CREDIT LONG OVERDUE

by Nat Gottlieb

If to err is human, and forgive is divine, then revenge must be positively heavenly. Rocky Juarez sure hopes so.

Three times in Juarez' career he has faced career-defining fights, and three times the less- than-divine hand of fate has helped snatch victory away: once by a heavily-biased Olympic referee, a second by 11th hour injury, and most recently because of a scoring mistake by judges. Obviously to err is human covers a variety of circumstances.

Saturday night, for the first time in his career, the 26-year-old Juarez finds himself in position to avenge a loss. Juarez (25-2, 18 KOs) owes this opportunity to the pride and sportsmanship of a classy warrior, Marco Antonio Barrera, who narrowly defeated him in their first encounter on May 20. Juarez also feels he owes Barrera (62-4, 42 KOs) a little payback, which is the spice that makes this title rematch on HBO "Pay-Per-View" potentially so tasty.

"Sometimes things happen for the worst," Juarez said. "But those things only motivate me to train harder, knowing I can redeem those losses."

Until now, however, Juarez has not gotten a chance to right a perceived wrong. When he was robbed of a gold medal in the final round of the 2004 Olympics by a referee who refused to deduct points against a flagrantly-fouling opponent, there were no second chances. Even the fact that a protest filed later by Team USA resulted in the referee being suspended from boxing for four years, did not change silver to gold.

Then, when given his first professional shot at a championship last August, Juarez got blindsided by defending featherweight title holder, In-Jin Chi, who pulled out of the fight because of an Achilles tendon injury just two weeks before the bout. Greatly disappointed at losing a title shot and geared to Chi's fighting style, Juarez found himself in the ring with a bigger and perhaps much tougher opponent in Humberto Soto.

A distracted Juarez admits he fought Soto with the same game plan he had for Chi, and would absorb his first professional loss after 23 victories -- albeit a razor-thin unanimous decision by one point on two cards, and two on another. The fact that last month Soto won his 18th straight victory, a TKO over Ivan Valle in a junior lightweight eliminator, makes Juarez's tight loss all the more agonizing.

That Soto defeat temporarily derailed momentum Juarez had built since coming out of the Olympics. His next two fights were against journeymen, and while Juarez won in decisive fashion, both bouts were on the non-televised portion of major cards. For a pro whose career debut had been televised on cable, and had later appeared four times on network TV (NBC), Juarez's faith in himself was put to the test.

"It was like a last stand for him after the loss to Soto," said Carl Moretti, president and matchmaker for Main Events, which promotes Juarez. "Rocky was at the time in his career when he really need a big victory. After the loss to Soto, we didn't get back on TV until the first Barrera fight."

That first fight was a second chance few boxers get with elite fighters, and Juarez was keenly aware of it. He also knew that beating a boxer of Barrera's stature would carry far greater rewards than just the championship belt the Mexican wore. Since losing a second straight time to Junior Jones in 1997, over the next nine years 19 brave souls have tried to defeat Barrera, and only two have succeeded -- Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. For Juarez to add his name to that exclusive list would be heady stuff for a young boxer looking for worlds to conquer.

In order to be ready to deal with Barrera's power, Juarez hired a strength and conditioning coach, Brian Caldwell. He worked long and hard in the gym, stayed focused 24/7. When Juarez stepped in the ring at the Staples Center he was confident he was in the best shape of his life and had the tools to defeat Barrera.

It was the young warrior against the aging legend, with all the baggage that implies, and both refused to give an inch. For 12 exciting rounds, they went at it in the Mexican style, a gloved version of hand-to-hand combat. When it was over, the 32-year-old Barrera, who had turned professional at 15, headed for his corner, his nose broken and bleeding, face puffy with bruises. The fatigue Barrera had shown over the final rounds now made every step he took a draining one.

In contrast, Juarez seemed to get stronger as the fight went on, and clearly was the fresher-looking, much less-bruised boxer after the final bell -- a fact that bothered him before the decision was even announced.

"I was upset with myself," Juarez said. "I was not tired one bit, I could have gone more rounds because I had plenty of energy. To me that said I should have done more."

Although confident he had won, Juarez still feared the worst -- that three judges in suits could inflict more damage on him with pencils than the great Barrera's fists had done in the ring. It didn't help that while he waited in limbo for the decision, Juarez was acutely aware of the geography he was standing in.

One judge had it for Juarez, 115-113, one gave it to Barrera by the same score, and the last judge scored it even. Michael Buffer announced it a draw, and while that outcome is rarely satisfying after two months spent in training camp and 36 hard minutes in the ring, some draws are better than others. For Juarez, there were worse things than coming out of a brawl against a future Hall of Fame fighter without a loss on your record.

"When we got a draw, we felt pretty happy," Juarez said. "I was at ease with the decision because like I said, I didn't knock him out and it was his backyard, they could have given it to him."

Twenty minutes later, Juarez wasn't so happy. After HBO, which had televised the fight, had gone off the air and the crowd of 10,167 had left the arena, the snake that has been trailing Juarez around for his whole career, took a bite: Armando Garcia, chief executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission announced an error in addition had been made on the scoring cards, and awarded Barrera a split decision by a single point.

