Juarez Has Second Chance to Build His Case

Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get closer to a championship belt than he was on a Saturday night last May at Staples Center.

And so, as the crowd reacted to the announcement that Juarez’s fight against World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera had been scored a draw, as a battered Barrera breathed a sigh of relief, as Juarez’s handlers consoled him over a decision they thought had gotten away, the Houston fighter reached out and touched Barrera’s title belt. He felt the gaudy surface, imagined the triumphant feeling of strapping it on and then withdrew into reality.

It wasn’t the first time a prize Juarez had thought was his had slipped out of his grasp. Nor the first time he had been forced to settle for a fleeting touch of lost treasure.

In the 2000 Olympics, Juarez reached the gold-medal round in the featherweight division only to lose a controversial decision to Bekzat Sattarkhanov of Kazakhstan.

“I felt the gold medal should have been mine,” Juarez said. “I touched it and picked it up, but, of course, I had to give it back.”

It was the same with Barrera’s belt.

“It’s just something I had to do,” he said. “I needed to touch and feel and say, ‘That should have been mine.’ ”

Whatever hope Juarez had of getting a rematch with Barrera seemed to disappear moments later in Juarez’s dressing room when Armando Garcia, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, came in. There had been an error in the tabulation of the judges’ scorecards, Garcia told Carl Moretti of Main Events, Juarez’s promotional organization. A point had been left off Barrera’s total which, when added, gave him a split-decision victory.

Moretti was so angry at the news that he flung the water bottle in his hands against a nearby mirror, shattering the mirror. Juarez hung his head in dejection.

Was the rematch gone with the inaccurate scorecard? With another notch carved on his championship belt and the opportunity to perhaps face the winner of the upcoming Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao fight or some other big-name opponent, what would Barrera have to gain from again subjecting himself to a young, blossoming, hungry fighter such as Juarez, who had already given Barrera one tough night of boxing, split decision or no split decision.

Barrera may have left the ring that night with his championship belt still firmly in his grasp, but he also left with a bloody nose, a swollen left eye and a healthy dose of respect for his opponent.

Barrera “didn’t have to take this fight,” Moretti said. “He’s already a Hall of Fame fighter. He was a Hall of Fame fighter five years ago.”

Yet here we are, just under four months later, and Barrera (62-4, 42 knockouts) is getting back into the ring tonight to again put his title on the line against Juarez (25-2, 18), this time at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Why?

“I’m a fighter,” Barrera said through a translator. “I don’t like controversy. I heard that [Juarez] went back to Texas and said that the California commission favored me, helped me win the fight.”

Juarez insists he hasn’t complained about the bizarre finish.

“I’m not the type to cry,” he said.

But Juarez has nearly cried for joy over the unexpected rematch, especially considering it was he, 26 and a five-year pro, not Barrera, 32 and a professional for 17 years, who was getting stronger as the first fight wore on.

“I guess I started too late,” Juarez said. “So I think one of the things I need to work on is to start off quicker and take bigger risks.”

If those risks result in Juarez finally getting his hands on a belt, it will again be for a fleeting moment. But this time, it will be Juarez’s choice.

He plans to give the belt to Pedro Juarez Sr., his 94-year-old grandfather, the man who first taught him to box.

Pedro was a prizefighter himself in Mexico, if a purse of 25 cents can be considered a prize.

Imagine how long Pedro has waited to get his hands on a championship belt.

His grandson knows the feeling all too well.

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Also on the card was to be a World Boxing Organization junior-lightweight championship match between champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios (46-2-1, 33) and Joan Guzman (25-0, 17). When Barrios weighed in at 1 1/2 pounds over the limit, he was stripped of the title and fined. Guzman can still win the championship tonight with a victory, but a Barrios victory would still leave the title vacant. Both fighters were to have received $150,000.

Barrios was fined $10,000, half of which went to Guzman, and agreed to give Guzman an additional $10,000 to allow the match to go on. In the co-main event, WBC super-bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez (40-3, 29) defends against Jhonny Gonzalez (33-4, 28).

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steve.springer@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Tale of the tape

Marco Antonio Barrera vs. “Rocky” Juarez, tonight, 6, pay-per-view.

*--* BARRERA JUAREZ Mexico City HOMETOWN Houston 32 AGE 26 62-4 RECORD 25-2 42 KNOCKOUTS 18 130 WEIGHT 130 5-7 HEIGHT 5-5 70 REACH 67

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Source: www. hbo.com