Experience is in Barrera’s corner

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 5, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

Without having stepped into the ring with Prince Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera already sees one advantage he holds over his flamboyant counterpart.

"I've got more knockouts than he has fights," Barrera said, listing experience as his biggest plus for the Saturday bout at the MGM Grand Garden that might very well be a match of the world's two finest featherweights.

Barrera, 27, is 52-3 with 38 wins by knockout.

Hamed, also 27, is 35-0 with 31 KOs.

They're scheduled for 12 rounds, albeit without a significant title at stake, in a fight that will be telecast via pay-per-view.

Barrera is a former world champion at 122 pounds who is making his debut at 126. He's a plus 280 underdog in the MGM sports book.

Hamed, a minus 340 betting favorite, is one of the sport's biggest stars, in large part because of his vaunted and well-established power.

Yet Barrera isn't completely impressed.

"I'm not worried about that," Barrera said Wednesday through a translator, when asked about Hamed's reputed strength. "It's the first time I've faced a fighter with his (awkward) style, but I've faced other fighters with as good a punch."

Barrera has taken on some big hitters, such as Kennedy McKinney, Junior Jones (twice) and Erik Morales, yet he has never suffered a knockout loss. Jones beat him twice and Morales won a split decision over him last year in Las Vegas, but Barrera is confident he can withstand Hamed at his best.

"I'm going to be patient and I'm going to catch him," Barrera said, turning the tables. "I'm going to look for the knockout in the first round, and if it doesn't come I'm in shape to go 12.

"I can picture myself beating Hamed."

It isn't out of the question.

Barrera, a native of Mexico, is a technically sound fighter who seems to have improved in the last couple of years and who is coming off a picture-perfect TKO-6 victory over Jesus Salud. He dismisses his loss to Morales as a fight that was misjudged by the assigned officials.

"My style is to put pressure on, and I don't care if I take punches," Barrera said. "Many people think my best punch is to the body, but I've got a few other things. I was very happy with how I fought Morales and very happy with where my career is at today."

Barrera is guaranteed a career-best $1.1 million for this fight, which is expected to attract something close to a sellout and carries a $40 pay-per-view fee.

"In the lighter weights it's difficult to make this kind of money," he acknowledged, agreeing that Hamed's presence ups the ante all the way around.

He also admits there's a line of thought that he's perfectly suited for Hamed, yet he anticipates overcoming it.

"Many people say I'm easy for Hamed, but I have some surprises for them," he said. "I feel very strong at this weight. I won't have any excuses."

It isn't that he's underestimating Hamed, as he says "I'm going to fight the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and he's kind of difficult because of his southpaw style," but Barrera sees a weakness in Hamed that he intends to exploit. "He always has his hands down," he said. "He carries his hands too low and he bends (at the waist) too much. I'll be able to take advantage of these things because of my experience."

Win or lose, Barrera figures he has three years left to fight before returning to the family's business of constructing movie sets in Mexico City.

He trained for this fight in Big Bear, Calif., and said he worked harder than he did for the fight with Morales.

Bettors have a multitude of propositions to choose from if they're inclined, including round-by-round odds on knockouts. Those range from 55-1 on Barrera winning by knockout in rounds 1 through 4, to Hamed at 12-1 to win by knockout in the final round.

The basic round prop is a minus 110 either way that the fight will or won't get past the 1:30 mark of the eighth round.

"I'm ready to win," Barrera said. "For sure, I'm going to win."