9/16/2006
MGM Grand
Las Vegas, Nevada
Barrera won a close but clear decision by boxing instead of exchanging punches with Juarez.
Barrera’s win was somewhat suspicious/controversial though after Emmanuel Steward, who was part of the HBO analyst team, noticed that Barrera’s gloves had been “skinned back.”
“Skinning” gloves is accomplished when the gloves are stretched back as much as possible and taped, which exposes more of the knuckles and therefore creates more damage when a punch is landed.
The stretched back padding was held in place by illegal, extra wrist tape, that covered the wrist portions and half of the thumb portions of Barrera’s gloves.
Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Keith Kizer later rationalized the skinning and illegal taping by mentioning that members of Juarez’s team were present when Barrera’s hands were wrapped and gloved up, and they didn’t complain about the skinning or extra tape used to hold the glove padding back.
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