THE legendary Marco Antonio Barrera gave a knockout performance at a fundraiser for an Ellesmere Port boxing club.
The three-weight former world champion left a lasting impression on the 200-strong crowd at the Whitby Sports & Social Club on Sunday.
The Mexican regaled the audience with tales from his incredible career and was only too happy to pose for pictures and sign autographs.
Barrera, who is now 37, also renewed his rivalry with Port hero Paul ‘Livewire’ Lloyd at an event organised in aid of Wirral Community Police ABC.
Peter Phelan, who is the club’s chairman, said: “It was a great day.
“I had a good feeling it was going to go well but I just didn’t know how well it would go. The feedback we have had has been excellent.
“Marco was fantastic and incredibly friendly. He had time for everyone who spoke to him and nothing was too much trouble.
“He brought his two little boys with him, his father and his interpreter and he seemed to have a great time.
“He spoke about his career, his fight with Paul, and what he wanted to do with his life in the future.”
The highlight of the afternoon came when local boxing great Lloyd joined Barrera on stage.
Former British and Commonwealth bantamweight champion Lloyd, who is now 43 and retired from the sport, suffered a first-round defeat to the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ when the pair met at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1999 for the WBO super-bantamweight belt.
Phelan, who was in Lloyd’s corner that night, said: “Paul got up on stage and had a chat with him.
“Barrera recognised him right away and he was over the moon when we showed him pictures from the fight.”
Barrera – the only boxer ever to beat Prince Naseem Hamed – also donned a white ribbon to promote the club’s support of the White Ribbon UK Campaign to end male violence against women.
Phelan added he hopes his club, which was formerly known as Vauxhall Boxers ABC, will stage their next show in May.
Wirral Community Police ABC fighter Alex Foulkes is in Senior ABA Championships action this weekend.
He will face the Army’s Shamim Khan in a pre-quarter final clash at the Everton Park Sports Centre on Sunday.
