PACQUIAO & BARRERA: A STUDY IN CONTRAST
(A Footnote to their Mandalay Duel)
By Ronald Francis M. Dompor
October 9, 2007
DOOD’s Note: Ronald Francis Dompor is a good friend of this blogger and a townmate from Nasipit, Agusan del Norte. A CPA and Finance person by training, he is presently the SVP-COO of Fast Distribution Corp (a company of the Fast Logistics Group).
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N.B.: I had the opportunity to feast on Doods Amora’s Will to Win Part 2 while it was still hot from the frying pan late last night. Besides being friends, I am also an avid fan of Doods’ great sports writing and cutting edge electrical engineering. This guy must be one of the silent disciples of the legendary Homer Sayson, everyone’s idol.
This is my attempt at serving pandesal and hot coffee after the feast.
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I am not a boxing expert. I’m only an average sports-minded Pinoy, like most of you. Regardless, I want to write something about this fight - from the viewer’s seat – not technical, maybe an ode to two great men.
The Body Language
From the get-go Manny Pacquaio and Marco Antonio Barrera wore contrasting faces.
Barrera was all tight-lipped and grim looking. He had this look on his face that conveyed tension, far from being the baby-faced assassin that he had been hyped up all his boxing life. That night, he looked more like the guy facing the gallows. (He might as well be, for Pacquiao was every bit the firing squad.) Oh, come on! We are all familiar with that kind of look. It’s the way we look in the mirror when facing the final exams in differential calculus, complete with the mixed feeling – the anxiety, the resolve to pass it, copying or no copying, and the false threat of suicide in case of failure.
In contrast Manny had that look of undisturbed peace, breaking into boyish smiles every now and then. Signs of “showbiz” stage presence of which he is not found wanting. His calmness was unmistakable – the kind of calm that comes before the storm. Beneath the surface, you could almost feel the humming machine inside. Taken from another angle, he looked more like an accomplished sabungero in his elements, except that he, too, was the manok in this mano-a-mano.
What kind of raw passions do you think these two protagonists carried into the ring, you may ask. This I can tell you, not from experience but from being observant ( I am obliged to secure my position first with a safe and harmless preamble lest my wife gets the wrong drift on this yarn).
Manny was every inch the lover boy in the hunt for a stolen kiss or an eventual conquest. He was ready to test every chance he could get. Like a true aggressor he was the opportunist all the way. But Marco was not in the mood to oblige him. Like a virgin that had never been touched, he guarded his chastity with all his might. Never an unguarded moment was his battle cry. He was ministry of defence personified all night and he showed an uncanny mastery of the art of breaking away round after round. Barrera’s agenda was different.
Agenda at Mandalay
I am not one given to disparage Marco Barrera’s handling of the fight. No matter how good our scripts may be in life, many times we act out these scripts in accordance with the true sentiments that come out of our mental maps. Didn’t we all hear it from Oscar de la Hoja himself that Marco that night refused to let go of this hands? Where was the assassin?
I will take this playful thread from Doods Amora’s theory of acquittal. Barrera’s mental map all along was for him to win an acquittal from the horrors of another beating in the hands of Pacquaio, as Doods said it well in his piece. Marco was every inch the man on trial, not Manny. In the bar of public opinion, Marco Barrera had been pronounced guilty of a knock-down long before fight night. The burden to prove his innocence round after round was his and so Marco played this agenda quite well starring himself as his own five-star defense lawyer all the way from beginning to end while Manny, in contrast, came in like a well-heeled prosecutor with a preponderance of evidence from bell to bell, as shown in the judges score cards and hit ratings. The crowd merely counted down the rounds and the elapsed minutes and waited eagerly for the fall of Barrera.
And that my friends, I think, defined the character of the fight in Mandalay. Manny came in with a “play to win” offensive attitude, Marco with a “ play not to lose” defensive mindset. Losing by knock-out was not his idea of an ending of a glorious career. Lasting the distance without incident and finishing in one piece with what’s left of his Mexican pride was the only acceptable choice. It was Barrera’s swan song as he rides into the sunset. His wife and children were all there with him that night. No wonder, the assassin in Barrera was nowhere to be found. The hunter in fact became the hunted. And being a wily fighter that he is, he knew how to avoid the traps.
