In what was a must win fight for both Sullivan Barrera (22-2, 14 KOs) and Sean Monaghan (29-2, 17 KOs), it was Barrera who managed to get the victory by unanimous decision Saturday night at The Aviator in Brooklyn, NY.
The entire “High Stakes” fight card streamed live on Facebook Watch.
The scorecards, 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91 respectively, may indicate that this was an easy nights work for Barrera, but this was anything but that.
Both men came forward all night and refused to take a step back.
Monaghan showed that his knockout loss to Marcus Browne was nothing to put too much stock into as he showed tonight that he has one hell of a chin.
Barrera who is coming off the back of a stoppage loss to current WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (14-0, 11 KOs) showed a lot of heart and proved that he still has plenty left in the tank. He also did not mince his words when discussing his future plans to take on anyone.
“My last fight was a title fight,” said Barrera after the fight. “It was not my night but I’m tough, I’m ready for everybody in the Light Heavyweight division. It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Barrera has been a title contender for quite some time now. So it comes as no surprise to hear that he wants to jump right back into the title picture.
As for Monaghan, the future is a bit more blurry.
This was a fight Monaghan really needed under his belt and although he came up short he was proud of the hard work that he put in.
“I gotta push myself harder if it’s possible,” said Monaghan. “I pushed myself as hard as I could this training camp. I worked hard in there, maybe I could’ve worked harder. That’s about the best I could do in there to be honest.”
It was a tough and competitive fight no matter what the scorecards read tonight.
For Barrera, he receives a second life. He will surely move on to bigger fights and possibly get another shot at a title.
As for Monaghan, he’s now 37 years old and isn’t getting any younger. It will be tough to see where he goes from here.
He did show a good account for himself in a losing effort, but unfortunately for him he will be moving to the back of the line.
Header photo by Marilyn Paulino/Round By Round Boxing
