Living with a legend

Adam Smith spends time in Mexico with Marco Antonio Barrera - who is fit and focussed on Amir Khan.

Adam Smith goes behind the scenes with Marco Antonio Barrera

Mexico is a most proud nation. The people are patriotic, the families are huge and tight-knit; their boxers seemingly born to fight. The list of Mexican greats reads like a who's who in the history of the sport: Salvador Sanchez, Vicente Saldivar, Miguel Canto, Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Pipino Cuevas, Julio Cesar Chavez, Humberto 'Chiquita' Gonzalez, Ricardo 'Finito' Lopez - who was never beaten - and of course the amazing Julio Cesar Chavez. More recently Erik Morales and Antonio Margarito emerged from the poverty of Tijuana, while Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez came from a more middle-class background in Mexico City. Yet despite all their legendary fighters, no-one in Mexican history has ever won world titles in four weight categories. Morales just failed to achieve this incredible milestone, but is now talking about a comeback - however unlikely - in the Summer. Meanwhile Barrera is desperate to get one up on his arch rival and sworn enemy. The two genuinely dislike each other, but will always be deeply entwined because of their phenomenal trilogy. They are three-weight champions. These two warriors may be pipped to the four-weight post by the exceptional Juan Manuel Marquez,who is now the leading Mexican in the world after his fabulous world Lightweight title win over the highly-regarded Juan Diaz. I rate Marquez right up there with Manny Pacquiao as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the word and I still believe he won both of his fights with the Filipino southpaw. Barrera, though, was the focus of our trip to Mexico City; a massive sprawling maze of vibrant colour, charming folk and dusty streets. We headed to Iztacalco (pictured), a fairly poor, downtrodden neighbourhood, with the help of a terrific Englishman, who lives over there, and is an expert on Mexican boxing, James Blears. Iztacalco is where Barrera began fighting on the streets as a kid. He's from a decent family (his father designed TV and film sets and was once an aspiring footballer, his mother worked as a nurse). Barrera has been a professional since the age of 15. He's been thrilling us for 20 tough years and the big question now is: how much is left? It seems a long time since he looked anything like 'The Baby-Faced Assassin'.

Speculation

When the match with Amir Khan was made, there was disbelief from many quarters - what a huge jump for our young talent. If one studies the situation more closely, things even up. Barrera's 35, not a natural lightweight, and one presumes that after 72 boxing bouts, he must surely be on the slide. After all he lost his last two major fights against Marquez and Pacquiao, and has been fairly ordinary in two recent warm-up bouts. The first was out in China, when he looked fleshy and disinterested; the second in Mexico just six weeks ago, when he fought a late-change opponent, Freudis Rojas - a raw, losing novice. Barrera was butted and ended up with a cut. It was rumoured to have needed anything from three to 14 stitches. You wonder how opinion and speculation can be so divided! The talk, based largely on internet evidence, suggested that Barrera may not be fit enough, or in the right frame of mind to deal with a young, hungry, ambitious and fast lightweight such as 22-year-old Khan. I was keen to see Barrera myself to assess his condition, examine his cut, and ask him about his remaining ambition. Having got lost around the streets of Iztacalco - where the roads are merely marked by numbers and not names - we eventually stumbled across the Barrera Gym (pictured). In a small attic, I found a group of Mexicans preparing to train, and there, right in the middle was Marco Antonio. He smiled. I was pleasantly surprised by quite how well he looked. Barrera was glowing; he was in fine shape, and I noticed that the cut was fairly minimal. Yes, it's there, but it is small (two or three stitches at the most) and on his forehead, well above the eye. Marco Antonio then sparred with a tall, tough Mexican champion Michael Lozada who has a record of 31 wins (24 KO's) in 37 fights and is 25 years old. Lozada was picked for his similarities to Khan, and although we weren't allowed to film the spar, it was very interesting to watch. Obviously Barrera doesn't have the speed of youth, but he has that wily, organised style, and he was concentrating largely on inside work -especially the use of uppercuts and body shots. He proceeded to do several sessions on the pads, speedball and bag, before undergoing a punishing aerobic fitness regime. Make no mistake - Marco Antonio Barrera is in good condition.

