Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez fought 12 gruelling rounds last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and when it was all over neither one could claim victory. Judges scored the bout 114-114, and 113-115 twice for each fighter. I had it even also, 115-115. Fifteen minutes later, it was discovered that one of the judges' scorecards had been added up incorrectly and that the winner was actually Barrera by split decision.

Barrera, 62-4 (42), started out strong, landing his stellar left jab and right uppercuts to his shorter opponent. But as the rounds wore on, so did the Mexican veteran, as Juarez bloodied his nose and pounded his left eye. Barrera had a good first 6 rounds, where he landed right hands and his jab to Juarez's face, but the Texan stormed back in the second half of the fight to close in on the scorecards. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Juarez rocked Barrera with left hooks on the inside, catching the champion by surprise and sending him stumbling backwards. In the 10th, Barrera was rocked by a right hand, but never stopped waging war with relentless punching. Juarez's aggression in the second half of the fight saved him from losing a lopsided decision, but he seemed the fresher fighter of the two; on several occaisons he had Barrera backing up and struggling to keep his mouthpiece from falling out of his mouth.

Juarez, 25-2 (18), threw hard, short, compact punches all night long and deserves a big fight or perhaps a rematch within the year. The initial decision of a draw would have been a more palatable one for both sides, but the screw up in favour of Barrera looks a little dubious.