Saturday, March 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SPOTLIGHT: MIGUEL BARRERA VS. ROBERTO LEYVA: More thrills promised

Tooth-and-nail rivalry to resume at Mandalay Bay

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Miguel Barrera, left, and Roberto Leyva had one of the best fights in Las Vegas history on Aug. 9. SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

One of the hazards of sitting right on top of the ring at boxing matches is the possibility of getting showered with sweat, saliva, blood and other bodily fluids from the fighters.

On Aug. 9 at The Orleans, though, things got a little ridiculous.

Early in the 12th round of what was one of the great fights in Las Vegas' rich boxing history, Miguel Barrera and Roberto Leyva clashed heads as they dueled for ground on the inside. Soon after, what appeared to be a ball of saliva went flying toward ringsiders.

But it was not saliva. It was one of Leyva's teeth.

True to the way the brilliant fight unfolded, Leyva acted as if nothing had happened. After the referee and the ringside physician examined him and asked if he could continued, Leyva nodded yes, and the bout continued for another two brutal minutes.

Tonight, on a Showtime pay-per-view card at Mandalay Bay, Leyva will get his third crack at Barrera when he meets the man who lifted the IBF mini-flyweight championship from him. The first bell is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

"It was so good last time, but I guarantee this fight will be even better," said Leyva, 21-1-1, with the only blemishes coming against Barrera.

That would be hard, at least in the mind of Kenny Bayless, who refereed the Aug. 9 fight and called it the best bout he has worked.

Bayless, who has been refereeing for 12 years, said, "I have never seen anything like it when the tooth went flying."

But that was only a sideshow to the fight's brilliance.

"I had a sense as it was going on that this was going to be a special night," Bayless said. "Fights like that don't come around that often. There are a lot of good fights that take place, but that fight, I sense that if it's not one of the best of all time, it will end up in the top 10 or the top 20."

Leyva said he didn't need dental surgery. The tooth that was knocked out was growing behind another tooth, and he wanted to have it extracted anyway. Barrera simply saved him the time and expense.

"Tell him I'll charge him for that," Barrera said, grinning.

Barrera, 21-0-2, had reason to smile. By winning the world title, he fulfilled a dream he made to his father, a painter in the tiny town of Barranquilla, Colombia, who had hoped boxing could be his son's ticket to success.

Barrera was the stronger boxer that night, as he said he would be in their third meeting. In their first fight, an accidental clash of heads in the third round opened a large cut over Leyva's left eye, causing the bout to be stopped and ruled a technical draw.

"We fight those fights, and I felt I was able to do my thing," Barrera said.

His thing was more than enough to thrill the 1,088 fans at The Orleans and leave Leyva disappointed.

"I wasn't prepared like I should have been, mentally or physically," Leyva said. "Mentally, I was drained for some reason, and that took a lot out of me physically. I'm much more ready now. And so you'll see just as good a fight."