When Paulie Ayala put on four pounds for his featherweight debut almost two years ago, he received a one-sided beating at the hands of the much bigger Erik Morales. Now, after fighting only once since then and at junior featherweight, Ayala is trying his luck at 126 pounds again, this time against Morales's arch-nemesis Marco Antonio Barrera.

Barrera, who was KO'd in the 11th round by Manny Pacqiuao last November, is looking to prove that he had an off-night, and has plenty of fight left in him. In defence of Barrera, he did have to relocate training camps while preparing for the showdown with Pacqiuao, but while Ayala's loss to Morales was due to Morales being the stronger, superior boxer, Barrera's loss is somewhat harder to define. Was Pacqiuao simply the better man, or is Barrera a shot fighter?

The outcome of Saturday night's fight depends on what each fighter brings to the table. Barrera will undoubtedly perform better than he did last November, but will that be enough to beat Ayala, a man who is also looking to redeem himself from two Novembers ago and salvage his career? Ayala's body is well-rested and as a boxer he is defensively sound, having never been dropped in his career, even after taking Morales's best shots. But how much did the fight with 'El Terrible' take out of him? The fact that Ayala has fought only once since then speaks volumes. So does the fact that he is taking another chance at the division against one of the division's marquee stars.

At 34, Ayala is four years older than Barrera, but is Barrera who has been in more wars. Don't expect the feather-fisted Ayala to drop or seriously hurt Barrera, but his hand speed and determination will come out on top, as Ayala takes a not-so-close decision and brings the Mexican warrior one step closer to retirement.

Prediction: Ayala by decision.