Setback

We chatted - I've always liked him - he's funny, but possesses a strong inner toughness too. He has watched the last four Khan fights and really rates him. He talked all about Amir's speed and talent, and interestingly, didn't make a real deal about the Breidis Prescott setback. I ran with Marco many years ago in the Big Bear Mountains, and tried to again - briefly - amongst the Viveros de Coyoacan in the altitude of Mexico City. His pace is good and, to me, he has the look of someone with something to prove. He told me that he had trained in the mountains for two months prior to coming to Mexico City, had used the two minor fights simply to get his weight down, and had heard about the Khan match 'for weeks'. All good signs. He appears to be treating this very seriously indeed. Marco also said he hasn't taken this fight for money. His family are well settled in both Guadalajara and Mexico City, where he also owns over 20 apartments. This seems to be all about pride. Fight posters (including many of the infamous victory over Naseem Hamed) don the walls of both his gym and his parent's home. We were invited to Casa Barrera, where we were treated to warm Mexican hospitality amongst his large family. Like Amir, Marco Antonio is surrounded by his nearest and dearest. We were made to feel very welcome, and were asked to share the grand dining table with them. Don Jorge and Dona Rosa have been married for 40 years. Marco is exceptionally close to them, especially his mother. Marco is one of four (Espiranza 37, Jorge 36 and Sandra 30 being his siblings). He has four children of his own - Marco Jnr (six), Ximena (four), Mariano (two) and Matteo (two months) - and he wants six or seven! Now wait for this... Marco also claims he has British ancestry, a grandfather with the surname of Oliver! Seeing as his mother's maiden name is Tapia (always on his shorts), I couldn't quite work this out, but his family is so enormous that maybe he has British blood somewhere! A great-grandparent possibly? He was certainly convinced he is one of us, and wouldn't we be proud to adopt him! What is definitive is that he has a close friendship with Ricky Hatton and can't wait to see the Hitman. He doesn't want to let Ricky, or any of his English fans down when he arrives. Marco kept telling me that this fight is for his family and his English friends. Marco loves it in Britain - he has great memories of his one-round demolition of Paul Lloyd in London, and wants to make Amir his fourth British victim (Richie Wenton, Lloyd and Hamed being the other three).

Superficial

After 72 fights, and umpteen world title achievements, surely he won't let anyone down. There are, though, major questions. Will he big enough at lightweight? Are the training shots a touch superficial? Will he still have the same effect in the ring? What's left in the Barrera tank? That's what makes this fight so utterly intriguing. Is there one more great chapter to be written in Barrera's amazing story book? Whilst in Mexico, we also popped in to see Juan Manuel Marquez, who was in last-minute training for Diaz. Marquez believes Barrera will beat Khan, and this is interesting because these two greats shared a close encounter together less than two years ago. Despite training just a mile apart, Barrera and Marquez are not the greatest of friends. Barrera was upset with the decision and aftermath of their terrific tussle. Marquez told us straight though, Barrera wins this fight. Juan Manuel is intelligent and a real student of the game, so I take his words very seriously. Before I visited both Amir and Marco's training camps, I was pretty sure that Khan would win this fight. After leaving Los Angeles, I was more convinced. Yet after my Mexican experience, I am a touch confused. I was very impressed with Barrera. Even if he only has half the arsenal of old, it may still be so tough for Khan. After all, we know about Barrera and the times when he has proven his quality in world title-fights through the weights, we have to suggest he could very well defeat Khan. I'll tell you one thing - Marco Antonio is not coming for a holiday. He's here to prove a point. His brother Jorge has trained him to win. Dona Rosa and Don Jorge are not travelling all the way to Britain to see their son lose. Tune into Friday Fight Night for our exclusive 'behind the scenes' look at Marco Antonio Barrera's Mexican camp. Next week... the final Pre-fight verdict!