According to an up to the minute report in the sports section of the renown Mexican newspaper Reforma, Jorge Barrera, brother and manager of former three divisional world champion Marco Antonio Barrera asked the original opponent for Marco Antonio’s most recent bout on January 31st in Guadalajara, MX, Johnny Nolasco to take a dive and to lose said bout by the fourth round.
At the last minute, Cuban Freudis Rojas substituted for Nolasco as the official opponent. The result was a less than stellar contest which Barrera won by disqualification after Rojas landed a severe head butt that resulted in Barrera needing stitches and possibly jeopardizing his clash against the U.K.’s Amir Khan.
The Daily Reforma quotes Rosa Diaz, manager of Nolasco among other fighters, who states that Jorge Barrera called her and stated “we need for Nolasco not to go past the 4th round, at the very least.”
Diaz states that she refused the offer. She states that she reponded to Jorge Barrera, “How are you going to ask me that if we are speaking about Marco Antonio Barrera? Please… especially with a fighter that has less than half the fights that Marco Antonio does.”
To date, no other source has confirmed or denied the accusation.