And so the fight became more technical and tactical, like a court battle between two legal tacticians, each one waiting for the other to make a mistake on technicality. More acoustics fighting and saber-rattling, than a fight to the death.
And since we didn’t smell of death in Mandalay , we might as well talk of the other reality in life – taxes – and how it played out in that great fight. Its like Manny Pacquaio being the tax-man wanting to make his quota and pogi points for the bureaucracy, while Marco kept running away, tax-evading. In the end, Marco wriggled out ( read: “won”) with a compromise deal through an amnesty from a knock-out tax assessment. (Try getting a BIR assessment yourself!) Graceful exit isn’t it? A man graduating with full retirement benefits of $ 2 m plus a share of pay-per view shouldn’t be taking unnecessary risks. Human nature. And there is nothing disgraceful there. That he didn’t do enough was part of avoiding the traps. Hey, sex in the city might be illegal, but Marco’s acquittal and amnesty was fair and square, okay? The only thing illegal there was the sneak blow in the 11th at the referee’s break.
Why The Cry for Blood
Amazing this boxing in our country. At no time in our national life have we seen women as engrossed in boxing as our menfolk are other than now. Check this one out for yourself in your own spheres. At least in our office, many of the ladies were also glued to their tv sets that Sunday and most of them thought the game was a bum. I asked why? They said there was no knock-out or knock-down. (Choker. Way lami).
So our women are not just engrossed in soap-opera! I’m not a psychologist but isn’t this a clue that indeed our society is matriarchal? I’m ashamed to admit it in writing. Men’s turfs are getting scarcer. Women too cried for Barrera’s blood ( or anyone of Manny’s opponents) which means Pinays indeed have balls.
Is this good or bad? Take the positive side.
If there is anything to value from this hypothesis, it is for the menfolk to never underestimate the power of women. Husband be careful with wife. (Nah, the better operative word is respect). Be careful not to provoke her. The cry for blood is not borne out of desperate housewives (pun intended) but by reason of survival. Many families survive because of the wife’s quiet leadership, intuitive abilities and entrepreneurial resilience. There! But lest you think I’m after women’s vote because I’m running for office in the coming baranggay elections, I’ll be quick with a disclaimer: No I’m not.
Again why ask for blood?
Because it seemed like it is engrained in our brains that boxing matches are won only when an opponent kisses the canvass. Knock-downs are not necessarily the be-all and end-all in boxing, although it is desirable - like a climax in sex is desirable, but not all the time. As what this Pacquiao-Barrera fight teaches us, there is what you call a beautiful points-win where you don’t necessarily land the knock-out punches. But a win or a conquest just the same. These are the almost-but-not- quite sort of things that make you want for more on the return bouts. Some nights go like that. That’s my take on the cry for blood, be it from a man’s point of view, or from a woman’s. But if you are unconvinced and you have some more questions, go ask Dr. Margarita Holmes. (Harharhar! I hope I didn’t stir the hornet’s nest).
So the fight was tactical and technical, as pure boxing could be and not much of a brawl. It’s like the dance of tango of two latin lovers - all steps and motions, either man or woman pretending to clash laterally only to disengage and pause for another attempt at unleashing earthly passions on the next wave. So this is why they call it the sweet art of boxing, huh?
The Manny and Marco Song and Dance
A capitalist would readily see the value proposition here for the two gentlemen to be pitted in a Pacquaio-Barrera III episode. After all, the die had been cast when Manny gamely raised Marco’s hands during the post-fight press conference in a display of fine manners, and later joined Marco’s family in a photo opportunity. Talk of political skills.
No, the appearance for trilogy’s sake will not happen inside the ring. It will be under the klieg lights.
If I were SMC’s Mr. Ramon Ang, I’ll bring in both Manny and Marco on a San Miguel commercial advertisement deal. That would be the blockbuster of a knock-out engagement everyone had been looking for, like the one of Manny Pacquaio and Erick Morales.
And what could be the repartee?
Marco: “Totoong maginoo ka, Manny!
Manny: “Sa totoong buhay, ang may pinagsamahan ay yaman ng pagkakaibigan. Yan ang hindi nakukuha lamang sa beer na beer!”
Ah, that one could ignite the next nuclear wars of San Miguel and Manila Beer! A certified public brawl store to store replete with promo girls and price-cutting.
