By Ian S Palmer
Sullivan Barrera of Cuba will be taking on Sean Monaghan of Mineola, New York in a 10-round light heavyweight tilt at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, this Saturday, November 3rd. The fight can be seen live in the USA on Facebook Watch. Barrera last fought in March when he was stopped in the 12th round by WBA Light Heavyweight Champ Dmitry Bivol. Monaghan’s last outing resulted in an eight-round unanimous decision win over Evert Bravo in November of 2017.
The 36-year-old Barrera fights out of Miami and has a record of 21-2 with 14 Kos under his belt. He had a pretty good amateur career and was a two-time bronze medalist at the Cuban national championships in 2002 and 2003. Barrera stands 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 73-inch reach. He turned pro in 2009 and has boxed 126 rounds since then. He’s not known as a heavy hitter due to his superb boxing skills, but has a good current knockout ratio of 61 per cent. He’s been dropped and stopped before and has a somewhat questionable chin.
His first loss came in March of 2016 when Andre Ward beat him by a 12-round unanimous decision with his only other defeat coming at the hands of Bivol. Barrera’s best career wins have been against Felix Valera, Joe Smith Jr, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Jeff Lacy and Karo Murat and he stopped the latter three. Barrera has a good selection of punches to choose from, has an effective jab and doesn’t mind the infighting either. He’s captured the WBC International and WBC USNBC, WBA Fedlatin, and WBO Latino Light Heavyweight Titles since turning pro, but has never won a world title.
Monaghan’s no spring chicken either as he’s now 37 years old and has been out of action for a year. He enters the bout with a record of 29-1 along with 17 Kos. His lone defeat came at the hands of Marcus Browne when he was stopped in the second round in July of 2017. He turned pro back in 2010 and has fought 151 rounds since then. He stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 72.5 inches, so he gives up three inches in height to Barrera. Monaghan has shown slightly better than average power throughout his career with a current knockout ratio of 57 per cent.
However, he hasn’t really faced the cream of the crop in the 175 lb division, but has beaten the likes of Donovan George, Fulgencio Zuniga, Elvir Muriqi and Matt Vanda. He stepped up in class against Browne and didn’t last very long and will be stepping up again this Saturday when he squares off with Barrera. Monaghan has carved out a pretty good career as a journeyman boxer and has won some regional and minor titles along the way such as the WBC Continental Americas and WBO NABO Light Heavyweight straps.
Prediction…
Even though Barrera has the edge here, he can’t take his fellow veteran Monaghan too lightly. If Barrera isn’t at his best he’ll have his hands full here and will need to be wary of his opponent’s power. Barrera has much more experience against solid opposition though as well as superior boxing skills and should win this bout without too much trouble as long as he utilizes those skills. Barrera’s a slow starter though and his chin can betray him, so he needs to stay away from toe-to-toe action.
