Fearless Warriors
Clueless Judges

Written By William Trillo
Photos: Marlene Marquez
 

First, let me start off by saying that this was one of the best PPV cards to hit the airwaves in a while and it was well worth the money shelled out for this extravaganza. All the fighters from top to bottom did not disappoint the crowd in Las Vegas or the viewers who checked in via the HBO PPV broadcast.

 
It was thrilling, hard fought, and controversial.
 
The controversy came by way of the judges as they seemed to be watching something other than the action taking place inside the ring. It's hard to argue with the fact that every fight seemed to be scored in a fashion that left everyone scratching their heads, and trust me, everyone was.
 

In the main event Marco Antonio Barrera put his WBC Super Featherweight belt on the line up against Juan Manuel Marquez. This fight was everything that everyone expected and more. From the get go these two came at each other just as promised, there was no time for feeling out here.
 
Barrera seemed to take the early initiative and was showing the Marco of old with hard crisp punches that kept Marquez at bay for a time. But the crafty Marquez was not to be denied and he too was firing accurate shots that moved Barrera back and kept the Champion off balance. There was no doubt the Mexican warriors were headed for a great war in the trenches.
 

Through the first five rounds it was give and take as both fighters were willing to put it all on the line and the crowd was getting a real show of courage from both fighters. Marquez had pulled slightly ahead on the scorecards, but at this point, it was anyone's fight. 
 

In round six while being broken up from a clinch by Ref Jay Nady, Marquez landed a shot to Barrera that infuriated the Champion who tried to retaliate with a wild blow off the next clinch that fortunately for Marquez only breezed by his chin without landing. Any respect the fighters had for each other was thrown out the window now and it set the stage for round 7, which will be a round talked about for a long time.
 

Round 7 looked to be all Marquez at the start and Barrera appeared to be desperate to land that one huge bomb that would get him back into the fight...and he did. Marco countered Marquez with a sweet right hand that put the challenger onto the seat of his pants, but somehow Nady missed it and before he could wave it off and gain full control Barrera rushed Marquez who was trying to get to his feet and cold cocked the fallen fighter with a blatant cheap shot. Nady saw that one and immediately deducted a point from Marco for the foul, and rightly so. A round that could have been a 10-8 round for Barrera went the other way and Marquez came out of it with a 10-8 in his favor...you do the math, that was a costly swing.
 
 
Marquez went on to close the fight in dominate fashion almost sweeping the judges scorecards in the last four rounds and that was enough to put him over the top and earn him the victory and the belt.
 
 
As it turned out, even if Barrera had been correctly given the 7th round it wouldn't have mattered as the judges had it in favor of Marquez by a questionably large margin. Final scores read 118-109 and 116-111 twice all in favor of Marquez.
 
There can be no doubt Marquez won this fight, but those wide scores along with that crazy 7th round are enough for everyone to demand a rematch, and I am sure we will be seeing that one come summertime.
 
 

Ponce Outworks Penalosa
 

It's hard to argue that a guy who throws 1,399 punches could lose, but in the eyes of more than a few Gerry Penalosa did enough to defeat WBO/IBA Jr. Feather Champ Daniel Ponce De Leon. Penalosa was accurate with counters throughout the battle and was smacking Ponce up time and time again. Say what you will about Ponce's style, he proved he could box and go the distance and win, something none of us are used to seeing him do.
 
 
The fight appeared real close and it looked like maybe Ponce had gone to the well once too many times, but with a never say die attack and well placed body shots De Leon kept throwing, and throwing, and throwing.
 
 
That was enough for the judges, but again their scores were way off,120-108 & 119-109 twice for De Leon. Ridiculous scores for a fight that many thought Penalosa won.
 
 

Hopkins Given A Gift
 

Steve Forbes should have walked out of the ring on Saturday night with the USBA Jr. Welterweight belt around his waist. The punch stat numbers will tell you that, and so will everyone who saw the fight, everyone but the judges that is who gave Hopkins the bout by unbelievable scores of 117-11 & 118-110 twice.
 

Looking at those scores you would think Hopkins ran away with this bout easily... he did not. In fact the only running he did was due to the fact that Forbes applied constant pressure and was coming forward and landing throughout the 12 round fight.

 
There is no way to explain how the judges could see the fight the way they did...well yes there is... "clueless".

Questions Or Comments? Email Will "The Thrill" Trillo