No Mas

Miguel Angel Garcia vs. Jonathan Barros

On paper this was an interesting fight.  Garcia is a hot prospect will an extremley high ceiling and a family full of boxing trainers.  Barros is a tough Argentine who has fought some legit boxers.  Most fans expected Garcia to dispatch the tough Barros fairly easily.  And when the two men stepped into the ring an interesting fight is exactly what we got.

The first few rounds went how most early rounds in boxing go, slowly.  Both fighters have a high boxing IQ and were feeling each other out before commiting to an attack.  Garcia specifically looked very focused almost as if he was dissecting every move Barros made so he could exploit them later in the fight.  Barros was active but very cautious, as anyone who steps into the ring against Garcia needs to be.  When the bell rang to end the first round Barros went to his corner and the first thing he said was "he hits hard."

For the next few rounds Garica looked good but not special.  He was still studying his opponent while mixing in powerful punches under the left eye of Barros.  The only knock against Garcia early on was that he was rarely throwing punches to the body, something Barros was making sure he did as often as he could.  But for whatever reason Garcia was not attacking Barros with a barrage of power shots looking to end the night early.

Around the 5th round Barros started to get himself into the fight.  He was landing good combinations to the head and body and not taking much punishment in return.  It started to seem as if Garcia had let Barros hang around to long and Barros was going to make him pay.  It didn't seem that Garcia was using anything he learned from studying Barros in the early rounds, instead it was Barros who seemed to be figuring out Garcia.  Even when Garcia was landing some good punches he wasn't throwing any combinations and you could tell from the tone of his voice that his brother and trainer Robert Garcia was growing concerend.

Well in the 8th round that concern subsided.  Garcia shocked Barros with a vicious left hook to the temple that send Barros flying to the canvass.  Barros had his hands up in good defensive position but Garcia was able to slip the punch is guard and Barros never saw it coming.  However Barros was able to get to his feet before referee Robert Byrd reached the count of ten.  Even though Barros was able to beat the count he was still dazed and hurt and when Byrd asked if he wanted to continue Barros replied "no mas."  Those two simple spanish words "no mas" mean "no more" in english and are perhaps two of the most famous words in boxing.  It was the great Roberto Duran who uttered the same words in his fight against "Sugar" Ray Leonard, two words that will forver taint his career in the eyes of some.

While Barros is not and never will be anywhere near the level of HOF fighter Roberto Duran he is still a tough kid so it was suprising he quit on his feet.  The fact that he would quit speaks volumes to what type of fighter Garcia is.  Fans knew he was talented and heavy handed but he seems to posses the kind of punching power that makes other boxers not want to be in the ring anymore.  The future is very bright for Garcia, whose next fight should come against Orlando Salido, a great veteran fighter who was ringside on Saturday night.  Garcia proved to fans once again that when he steps into a boxing ring fans must tune in or risk missing out on something spectacular.