By Scott Shaffer

Robbie Peden followed one of the dumbest game plans seen in a boxing ring in some time. Peden's career-best win came when Nate Campbell foolishly dropped his hands, allowing Peden to win by knockout despite getting dominated up to that point. Saturday, in a junior lightweight world championship bout in Las Vegas, Peden showed he didn't learn anything from that experience. Peden decided to fight all-time great Marco Antonio Barrera with his left hand straight down at his side the entire bout. His right hand was also down for long stretches of time. Peden didn't throw caution to the wind on offense either, so he gave himself virtually no chance of winning the fight. What was he thinking? Barrera fought methodically and unspectacularly, taking what Peden gave him and showing he can still box effectively this late in his career. In the twelfth round, Peden's protect-yourself-at-no-times style nearly got himself knocked out, as Barrera finally opened up his attach when the end of the bout drew near.  Despite losing a point for a low blow and a cut over his left eye, Barrera won easily by scores of 118-108 (twice) and 118-109. The pay-per-view main event wasn't as entertaining as hoped, but Barrera added the IBF junior lightweight belt to his collection and saved himself for a future war. Next up could be a 135-pound title bout against Jesus Chavez, who won the IBF belt in the next weight class up on the undercard.