Friday, September 21, 2007 Will Barrera exact revenge? By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
OR WILL Manny Pacquiao annihilate the Mexican warrior once again and finally put a stop to the Baby Faced Assassin's once illustrious boxing career?
Many questions actually hang in the air, but as two who will prevail between Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera in their much-anticipated rematch next month in Las Vegas is the main topic during bull sessions in barber shops, coffee shops, restaurants and even inside public utility vehicles (PUVs) anywhere in the Philippines.
So is also in Mexico and the rest of the boxing world.
To this day, both fighters are thousands of miles apart. Barrera is in Guadalajara training and mapping out plans for the big bout, while Pacquiao is in Cebu killing himself in his work out and perfecting a new potent weapon he plans to use the moment their paths cross again on fight night.
That night will be on October 6 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada where Barrera has had some sad experiences in the past and where Pacquiao is stepping on for the first time in his career.
Barrera suffered two of his five defeats at the Mandalay Bay.
The first time Barrera and Pacquiao faced each other, the Filipino punching machine scored a sensational 11th round TKO over the Mexican back in 2003 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
For almost four years, the ghost of that defeat has been haunting Barrera. Now, he wants nothing but to avenge that one devastating loss.
"I am training to win this fight and there will be no excuses. Pacquiao is an excellent fighter and we are going to be ready for him," Barrera told Fightnews.com in a recent interview.
Barrera, who is sporting a 63-5 card with 42 KOs, will be entering the fight the clear underdog, though, and needs a sensational performance against the rampaging Filipino southpaw.
Pacquiao, in preparing for this one fight, had already logged 100 rounds of sparring underscoring his desire to come out the winner the second time around.
The Filipino bomber, sporting a 44-3-2 card with 35 KOs, is scheduled to undergo 10 more rounds of sparring this morning at the RWS Gym in Labangon, Cebu before flying to Manila in the afternoon.
Pacquiao and the rest of his entourage will then fly to Los Angeles Saturday for his final training regimen at the Wild Card Gym of his American trainer Freddie Roach.
According to Roach, Pacquiao is 95 percent ready to face Barrera.
Roach said Pacquiao will display new moves against Barrera and he expects his ward to score another repeat against the Mexican.
Barrera should be ready for anything having fought Pacquiao before and experiencing a sound beating which left a big thorn in his side.