Juarez was stunned, then understandably angry. "I can't believe it," Juarez said at the post-fight press conference. "Who could believe this? I'm very upset and disappointed. I had been thinking to myself that 25-1-1 was OK with the one draw against a legendary fighter like Barrera. But to come back in the dressing room and tell me I lost by one point is very upsetting."

Moretti had all he could do to restrain his criticism of the judges. "I was most disturbed not by human error, because that happens," Moretti said. "What bothered me was the mere fact that two judges scored the last round even. Rocky clearly won the 12th round. Why did the judges wait until the 12th round to call a round even? There were several close rounds earlier in the fight they could have called even, why the last one?"

To his credit, Juarez conducted himself like a gentleman under questioning, giving Barrera his proper due. Barrera in turn showed the young challenger the ultimate respect from an elite boxer in his comments. "He hits hard and not with just one hand," Barrera said. "What shocked me wasn't his power, but the speed of his punches. I have a lot of respect for Juarez. He is a warrior and a tremendous fighter."

Those words meant much to Juarez, but it wasn't praise he was looking for. Poised on the threshold to stardom for two years, Juarez is eager to get over the proverbial "hump," which in the case of Barrera, is more major roadblock than bump in the road to fame and glory.

Some would say that having Barrera offer you a rematch after beating you is akin to being hugged by Tony Soprano -- exciting to be accepted, and scary to be embraced. In Barrera's 66-fight career, he had taken rematches with only two boxers, Jones and Erik Morales. Jones got back-to-back fights because he handed Barrera his first professional loss after 43 victories and eight straight junior featherweight title defenses. Jones won the rematch, but Barrera was undaunted. He went on to win six straight matches and a junior featherweight belt before he lost to a second boxer, Morales. But unlike Jones and Juarez, Morales would have to wait two years for a rematch, which Barrera won, and two more again for the trilogy bout, another victory for the "Baby Faced Assassin."

What made Barrera's offer such a surprise to Juarez was that in the aftermath of the first fight, Moretti had primed his young boxer to look beyond the Mexican champ.

"After the fight, he was feeling down a bit, but I told him, 'Look, Rock, we'll go on,'" Moretti said. "'I don't think we'll get Barrera again, but we'll move on. You shouldn't put your whole career on hold to wait on Barrera.'"

When Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez called proposing a September rematch, Moretti was pleasantly caught off guard. "I was a little surprised they took the fight so soon. I thought we had a chance in November or early next year. This was a quick turnaround," Moretti said.

Worth noting again is that Jones and Morales earned a rematch by beating Barrera, which Juarez hasn't done. Juarez thinks he knows why Barrera wanted him again anyway.

"I felt confident he would give me a rematch because he is the type of fighter who cares more about pride than the business aspect," Juarez said. "Maybe he felt he lost the fight, or he was disappointed that some people felt he had lost, and he has something to prove."

At this point in Barrera's career, one is hard-pressed to find something he has left to prove. Yet Golden Boy Promotions chose a fight "story line" that points to a motivation for Barrera: "Too Close To Call." In announcing the rematch, De La Hoya seemed to be confirming that Barrera was unhappy with his performance in May when he said: "Marco wants to prove that the first win was no fluke."

Juarez feels the quick turnaround should benefit him more than Barrera. "I'm a young fighter and it's easier for me to jump right back in the ring," Juarez said. "Even at my age it's tough to take two weeks off and then have to train again. That's why I believe it is harder for him."

Perhaps. But what is of greater significance is that Juarez feels he is in a stronger place mentally than he was the first time. "I gained confidence fighting Barrera," Juarez said. "It showed me I could beat him, but I always knew I could beat him."

If he always knew, Juarez had a strange way of showing it in the early rounds of the first fight. Juarez admits he may have given his older rival too wide a berth in the early going.

"Before the fight and during it, there was never a point where I was intimidated," Juarez said. "We took the fight because we felt we could beat him. We didn't go in thinking we might luck out and knock him out. The only thing was I felt I had to be careful with him because he was more experienced than me."

Juarez knows now that being careful is not the way to decisively beat Barrera. "I fought a very patient fight, looking not to make a mistake or get caught, not get knocked out," Juarez said. "This time I will not do that. I will take more risks."

Moretti, whose Main Events has guided Juarez's career since he turned pro, is thinking about risks in a different light.

"Clearly we are taking a risk, but the reward is so great," Moretti said. "If we can boost his name in a hot division (junior lightweight), he will be the one everybody is calling and we can pick and choose."

Juarez understands the promotional side of the business, too. "One thing I gained from the Barrera fight was the respect of the fans and critics," he said. "Sometimes it means more to win over the fans and critics."

Moretti was won over by Juarez a long time ago. "I knew Rocky was special because he had such a great amateur career (145-17). We're talking about a gold medal winner who just didn't get the credit line."

Saturday night, a platinum credit line will be there for the taking. Given his past, Juarez intends to leave nothing to chance. Luck has never been his Lady.