EX-OLYMPIAN Mark Anthony Barriga again failed in his bid to become a world champion after bowing down to defending World Boxing Organization (WBO) light flyweight king Jonathan Gonzalez via unanimous decision June 25 at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida.

Judge Rose Lacend scored it close at 115-113 for Gonzalez, while both judges Efrain Lebron and Alex Levin saw the defending Puerto Rican champion winning by a wider margin with identical 117-111 scores.

The 29-year-old Barriga, who competed in the 2012 Olympics, started out strong but in the second half of the race slowed down and lost his steam.

Gonzalez capitalized and won enough rounds to retain his WBO light flyweight belt in his first title defense.

Barriga dropped to 11-2 with two knockouts, while the 31-year-old Gonzalez won his third straight fight and improved to 26-3-1 with 14 knockouts.

This was Barriga’s second world title attempt. He failed in his first shot at a world title in 2018. Barriga lost to Carlos Licona for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight strap in Los Angeles, California.

Barriga would have been the third current world champion of the Philippines had he beaten Gonzalez. The Philippines now just has two world champions—World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight champion Mark Magsayo and IBF minimumweight titleholder Rene Mark Cuarto—after Johnriel Casimero and Nonito Donaire Jr. lost their belts this year.