Beer anyone?
Cheers!
// Ronald Francis “Franz” M. Dompor, Cebu City
Friday, October 12, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
'THE WILL TO WIN'
‘THE WILL TO WIN’
(Part 2)
(Part 2)
PACMAN-BARRERA II is over!
The hype, rumors and the early fireworks must have now been to the drain…
And as many predicted - a second win it was for Pacquiao!
On his way to full retirement, the Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera announced to park for good the ‘beautiful sport of boxing’ – the sport that had built him a fortune in proportions not consumable in his entire lifetime.
For Pacman’s side, all’s well that ends well. Again, it was coronation time to higher greatness and he too will again be ensconced in a mega-buck payday to refuel the sapped coffers following that political misadventure to congress. And if he plays his cards well, he shall have more of these premium paychecks in the near future.
To the boxing fans, it was not what they wanted to see… Short of action, there was no eruption into an “all-out war”! Many were surprised that Barrera made it to the distance. And many were questioning why Pacquiao was not able to dispose of Barrera early…
MY CRYSTAL BALL
The first part of the article ‘THE WILL TO WIN’ saw both the accuracies and lapses in my crystal ball…
The rematch did not turn out to be a brawl as I pre-certified. Its product showed both combatants playing cautious tactical games en-route to an ashen finish.
It did not manifest the much-ballyhooed blood & guts imprimatured in their brutal one-sided first encounter. Except for a round or two sporadic detonations, the battle to many fans, was boring. It did not feature the excitement everybody had been expecting.
The boxing world anticipated that Barrera would once again show the fearless bell-to-bell exchanges as in his trilogy with Morales and the schooling he made to the eely Prince Hamed. What we saw was Marco’s reluctance to exchange charges - evocative of the second Barrera-Rocky Juarez fight.
REPLICATING HISTORY
Pacman’s victory, once again in an onerous mode had replicated history but in a different tune. Four years ago in San Antonio, Texas, the Pacman dismantled Barrera in a spectacular fashion. This time, the boxing public asked for more blood and tension.
But then, the Pacman was not able to ‘devour the viscerals out of the Mexican’. Nobody ‘kissed the canvas for good’ even for a few moments.
The absence of wicked passions, the anemic drama and the insufficient action; all these negated the color & luster of the much-awaited rematch as the touted ‘classic bout’ reducing itself into the pages of pallid history.
And nobody ever noticed the ‘Marco Bolo’… Perhaps, the sharpening had not been good enough…
THE WILL TO WIN?
Contrary to publicity, Marco Antonio Barrera showed no will to win. He contented himself in boxing and countering, not being aggressive enough as he should be, if he willed to win.
Probably because of his high esteem to the Pacman - he had already tasted the acidic fire in their first encounter. Or Barrera to his mind might have only coasted to perform his farewell assignment in the comfort zone.
He was cautious not to be knocked out. To survive the distance, Barrera did not engage into a head-on collision with his tormentor. He must remain standing to the last bell. He must be gracious in his exit…
That appeared to be the strategy. Amidst the total secrecy of his training camp, he promised to shock the boxing fans. And the world was indeed shocked, when he elected not to fight toe-to-toe as he had famously done before. In this fight, the fabled Mexican pride in Barrera was not even noticeable… Why?
In fact, Barrera willed not to win. He willed to survive…!
Barrera reported for duty fresh, fit and ready - 130 pounds at weigh-in and 138 pounds at fight night as compared to Pacquiao’s skeletal apparition-like 130 lbs during the weigh-in. Marco obviously was not the under-trained, under-prepared and the over-confident Barrera four years ago at the Alamodome…
Although the aged Barrera is retireable, he showed that he was not yet ‘washed-up & weary’. The veteran this time showed that he was hard to hit and Pacman had to work hard for his points.
But Barrera must have realized that the foe he was facing in Las Vegas was not the same uni-directional clumsy charging bull he fought in 2003, but a good tactician as well. As many must have noticed, Pacquiao most of the 12 rounds fought Barrera’s brand of the so-called ‘sweet science’. And Manny Pacquiao did it well.
