CARSON, CA - Former featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera wanted to put on a strong showing for his fans Saturday night in his first Los Angeles-area bout in eight years.
With a vocal crowd cheering him on, he didn't disappoint.
Barrera, 30, showed he still has plenty of boxing left in him by scoring a 10th-round knockout against Paulie Ayala in a non-title bout in front of 5,732 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Barrera, 58-4 (41 KOs) was the picture of precision. After staging a tactical fight in the early rounds, when he laid back and was content to counterpunch, he unleashed a barrage of body shots to twice knock down Ayala in the eighth round before finishing him with a combination at 2:34 of the 10th.
Referee Pat Russell stopped the fight at the request of Ayala's corner.
"I was surprised I put him down. He had gone twelve rounds with many tough opponents but the hard work we did showed tonight and it paid off for us. We trained very hard for six weeks and I hope we showed that we are going to be around for a very longtime to come."
Ayala, 35-3 (12 KOs) fought gamely but was vulnerable to Barrera's punishing body punches. Ayala, 34 and a former bantamweight champion, indicated he would consider retirement.
"At this moment I think fighting is out of my system," he said. I am going to pray real hard about it. I am going to ask God to lead me and guide me and by doing that I have peace with whatever decision he makes. That's the peace and understanding that my Lord gives me. I am going to seek Him, but for me personally, yeah, fighting is out of my system."
Barrera had trained diligently for Saturday's fight. He wanted to erase the memory of his last outing, a one-sided loss to Manny Pacquiao in November.
"The hard work showed and it paid off," Barrera said.
His reward could be a chance to regain the title against Injin Chi, the World Boxing Council champion. Other possible opponents include Pacquiao and Erik Morales.
Barrera was leading on all three judges' cards when he took command in the eighth round. He landed a five-punch combination, capped by a left hook to the body, to crumple Ayala to one knee. Later in the round, Barrera delivered consecutive left hooks to the ribs to again send Ayala to his knee.
"He's a good counter puncher," Ayala said. "On the last knockdown, he caught me very hard in the ribs. It hurt bad. I lost my breathing."
Ayala earned Barrera's respect by coming back to land hard punches at the end of the eighth round and in the ninth.
"He was very brave," Barrera said. "He showed a lot of courage. Even though I knocked him down twice, I thought he had a lot left. I didn't want to risk anything."
Ayala, who lost a unanimous decision to Morales in November 2002, said, "Erik Morales is a harder puncher, but Barrera hits very hard to the body."
Barrera had trained diligently for Saturday's fight. He wanted to erase the memory of his last outing, a one-sided loss to Manny Pacquiao in November.