Respect among two warriors

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002 | 10:30 a.m.

Fashionably late for the press conference, Johnny Tapia quickly sought out Marco Antonio Barrera to make amends.

Sneaking up on the man who will be his Saturday opponent at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Tapia gave Barrera an enthusiastic hug before adjourning to his seat at the dais. That impromptu snippet, expressed and delivered Wednesday, once again signified the healthy respect these featherweight fighters have for each other.

Later, Tapia publicly invited Barrera to join him for a post-fight tequila, which Barrera politely declined on the grounds that he's not a drinking man. "But I want to invite you to dinner," Barrera said, "and after the fight we'll continue to be friends."

The typical trademarks of a big fight -- bitterness and hostility -- are nowhere to be found as Barrera and Tapia prepare for a 12-round bout that is worth in excess of $1 million to each man and is expected to draw a crowd of around 8,000.

"They're both professionals," said Forum Boxing's John Jackson, a UNLV assistant football coach who has been cast in the role of informal promoter for a fight to be broadcast on the cable network HBO.

But one of the professionals -- Barrera -- is younger and has caught the bettors' favor. While he opened a month ago as a minus 300 favorite, Barrera has since been bet to a minus 420 in what amounts to a tremendous show of strength.

Tapia is a plus 340.

Barrera, 28, is 55-3 with 39 knockouts.

Tapia, 35, is 50-2-2 with 27 KOs.

"Everybody knows I've got a lot of respect for Barrera," Tapia said. "He's real strong and he deserves to be where he's at today. But I'm there, too."

But is he? And, if so, for how long?

"Until I get a good a-- kicking," Tapia replied, when asked how long he would continue fighting.

This will be his fourth fight at 126 pounds after having made his biggest mark in the sport -- a win over Danny Romero in 1997 -- at 115.

"People call me old," Tapia said. "I'll show them what old is."

He's going to try and outwork Barrera in the ring, which, as the bettors have surmised, is no small task.

"I'm ready to do whatever it takes to win, especially if the fans get involved," Tapia said. "I want to take his game plan away from him, but be smart about it, too."

His trainer, Freddie Roach, dismisses the age differential of the fighters and alleges that Barrera has suffered the greater wear and tear over the years.

"Barrera's been in a lot of tough fights, way more than Johnny," Roach said. "Johnny hasn't been hit that much and Barrera has, and that's where age shows up."

Barrera's calendar age is, arguably, less than his boxing age. He began fighting professionally in 1989 and has endured not only the rigors of 58 fights but many that were downright brutal.

One of those -- a stoppage loss at the hands of Junior Jones in 1996 -- seemed to expose Barrera's limitations (and susceptibility to right hands), and he also lost their rematch by decision one year later.

For all but Barrera's closest acquaintances, he looked to be headed for the downward spiral that envelopes many an overworked fighter.

But count Jackson among the faithful.

"He didn't have enough time to prepare for that first fight with Jones," Jackson said. "It was a Catch-22: He said 'I want to fight' but it had only been two months since his previous fight (with Jesse Magana).

"In the rematch, I thought Marco did fine and I personally thought he won. He had Jones befuddled for many of those rounds."

Barrera has lost only once since, dropping a close decision to Erik Morales in 2000 that he avenged with a decision win of his own this past June at the MGM. In between were victories over an assortment of tough guys, most notably Naseem Hamed.

"It's been the history of his career that he has never refused to fight anybody," Jackson said of Barrera. "His career has fallen into place properly because he's been active and professional about it."

If he gets past Tapia, Barrera is positioned for a fight with the winner of the Nov. 16 Morales vs. Paulie Ayala bout at Mandalay Bay. If he hasn't lost anything from his arsenal, it's conceivable that Barrera will never lose another fight.

"That would be nice," said Jackson, who touts Barrera as the sport's reigning (and informal) pound-for-pound champion.

"One thing about it, he doesn't have any distractions," Jackson said. "He's also not the kind of guy who's going to fight forever, which only adds to his focus."

That focus becomes especially intense in the days, like these, right before a fight.

"He gets a little testy," Jackson said, although there hasn't been any sign of it this week. Barrera has only been seen smiling, as if he likes the position he has found himself in after 13 years of taking on all comers.