The ESPN2 carnival made a belated pit stop at the Miccosukee Resort down Miami, Florida way - the televised offering finally began at 23:30 hours when preempted by a meaningless college beizbol game that went 16 innings to finish, not to mention other unconnected studio madness with host Brian "No Clue" Kenny doing the anchoring.

Still, some good resulted for those of us hanging tough with each tick of the clock - as in seeing a premature, undeserving in adulation by the uninitiated for loss of a better word, "Mighty" Mike … or is it "The Powerful" Anchondo, being completely deflated by a legit tough guy in Jorge Barrios of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Once the pre-fite propaganda was left behind in the safe confines of the dressing room, the squared circle became the domain of the stranger from South America who displayed confidence coupled with fire, as he dominated from the opening bell.

A strong right hand behind the ear drops Anchondo in stanza three, and then in number four a second Barrios short right hand has Anchondo down, before a left hook has the air escaping from a prior inflated "Mighty" Mike ego.

And at that point, enter a fraudulent local third man in the ring Tommy Kimmons walking Barrios in circles while pointing and shouting "2-points deduction" - on that note, best I can offer is a Tommy Kimmons welcome to the lunatic fraternity of referee incompetents.

While Kimmons was satisfying his needs to the folks in attendance, and others still awake watching over the magic lantern, the fool was unaware that chief second Buddy McGirt had seen enough and called it no-mas for his beaten charge.

Post Scripts ~The Jorge Barrios rap sheet improves to 43-2-1, 31 KOs and the WBO strap numbers him among other jr. lightweight shareholders  Barrera (WBC), Mantachie (WBA), Robbie Peden (IBF). Whether a long or short reign in a rich in talent weight class this guy will always give it his best shot.

                        Mike Anchondo: Never made weight … at age 22, a cardinal sin that showed in a relative soft body exterior. Left much to be desired in all departments; lacked skills, questionable heart, the eyes of a defeated entity once the knock on the dressing room door. Just a guess here, but could well be "Mighty" Mike’s quick rise to the WBO top was more of a Joel De La Hoya (manager) connection than anything else.

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Semi-final welter ten rounder saw undefeated Monteria, Colombia’s Joel Julio ( 21 wins with 18 KOs) dispatching veteran Carlos Vilches (43-5-2, 25 KOs) when the Argentine called it no mas from his stool following third round action.

The 20 year old Julio showed punching power right from the opening stanza as he quickly scored with both hands while mixing the attack from head to body - a late round knockdown courtesy of a Julio right hand hinted this one would be a short nite’s work.

The Julio body attack in candle two found him inadvertently landing below the DMZ, and referee Jorge Alonso quickly arrived to penalize the Colombian a point deduction.

Then number three and something of a Vilches last stand as he made most of the three minutes an action affair. But late in the round Julio had the veteran from Mendoza in serious trouble against the ropes.

Goes into the books as Julio by TKO 3 and he remains undefeated with a now 22 wins and 19 stoppages - Vilches drops to 43-7-2 with 25 KOs.      

Closing Comments: Joel Julio has mucho going for himself. Nice skills in technique that’s coupled with fast hands that carry power from both sides. Clearly is one to watch.

PS: Still haven’t as yet digested yet another disrespect for the great game of pro boxing by the ham-n-egg entity of ESPN club fight boxing offerings. The two hours and change preempting while being held hostage by a meaningless college baseball game is inexcusable. But then I recall last year it was a never ending high school football game causing a major delay, as it infringed on the listed  2100 hours start. Adding to the induced acid reflux assault was in seeing the bleepin’ marathon carrying into the Saturday am  0130 hours, still, Brian "No Clue" Kenny managed a repetitious "Instructional" clip with Floyd Mayweather. Last I was interested in was a ESPN late nite comedy skit to go with serious boxing.
Finally, and hopefully, the pending ESPN2 "PPV" insult, scheduled for the 23rd takes one mega bath. Regardless of the light tab, the card is unworthy of carrying a price tag.

GEL