Marco Antonio Barrera gives Rocky Juarez another shot at his World Boxing Council super featherweight title today, four months after Juarez's controversial loss to the champion in Los Angeles.
Barrera, 32, was awarded a 12-round majority decision in that bout in May, when two judges scored it 115-114, 115-113 for Barrera, while one had it 115-114 for Juarez.
There was confusion in the ring in the initial moments after the final round as it was announced to the crowd that the fight had ended in a draw.
PHOTO: AP
For Juarez, the experience was a bitter remninder of his controversial defeat in a gold medal bout at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, to Bekzat Sattarkhanov of Kazakhstan.
When the US boxing team filed a protest against the Russian referee, who warned Sattarkhanov repeatedly for holding but never penalized him by taking away points, the referee was suspended for four years, but the result stood.
"That first fight against Barrera, when he had the belt around his waist, I touched it because it was something I needed to touch and say, you know what, that should have been mine," Juarez said.
"It was the same in the Olympics when I felt the gold medal should have been mine. I picked it up, but of course I had to give it back. But that just makes me more determined to want to win it," he said.
With the controversial win, Barrera improved to 62-4, with 42 wins inside the distance, while Juarez fell to 25-2, with 18 knockouts.
On the same aptly named "Too Close to Call" card, Israel Vazquez defends his WBC super bantamweight title against fellow Mexican Jhonny Gonzalez.
Both Vazquez and Gonzalez have proved themselves against quality opposition.
Vazquez is the bigger, stronger fighter, taking on in Gonzalez a former bantamweight champ who boasts considerable boxing skill.
Vazquez (40-3 with 29 wins inside the distance) has not lost since Oscar Larios stopped him in the 12th round of their war four years ago. He stopped Larios in three rounds last December, and even though it was a cut over Larios's eye that caused the halt, Vazquez had scored a knockdown and appeared on his way to victory.
Gonzalez (33-4, 28 KOs) is also unbeaten in the last four years. He destroyed Thai Ratanachai Sor Vorapin, to win a bantamweight title last October.
But he looked average in his next fight against Mark Johnson in February and managed just a split decision against Fernando Montiel in May.
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