BARRERA WINS WITH LATE CHARGE REMATCH CLOUDED WITH CONTROVERSY DESPITE UNANIMITY.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Assistant Sports Editor 

LAS VEGAS - For Marco Antonio Barrera, half a fight was enough to beat a world-class opponent.

Barrera discarded his ill-advised strategy to box Erik Morales in favor of toe-to-toe exchanges halfway through their rematch. It paid off as he won five of the final six rounds on all cards to gain a unanimous decision and recognition as the best featherweight in the world in front of about 15,000 on Saturday.

The fight wasn't as thrilling as their epic first meeting, in 2000, but it was entertaining and just as controversial.

The judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in favor of Barrera, but those at ringside were split. The majority favored Barrera but several gave it to Morales and many scored it a draw.

The Daily News had Morales winning 115-113.

Most at ringside for the first fight believed Barrera (55-3, with 39 knockouts) had won Saturday, but Morales was awarded a split decision.

``We'll see who the public says really won,'' Barrera said.

The fans - mostly Mexicans, apparently - inside the MGM Grand Arena cheered wildly during the introductions in part because they anticipated a repeat of the 2000 brawl.

At first, they were bitterly disappointed. Barrera, who cleverly had outboxed Naseem Hamed last year, decided to punch on the run Saturday.

It didn't work. He lost four of the first six rounds on two cards while the third was 3-3 and the crowd made it clear they didn't approve: Barrera, one of the most popular fighters in the world, was booed loudly in the fourth.

Soon, Barrera came to his senses, deciding his best chance to win was to attack without holding anything back. Just like that, we had a fight.

Morales (41-1, 31 KOs) showed immediately that mediocre performances in his most recent fights were meaningless. He was difficult to hit and did plenty of damage countering Barrera's attack - enough to win in the eyes of some. He never stopped throwing punches.

However, his face told much of the story. By the ninth round, his right eye nearly was closed shut and his nose was cut, the result of Barrera's solid left jab and nonstop assault.

Still, when it came time for the judges' decision, the result was very much in doubt.

When it was read, Morales looked bewildered and, moments later, bolted the ring. At that moment, he knew how Barrera felt after the first fight.

``I came well-prepared,'' said Morales, who returned to the ring to be interviewed. ``I though I outboxed him. I guess he tried to reserve his energy for the end, but I thought I did well in the last rounds.

``I thought I won the fight.''

Barrera ended up on the shoulders of one of his handlers after the decision was announced, his hands raised and a grin look on his face.

In his mind, undoubtedly, he'd been vindicated after the first fight. However, he didn't gloat even in light of the nasty verbal exchanges that led up to the fight.

``I worked to outbox him,'' Barrera said. ``I knew I could outbox him. It was a close fight but I think I did my job.''

Of course, after two such close, compelling fights, there was talk of a third fight in what has become one of boxing's most fascinating rivalries.

Barrera was open to the idea.

``If the public wants a third fight with Erik Morales, I'm ready,'' he said.

In preliminary bouts, Miguel Cotto, a fast-rising star from Puerto Rico, remained undefeated by stopping Justin Juuko at 2:44 of the fifth round of a scheduled 10-round lightweight bout.

Cotto (10-0, eight KOs) knocked down Juuko twice before the referee stopped the fight.

Jose Aquinaga, a 20-year-old super bantamweight prospect from Oxnard, knocked out Ruben Lopez (8-5-1, seven KOs) at 1:55 of the fourth round of a scheduled eight-round bout.

Aquinaga (14-0, 10 KOs) is a former national Golden Gloves champion.

And Fernando Montiel (24-0-1, 18 KOs) stopped Pedro Alcazar (25-1-1, 14 KOs) at 1:16 of the sixth round to take Alcazar's fringe WBO super flyweight title.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Marco Antonio Barrera, right, lands a left to Erik Morales' chin during Saturday's fight in Las Vegas.

Laura Rauch/Associated Press