Coming out of preliminary bouts to decide the inaugural LSUBF Bantamweight champion back in 2009, the numberone seed was light-hitting dynamo Paulie Ayala (14-0-1, 2 KO). He was joined by Jimmy Barry (19-1, 12 KO), Terry McGovern (11-0, 11 KO) and Johnny Bredahl (18-4, 9 KO) - a seeding that drew ire from Cruz Carbajal (14-4, 9 KO), who was coming off a victory over Bredahl three months before the tournament.
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But Bredahl looked as though he'd prove he belonged when, 30 seconds into his semifinal match with Ayala he put him on his back. He rises at 9, but Bredahl can't finish him in the remaining two-plus minutes and Ayala recovers, including a 10th round knockdown of Bredahl, for a split decision win 115-111, 116-111, 112-114.
A brutal phone-booth fight in the opening round between Barry and McGovern thrills the crowd but poses a problem for McGovern when a clash of heads busts him open. Barry sees blood, literally, and spends the next several rounds pumping his jab to turn a game McGovern into a crimson mask until the ref halts it, sending it to the cards in the 8th because the cut came from a clash of heads. Barry takes the decision, 68-64, 67-65, 67-65 to set up the final.
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Ayala sticks and moves exceptionally well in the early rounds, though Barry's corner is angered by Ayala reaching four cautions for dirty work inside without a point taken away. Barry turns the tide in the seventh, knocking Ayala from pillar to post and back again, but Ayala to his credit never goes down. The pair match low blows in the 9th and it's increasingly clear ref Rocky Burke is letting it all go. Barry takes it over starting in the 10th, and Ayala finally is deducted a point in the 14th, 30 seconds after which he is flattened by a Barry uppercut to create a 10-7 round. Barry takes the 15th and we go to the cards, where the unanimous winner and first LSUBF Bantamweight Champion is Jimmy Barry!
From there, Barry's been dominant. He made only one defense in 2010, a fifth round TKO win over Carbajal, before making two defenses in 2011 - a 5th round KO of McGovern and a 7th round TKO win over Joseph Agbeko. 2012 was Barry's busiest year with three defenses, knocking out McGovern again in the 8th before a hard-fought split decision win over Monte Attell and an 11th round stoppage win over Carbajal.
After six successful defenses, Barry's 2013 could be interesting. Terry McGovern continues to beat anyone other than Barry and finds himself the #1 contender. But Barry has a few months before the #1 becomes mandatory, so it's possible upstart Jimmy Caruthers (13-0-1, 7 KO) the current #2 contender, could pass McGovern. Attell, as his toughest fight to date, could make a case for a rematch. Panama Al Brown, Kid Williams and Rafael Marquez could work their way into the title picture as well.
