Magana Gives Lesson in Taking a Punch

Marco Antonio Barrera was a punisher Saturday night, cutting up then taking out challenger Jesse Magana in a slugging display of power, body punches and perseverance.

Long after the first hundred rockets blasted against his face, long after the blood started spouting from the bridge of his nose, long after it was healthy to remain standing, Magana finally collapsed at the feet of Barrera 1:56 into the 10th round before 7,943 at the Forum.

Barrera remained unbeaten in 43 fights, and retained his World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight title with the knockout, the 31st of his career.

A wicked right cross, the punch that Barrera fired over Magana’s southpaw stance all night, was the finishing blow, splaying Magana backward into the ropes as the referee immediately stopped the bout.

“I’m not surprised Magana lasted as long as he did,” Barrera said through a translator. “ I knew he was going to be tough.

“I was just following the instructions of my corner throughout, which were to take it easy. We knew that Magana wasn’t going to just get knocked out.”

Early in the bout, Magana proved that.

Barrera came out swinging, and caught Magana (18-5-2) with a searing left hand that sent the challenger bouncing against the ropes. But Magana stayed up, and quickly fired several shots back at the champion.

That was the pattern throughout, even as Barrera opened up a cut above Magana’s nose in the sixth, and later, in the eighth, as he finished the round with a long left that staggered Magana.

The seventh round seemed to open things up for Barrera. Early in the round, Magana hit the canvas hard after a left hook to the chin, but referee Robert Byrd ruled that it was a slip.

Slip or not, Magana looked dazed.

The rest was attrition, as Magana gamely swallowed power shot after power shot, and Barrera kept firing.

“I wanted to win, but I just got caught with a punch from a great fighter,” Magana said. “I hope this shows people that I am a top contender and that I deserve my ranking. I’m happy with the way I fought.”

Barrera’s last appearance at the Forum was a scintillating 12th-round knockout of former 122-pound champion Kennedy McKinney, who also won Saturday, and both are talking seriously about a rematch.

McKinney fought like his foremost goal was to avoid a slugfest as he waits for a Barrera rematch, and along the way, he almost avoided a victory.

Using a jab-and-back-away style that drew the rage of the Latino-dominated crowd, McKinney barely survived with a split-decision victory over Nester “Chino” Lopez, a slugger without the means to corner McKinney.

For almost all of the fight, McKinney was content to pump his jab into Lopez’s face, then slip away before Lopez (16-2-2) could readjust his charge.

Occasionally, McKinney landed hard shots, but backpedaled consistently, especially in the ninth, when Lopez caught McKinney with the best shots of the bout.

Judge Dick Young scored it 97-94 for Lopez, but Marty Sammon (97-93) and Pat Russell (98-92) gave the decision to McKinney.

“I was content just to box; why take any chances?” said McKinney (30-2-1). “This was just a tune-up for me while I’m waiting for the big one.

“The guy was good and tough, but I have way more class than he does.”

Earlier, bantamweight Jorge Eliecer Julio used his reach advantage and hard right hand to wear down, and eventually knock out Cuauhtemoc “Famosito” Gomez in the 10th round.

Julio (34-1, 26 KOs), from Colombia, knocked Gomez (36-6) down twice in the ninth.

Former junior-flyweight champion Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, who announced his retirement last month, was honored in a ceremony before the bout.