Mark Barriga reflects on first world title attempt: 'I lost my focus'

Filipino boxing Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga reflected on what wrong for him the first time he tried to capture a world title in professional boxing.

Barriga, 28, fought Carlos Licona for the vacant IBF world minimumweight title in December 2018 where he lost via split decision. Fans and scribes alike thought the Filipino won the fight, but he opted to accept the loss and admitted that he lost focus in the bout.

"My team did not lack anything in terms of coaching and technique, we trained that in the gym. It was hard to fight because I had so much in my mind like my mother who got sick. I was not mentally there in the fight. I lost my focus," Barriga said.

"A lot of people say that I was robbed, I say I really lost the fight. I am not a hard loser. I have been in boxing for almost two decades. If I lose, I really lost. It only means that I have to get back to the gym and train harder. That is my mindset."

Barriga, 11-1 with two knockouts as a prizefighter, also shared that one of the judges happens to be the opposing corner's neighbor while the third man in the ring approached him after the decision was announced to tell him that he won the contest.

"I heard one of the judges was Robert Garcia's (Licona's coach) neighbor but that was not a problem," Barriga remembered.

"Even the referee after the decision was announced came to me and said I won the fight. An athlete should know how to take a loss, and not go posting [on social media] that he got cheated."

Barriga is slated to face WBO world light flyweight champion Jonathan Gonzalez (25-3-1, 14 KOs) on June 24 at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, USA.

—MGP, GMA News