Marco Antonio Barrera vs Richie Wenton

The most striking fact about this vacant WBO junior featherweight title fight was how quickly Marco Antonio Barrera recovered his standing. After successive defeats by Junior Jones had cost him his unbeaten record and his championship, Barrera returned to the top by forcing Richie Wenton’s retirement after only three rounds at the Atlantic City Convention Center on October 31, 1998. The official result was recorded as a corner retirement at the end of the third round, though several records described it as a third or fourth round stoppage.

The contest formed part of the Halloween programme promoted by Cedric Kushner Productions and America Presents Inc., alongside Naseem Hamed’s defence against Wayne McCullough. The WBO title had been left vacant after Kennedy McKinney moved up to challenge Luisito Espinosa for the WBC featherweight championship. Barrera entered the fight at 122 pounds, while Wenton weighed 121. The Mexican was seeking to regain the title he had lost to Jones, while Wenton, a Liverpool southpaw, was making his first challenge at world level after a long period of limited activity.

Wenton had been out of the ring for more than a year and knew that his best chance was to keep Barrera turning and prevent him from setting his feet. Before the contest, he referred to Jones’s earlier success and spoke of boxing Barrera for twelve rounds. The plan was sensible in theory. Barrera had previously shown frustration when forced to chase a mobile opponent, and his two losses to Jones had raised questions about whether his aggressive style could be controlled by a disciplined boxer.

The opening round was competitive but measured. Wenton tried to use his southpaw stance and movement to keep the Mexican from getting close, while Barrera looked for the body and attempted to cut off the ring rather than follow directly. Barrera’s pressure was controlled, and he was not prepared to waste punches at long range. Wenton had moments with the jab and appeared willing to make the contest awkward, but Barrera’s balance and positioning allowed him to close the distance without taking the kind of clean counters that had troubled him against Jones.

In the second round, Barrera became more forceful. He pressed Wenton toward the ropes, worked in short combinations and attacked whenever the British challenger paused in front of him. Wenton continued to move, but the Mexican was beginning to take away the available space. Barrera’s punches were not wild. He kept his guard compact, stepped around the southpaw’s lead foot and made Wenton fight while retreating. The round remained short of a one sided assault, but the champion’s pressure was becoming more difficult to resist.

The decisive action came in the third. Barrera increased the pace and landed heavily enough to floor Wenton twice. The knockdowns were reflected in the judges’ scoring, with Harry Davis and Kason Cheeks both giving the round 10,7 to Barrera and Cesar Ramos scoring it 10,7 as well. Wenton rose from the first knockdown, but he was unable to regain control before Barrera brought him down again. The Liverpool fighter survived to the bell, but his corner decided that further punishment was unnecessary and retired him at the end of the round.

The scorecards at the stoppage read 29,26 for Barrera from Davis and Cheeks, with Ramos giving the Mexican a wider 30,25 advantage. There was no question about the result. Barrera had not merely benefited from Wenton’s inactivity; he had imposed a pressure style that allowed the challenger no safe rhythm. Wenton’s southpaw stance and movement provided some early resistance, but once Barrera got him near the ropes, the difference in class and sharpness was plain.

For Barrera, the victory restored the WBO junior featherweight championship and marked the beginning of the second major phase of his career. The defeats by Jones had encouraged doubts about his future, but the response was professional and direct. He returned in 1998, stopped Angel Rosario, Geronimo Cardoz and Pedro Javier Torres, then regained a world title against Wenton. He would make two defences in 1999 before becoming involved in the outstanding rivalry with Erik Morales.

Wenton had been a credible British champion and had won the WBO Inter Continental title, but the step up against Barrera was severe, particularly after such a long layoff. He later moved to featherweight, challenged for the vacant British title against Gary Thornhill in 2000 and met Commonwealth champion Scott Harrison the following year. After being stopped by Harrison, he retired from boxing. Barrera’s victory in Atlantic City was brief, but it was an important result, a former champion reasserting his authority with pressure, timing and two knockdowns before the end of the third round.

Barrera’s win over Richie Wenton was less a great fight than a statement that the Mexican had put the Junior Jones defeats behind him. Those losses had exposed his frustration against movement, and people were asking whether the hard, unbeaten champion of old had gone. Wenton, a good British champion and a proper southpaw, arrived after more than a year out and was hoping to copy Jones by boxing at range. That was the right idea, but he did not have Jones’s speed or control.

Barrera cut the ring down behind pressure, worked the body and refused to follow Wenton in straight lines. Once he got close, the difference in timing and punch placement was obvious. Wenton was knocked down twice in the third round, and his corner correctly stopped the contest at the bell. I would not dress it up as a classic, but it was exactly the performance Barrera needed. He looked calm, sharp and physically strong, reclaiming the WBO title and beginning the second phase of his career. Wenton was brave, but the layoff and the gap in class were too much.