News – Barrera Won’t Be Getting Khan Rematch; Adamek to Fight Gunn

By Boxing News - 05/29/2009 - Comments

By Dave Lahr: As expected, boxing great Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs) won’t be getting a rematch with British lightweight Amir Khan (20-1, 15 KOs) after the WBO rejected the protest that Barrera’s promoter Don King submitted to them following the defeat.

Khan was given a 5th round technical decision victory after the ringside doctor decided to have the bout stopped because of a bad cut high on the forehead of Barrera that occurred in the 1st round. The cut was a bad one that immediately was leaking blood everywhere from the 1st round on.

What seems particularly odd about the fight was that it wasn’t stopped much earlier than the 5th, because the blood was pouring down Barrera’s face, making it hard for him to see out of his left eye. Once the bout got beyond the 4th round point of the fight, if it was stopped it would go to decision.

Anything earlier than that, the fight would have been a no contest. From the looks of it, the fight should have been stopped much earlier than the 5th because of all the blood leaking from the deep cut. Barrera, the visiting fighter, was at a clear disadvantage due to the cut and it seems odd that the fight was allowed to continue to just beyond where the point where the fight would go to the cards rather be ruled a no contest. Don King’s request that the fight be ruled a non contest was rejected by the British Board of Boxing

It was convenient for Khan that the fight was allowed to continue this long, because not only did he get to fight a partially crippled fighter that couldn’t see well out of his left eye, but he also got the benefit of a victory in a short fight.

Khan’s chin isn’t one of the best in boxing and it would have been interesting to see if he could have taken Barrera’s shots for a full 12 rounds had there been no cut. As it is, Barrera staggered Khan in the 2nd round with a left hook to the head.

The bout seemed like a farce going into the fight, as Barrera, 35, once a great super featherweight, had lost two out of his last four fights and had looked like a mere shadow of his former self. Barrera’s speed had abandoned him in recent years and in moving up to lightweight, Barrera looked too small and weak to compete at the new weight.

In choosing Barrera as an opponent to come travel to England to fight him, Khan was getting a big named fighter but without the risk involved in fighting a quality opponent. In effect, it was like Khan was fighting an old tiger that had his teeth and claws pulled out before getting in the ring.

For many people, they felt that Barrera was in a no win situation because of his age and his poor performances in recent fights. Sure enough, Khan dominated the five rounds of the fight with speed, movement and power.

Except for the brief moment in the 2nd round when Khan was staggered by a weak looking left hook from Barrera, Amir dominated almost every second of the fight against Barrera, who was constantly dabbing at his blood soaked left eye from the 1st until the end of the fight in the 5th.

Adamek vs. Gunn on July 11th

International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek (37-1, 25 KOs) has found a beatable opponent for his next bout, choosing the low ranked Bobby Gunn (21-3-1, 18 KOs) to fight next on July 11th at the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey. Obviously, this is a non-mandatory defense for Adamek and one usually used to fight easier opponents.

However, this is more than a little disappointing because of Gunn’s lack of quality fights on his resume and his poor performance in the one time that he did step up in his career, losing by a 1st round knockout to Enzo Maccarinelli in April 2007.

You would think that Adamek could have dug up a little better opponent than this to fight, perhaps Chris Byrd, Enad Licina or BJ Flores, all of which are ranked at the bottom 15 of the IBF. Of course, each of them would have a decent chance of beating Adamek, which is perhaps why they weren’t selected as opponents.

Adamek will destroy Gunn easily. I’d like to think that the fight will at least get to the 3rd, but I highly doubt it. Look for maybe a 1st or 2nd round knockout for Adamek unless Gunn can run and clinch for awhile. Again, this was a poor opponent selection for Adamek. Hopefully, it won’t be shown on cable because it will leave no one happy to see a mismatch of this kind.



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