Madrimov stops Barrera to retain WBA Inter-Continental title

The fast rising Israil Madrimov (4-0, 4) [Исроил Мадримов] continued his reign as the WBA Inter-Continental Light Middleweight champion as stopped Mexican challenger Alejandro Barrera (29-6, 18) in the 5th round

From the opening round it was clear Barrera was in the ring to make a fight of things, but was dropped in the opening minute with a leaping left hook from Madrimov. Barrera's will to fight saw him get to his feet, but his lack of skills, compared to Madrimov, were evident as he repeatedly over committed to shots, and looked off balance when he was throwing. Not only was Barrera off balance a lot in the opening round but he was taking body shots as he left himself open and as Madrimov applied smart and consistent pressure.

In round 2 Madrimov  momentarily switched to southpaw, and showed more to his boxing than the pressure style of the opening round. Despite showing more it wasn't particularly effective  work with the Uzbek moving more than he needed to and letting Barrera ease his way back in to things without taking too much damage. Thankfully Madrimov did begin to amp up the aggression more in round 3, though did make mistakes as he wildly threw some reckless shots.

As the fight progressed Madrimov turned up the pressure, and began to catch Barrera more frequently as the Uzbek began to move through the gears. He was beginning to break down the Mexican and as his output began to increase Madrimov began to really squeeze the fight out of Barrera. The referee saw what was happening and with around 20 seconds of round 5 left he stepped in and saved the tough, but over-matched, Mexican.

​In the end Madrimov got the stoppage he wanted, becoming only the second fighter to stop Barrera, but it very much felt like he wasn't fighting to his potential. Instead of showing what he could do it seemed like he was taking risks to try and put on a show. We suspect that when he steps up the recklessness will vanish, and we'd go as far to say some of it is boredom.

Barrera showed he was tough, but was completely over matched, and it will take someone much better than him to get the best out of Madrimov.