior to running out of gas this was among the best performances of Barrios' career. However, time is not on his side either. Boxers in the lighter weight classes have a shorter time where they can continue to be effective. Barrios was throwing lots of punches in this match, but few had much power on them after round 5. He may simply not have enough left in the gas tank to go a hard 12-rounds with the top guys in the weight class. Juarez only applied pressure to Barrios in parts of the final 2 rounds. Against the typically more aggressive boxers at the top of 130-pound ranks, Barrios could have real problems from the beginning of the match.

No HBO or Showtime televised event has featured such horrific scoring in both matches in a long time. The judging at this event was an embarrassment and Kellerman commented that in the final match it looked so outlandish as to appear purposefully misguided. The first match featured 2 boxers who looked old. An event that looked like a must watch on paper, turned into a frustrating skip.