THE SWEET SCIENCE
Of course, Marco worked on his homework, anticipating Pacman’s one-dimensional attacks. But Pacquaio to his trademark had metamorphosed into a well-rounded power-boxer with much improved lateral footwork and ring savvy. Confused, Barrera could not do anything else. Admittedly frustrated he lost his cool in a number of rounds.
Manny’s defense in terms of unrelenting offense & effective aggression was too much, too strong and too fast for Barrera’s predicament. As I said in the first article, it takes a Superman to sustain the stamina needed for the Pacman’s style.
And Manny proved that he could be as technical as Barrera himself! As Barrera admitted, “Manny had a good defense”.
The technical side of the episode showed that Pacquiao did not give Barrera windows of opportunity to counter-punch effectively; but at the same time, Manny failed to make the most of his multiple combinations to hit Barrera at will. But as the fight went on, it became visible that Barrera although successful in luring Pacquiao to his range, failed to unleash, except for a few instances, any outstanding counter-attacks.
And as the rounds unfolded, Marco Antonio Barrera, the pride of Mexico, may have avoided Manny Pacquiao’s best power shots but not the outcome. Barrera must have recognized by then that Murphy’s Law was not in his side.
THE BEST PART OF THE BOUT
Round 11, the best canto in the fight…
With traces of great battles, at last the two protagonists traded heavily in the eleventh. Then Pacquiao landed a right hand to the mid-section followed by a big left to the face, in the process opening a nasty cavernous cut under Barrera’s right eye while sending Marco to the verge of a knockdown.
The fans roared and stood up… including us and the millions watching on TV.
With Manny delivering another right uppercut and a straight left, oh my God, Barrera’s submission became more imminent. This was the moment of truth…! The flash we had been all waiting for!
But then the two scrambled and referee Tony Weeks stepped in to break…
Then came Barrera’s best shot! As the referee administered the break, a frustrated Barrera appallingly landed a huge overhand right to the side of Manny’s face - hurting Pacquiao.
As the boxing world watched in awe, what was Barrera’s best shot of the night turned out to be illegal, prompting a point deduction by the referee.
How could Barrera do that! Barrera’s woes only worsened at this time… and the world bore witness to it! Barrera’s camp knew he had to lose…!
THE WINNING
In the end, Pacman’s win was conclusive, though less imposing than the explosive performances that the boxing world have grown to look forward to.
Accounting a one-sided affair, the judges’ cards showed 118-109, 118-109, and 115-112 all in favor of Pacquiao.
CompuBox reported that Pacquiao’s work rate outlanded Barrera, 249-111 in power punches. Pacquiao connected 37 percent of his bombs, while Barrera landed just 21 percent.
In my book, if the rounds were hard to decide, I gave them generously to Barrera. In the end, I gave only two rounds for the Baby Faced Assassin.
But Barerra, performed splendidly! As a Law student he must have been familiar in acquittal, as Marco smartly eked out himself from the horrors of their first encounter! In the first fight, his corner threw in the towel, this time Barrera hung on standing upright until the end of the final round. That was big victory, in his own terms…!
And Marco was correct; he is going to be a lawyer – a master of the art of acquittal.
THE SCARY MOMENTS
The sudden change of heart from LA to Cebu training camp posed some questioning eyebrows on Manny’s indifference. It can be recalled that the extravaganza in the Cebu Camp raised doubts in Pacquiao’s focus on Barrera and had since been yielding contradicting reports.
When Manny was set to sail for the USA, it was reported that he had no problem with his weight. The training strategy was perfect! But on the eve of the fight there was that mysterious excess poundage of the boxing hero. Truth to tell, although with hardened muscles, Pacquiao checked in like a ghost in skeletal form - reminiscent of a similar trouble in Thailand when he was stripped of his WBC flyweight crown and was knocked out the following day.
Yes, you and I were scared… I knew!
Manny was reportedly 144 lbs during fight night, against Barrera’s 138. As experts say, it takes two days to recover from this situation…, could Manny pull through after that sheer dehydration and famish determination?
That’s water under the bridge now. Manny won in a conclusive way, anyway. No doubt about it. But the scary moments lingered. What if Manny faced Juan Manuel Marquez in the same night?
Freddie Roach admittedly said that “Manny was 80% in the Barrera fight”. Understandably my friends, Barrera as I said was retireable and with Manny as the opponent, he could never turn the tide up to his favor. To me, even if Manny was only 60%, he could still be victorious with Barrera!
