Daniel Barrera says 'I want to look like a seasoned fighter'
360 Promotions continues to deliver on bringing to the forefront the next generation of boxers with its Hollywood Fight Night series on UFC Fight Pass.
On July 22, another contender steps up to the plate when Daniel "Chucky" Barrera (2-0-1, 2 KOs) takes on Eduardo Alvarez in what will be his first six-round contest.
The fight will serve as one of the primary undercard features at the Chumash Casino Resort Casino in Santa Ynez, CA, with a junior middleweight clash between Serhii Bohachuk and Patrick Allotey as the main event.
Barrera, 21, fights out of Riverside, CA, and currently resides in one of boxing's most competitive divisions at super flyweight (115). Over the last decade-plus, the weight class has seen numerous action-filled fights that blend technique and high-volume action.
More recently, over the last ten years, the division has seen more attention, with fighters like Roman Gonzalez and Naoya Inoue entering pound-for-pound lists and, at times, being considered the best fighters in the world pound-for-pound.
However, Inoue and Gonzalez aren't the norm. Typically, fighters in the division are featured less often on major cards, but that does give the weight class an edge. Due to its lack of exposure, more often than not, you see fights take place between the top fighters. Barrera views super flyweight as one of the most competitive in the sport.
"I would say it's very competitive," Daniel Barrera told Fansided MMA in an exclusive interview. "Even though it's at the beginning of my career, the competition's still competitive. I would say one; they're always active because we're little guys. We throw a lot and tend to have a little bit more, boxing ability than others."
Barrera's nickname comes from the famed Child's Play horror icon Charles Lee Ray aka Chucky the Doll. Barrera didn't state he was a huge fan of scary movies; instead, he got his moniker from a confrontation at the gym.
"That happened when I was 12 or 11 years old," said Barrera. "When I first started boxing, my coach threw me in to spar. I sparred with these two cousins. I just found out what a left hook to the body was, so I was sparring, and then boom, I hit one, and I dropped him. He started crying, and then his cousin came in and tried knocking my head off. The same thing happened, left hook to the body and stopped him as well. My coach since then was like, 'Oh, I'm going to call you Chucky now because you're a killer in the ring.'"
At times, the start of a young fighter's career can lack the necessary tests that ultimately help a fighter grow and keep their skills from plateauing. Barrera ran into some resistance last year against Isaac Anguiano when an overreliance and focus on getting a knockout led to him getting a draw.
Not one to let a setback derail any future plans, Barrera went back to the drawing board with trainer Al Franco. In his next fight, he responded with a first-round knockout earlier this year.
Fans and pundits can be overly critical of fighters in a sport that is judged and not measured; the boxers themselves can be just as hard.
"I always want to fix my mistakes rather than praise myself for the little things that I did good," stated Barrera. "I'd rather fix my mistakes, be a little hard on myself and move on to the next one. Hopefully, in each fight, there will be fewer mistakes. "My coach, he's my biggest critic. But I'm also probably the same as he is on myself."
Daniel 'Chucky' Barrera will be featured on Hollywood Fight Nights on July 22 against Eduardo Alvarez
While the step up from four-round to six-round bouts seems insignificant to the average person with no boxing experience, it can be a daunting task for those that step into the ring. To succeed in boxing, you have to be mentally prepared, and conditioning your body to ensure you keep that mental awareness in all rounds is critical.
"I would say more about the conditioning," Barrera said when discussing his training. "Making sure I can go six solid rounds. It may not have to be an active six rounds, but knowing that I can be active for six rounds is definitely what we're going for.
"I know that whoever we have in front of us, it'll be the same thing. Try to control them with a jab, and then the punches that we want to land will eventually fall into place. But definitely, for my first six rounder, I don't want to look tired. I want to look like a seasoned fighter that's been doing this for years. So that's definitely my goal for this fight."
Barrera was put in a unique position and given the opportunity to spar with four-division champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. For a fighter to himself become great, they have to know what greatness feels like. They have to experience it for themselves. The young fighter kept the lessons learned from Gonzalez and plans to utilize them in future fights.
"It was super exciting. I was a little nervous going in there because you're going in with the world champ or pound-for-pound king," Barrera expressed. "I went in there, and just everything felt like I was learning again. I thought I'd seen all the styles, but that was the style that I'd never seen. And doesn't matter his age. He was just reactive from the jump. He had an answer for everything that I did."
Heading into his match on July 22, Barrera has a goal in mind to take care of business and then move on to the next opponent to stay active for the rest of 2023. Staying busy will only help Barrera keep his skills intact and sharp while steadily preparing for increases in the level of competition.
"Definitely continue fighting. Stay busy if we can this year. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we're 4-0. That'll be great if we can get 5-0 and able to get one more fight in; that'll definitely be even better. But that's it. Stay busy, stay focused, and whatever plans they have for me, I'll be ready for it."
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