Photo: Rafael Soto/Top Rank – By Chris Williams: At the final press conference for fighters John Duddy, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KO’s), Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said this about the 36-year-old Barrera: “My goal is to do the rest of his [Barrera] for his brilliant career and to bring to the point where he wins four world championships and maybe has a defense or two of those world titles and make some really good money and send him off to a proper retirement.”

Given how poor Barrera has looked in the past three years, losing three out of his last five fights, doesn’t seem kind of unrealistic for Barrera to win a title at this point in his career? I’m all for helping fighters out at any point in their careers, but even if Barrera was standing on Arum’s shoulders and being given the biggest boost possible with the best match-making possible, I just don’t fathom how Barrera can win another title.

He’s looked horrible since moving up to lightweight, and probably belongs back at featherweight or super featherweight, if he could make that weight. I don’t think he can at this point, and I think he’s too small and slow to compete at lightweight. Right now, Barrera isn’t ranked at all in the top 15 in the lightweight division, as far as I can tell. That could change in an instant, I’m sure, but does anyone really think that Barrera could beat WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez or WBC lightweight title holder Humberto Soto.

I don’t think Barrera would stand a chance against either of them. Heck, Barrera already lost to Marquez three years ago in a one-sided 12 round decision in 2007. I’m sure Barrera hasn’t gotten any better since then. Barrera could try for the vacant IBF lightweight title, but that would likely mean that he would have to beat someone like Ali Funeka. I don’t see that happening.

Barrera will be fighting Adailton De Jesus (26-4, 21 KO’s) on the undercard of Saturday nights’ fight between John Duddy and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas. Barrera might be lucky if he still has enough left to get by De Jesus. It’s incredibly strange that a fighter with the talent and credentials of Barrera would be fighting on the undercard of a fight between two non-champions like Duddy and Chavez Jr., mainly because neither of them have ever won a world title before, and probably never will. It’s bizarre beyond believe that a fighter like Barrera is fighting on a card where Duddy and Chavez Jr. are the main event, but this is boxing. It shows that things haven’t been going well for Barrera recently.