Should Khan Have Given Barrera a Rematch?
May 30th, 2009
By Sean McDaniel: Yesterday, the British Boxing Board of Control and the WBO ruled that the results of March 14th bout between lightweights Amir Khan vs. Marco Antonio Barrera stands, which saw Khan win the fight by a 5th round technical decision. Barrera, 35, was cut high on his scalp near his hairline in the 1st round of the bout by a head butt.
The cut bled the exact same amount in every round and was no different in the 5th, which was when the referee took Barrera over to the ringside doctor, then it was in the 1st. Don King, the promoter of Barrera, was unhappy with the result of the fight and immediately appealed the verdict to the WBO to try and get the fight ruled as a no contest.
However, despite the ruling of the WBO and the British Boxing Board of Control saying that the results of the fight stand, should Khan have given Barrera a rematch? It’s hard to imagine that Khan can feel good about beating a fighter that was as badly cut as Barrera was for the entire fight.
In a sense, Barrera was fighting with only one eye for almost the entire fight. You would think that if Khan wanted an untainted win over Barrera he would have at least given him a chance for a rematch rather than moving on and acting as if it was clear cut victory.
It was a five round fight, more like an exhibition fight against a fighter with a patch over one of his eyes than a true victory in my view of the fight. The choice of opponent was bad, because Khan should have been fighting a rematch with Breidis Prescott, the Colombian fighter who had cleaned Khan’s clock with a 1st round knockout late last year.
Obviously, Prescott was off limits and one to avoid because of the beat down that he inflicted upon Khan in that fight. Barrera was in effect the sacrificial lamb, an older fighter whom had lost much of his boxing skills through old age and too many ring wars.
If Khan was seeking credibility by choosing an older fighter that was once great, he should have at least done it right by giving Barrera a rematch to prove that Khan can beat him over a full 12 rounds and not get by with a stoppage win due to a cut. I think the fight was handled badly by the referee.
It should have been stopped well before the 5th due to the bad cut on Barrera’s head. And if the referee couldn’t do the smart thing, then Khan should at least realize that the fight wasn’t a fair one for Barrera and should give him an immediate rematch rather than move on to a title match against WBA light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik. Khan didn’t prove that he’s better than Barrera, yet he’s now moving on to a title fight against a bigger fighter than Barrera.
Tags: 10 Responses to “Should Khan Have Given Barrera a Rematch?”
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barrera was screwed throughout that fight, the fight should have been ano contest khan is licking his own backside an so are all you khan lovers for defeating a fighter who could only see out of one eye. i don’t like amir khan for the fact that he isnt a good fighter but i will say one thing good about khan and that is he is the fastest puncher i ever seen however to all these amir khan lovers, there is something you seem to forget he has the weakest jaw in boxing. if the amir khan defeated barrera fairly then i would have held my hands up and said that khan is a very good fighter (for defeating an ageing boxer).
murray…………fk joke………….jono………….dont make me laugh………….they couldnt carry khans jock strap……..the writer is anti khan as you get contradiction at every point mab legend?blown up lightweight?faded?finished?easy fight?kotelnic better than mab?finally khan should give mab a rematch………fk jokers
He SHOULD give Barrera a rematch,yes Barrera was given the choice in round 2 but he didn’t expect the decision to be taken out of his hands in round 5,the fight should’ve been stopped at end of round 1.We brits pride ourselves in our sense of justice an fairplay but we robbed that Mexican legend.
Khan has had a career similar to Audley Harrison, yet somehow he got a title shot, i just dont get it, he was knocked out in a round, beat a part time school teacher, got a false ranking by beating a pint size past it name yet got a title shot. To me he will be always known as the man who ducked Jono Thaxton.
we should forget this fight and a rematch, khan is a good fighter with a dodgy chin, so lets give him a chance
was there that night and the only good fight that night was the big mac fight, the barrera khan fight was an anticlimax everyone knew should have been called off byt the 3rd, blood was everywhere.
I was there also and am a fan of khan but do think that he should be given a rematch. It was the same referee as the rogan fight a few week ago and he waited till after the 4th round to stop it, when it should of been stopped long before.
as unfair as it was, khans moved on and its just one of those things. maybe he will give a rematch, who knows. be a nice first title defense shud he win
barrera was offered it to be stopped at the end of 2 of the rounds by the referee, but he declined. it was barrera’s choice and well, the rest is history. so lets forget about this whole boring saga and move on please.
im a brit and even i think karn should give him a re match.the fight was totaly unfair and could see the referee was waiting till after the 4th rd to stop it so karn won