Again, the question is, “what if Manny faced Juan Manuel Marquez in the same night”?
THE AFTERMATH
The aftermath of the bout saw the re-emergence of the Mexican pride…
When asked what the difference was between this fight from that of 2003, Barrera replied: “The difference was that in the first one, I felt all his punches. Tonight, I did not feel them. But he is still very big, very strong.”
Hahaha, tell that to the marines!
Barrera must have been sitting on his laurels after he survived the Pacman’s onslaughts. It was a victory in his own right; and indeed it was!
But, after all the factors considered; clearly, it was Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino, who had all the will to win…! Whether you like it or not, it was destiny, so to speak…
See you then in Pacman – Marquez II.
The hype, rumors and the early fireworks must have now been to the drain…
And as many predicted - a second win it was for Pacquiao!
On his way to full retirement, the Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera announced to park for good the ‘beautiful sport of boxing’ – the sport that had built him a fortune in proportions not consumable in his entire lifetime.
For Pacman’s side, all’s well that ends well. Again, it was coronation time to higher greatness and he too will again be ensconced in a mega-buck payday to refuel the sapped coffers following that political misadventure to congress. And if he plays his cards well, he shall have more of these premium paychecks in the near future.
To the boxing fans, it was not what they wanted to see… Short of action, there was no eruption into an “all-out war”! Many were surprised that Barrera made it to the distance. And many were questioning why Pacquiao was not able to dispose of Barrera early…
MY CRYSTAL BALL
The first part of the article ‘THE WILL TO WIN’ saw both the accuracies and lapses in my crystal ball…
The rematch did not turn out to be a brawl as I pre-certified. Its product showed both combatants playing cautious tactical games en-route to an ashen finish.
It did not manifest the much-ballyhooed blood & guts imprimatured in their brutal one-sided first encounter. Except for a round or two sporadic detonations, the battle to many fans, was boring. It did not feature the excitement everybody had been expecting.
The boxing world anticipated that Barrera would once again show the fearless bell-to-bell exchanges as in his trilogy with Morales and the schooling he made to the eely Prince Hamed. What we saw was Marco’s reluctance to exchange charges - evocative of the second Barrera-Rocky Juarez fight.
REPLICATING HISTORY
Pacman’s victory, once again in an onerous mode had replicated history but in a different tune. Four years ago in San Antonio, Texas, the Pacman dismantled Barrera in a spectacular fashion. This time, the boxing public asked for more blood and tension.
But then, the Pacman was not able to ‘devour the viscerals out of the Mexican’. Nobody ‘kissed the canvas for good’ even for a few moments.
The absence of wicked passions, the anemic drama and the insufficient action; all these negated the color & luster of the much-awaited rematch as the touted ‘classic bout’ reducing itself into the pages of pallid history.
And nobody ever noticed the ‘Marco Bolo’… Perhaps, the sharpening had not been good enough…
THE WILL TO WIN?
Contrary to publicity, Marco Antonio Barrera showed no will to win. He contented himself in boxing and countering, not being aggressive enough as he should be, if he willed to win.
Probably because of his high esteem to the Pacman - he had already tasted the acidic fire in their first encounter. Or Barrera to his mind might have only coasted to perform his farewell assignment in the comfort zone.
He was cautious not to be knocked out. To survive the distance, Barrera did not engage into a head-on collision with his tormentor. He must remain standing to the last bell. He must be gracious in his exit…
That appeared to be the strategy. Amidst the total secrecy of his training camp, he promised to shock the boxing fans. And the world was indeed shocked, when he elected not to fight toe-to-toe as he had famously done before. In this fight, the fabled Mexican pride in Barrera was not even noticeable… Why?
In fact, Barrera willed not to win. He willed to survive…!
Barrera reported for duty fresh, fit and ready - 130 pounds at weigh-in and 138 pounds at fight night as compared to Pacquiao’s skeletal apparition-like 130 lbs during the weigh-in. Marco obviously was not the under-trained, under-prepared and the over-confident Barrera four years ago at the Alamodome…
Although the aged Barrera is retireable, he showed that he was not yet ‘washed-up & weary’. The veteran this time showed that he was hard to hit and Pacman had to work hard for his points.
But Barrera must have realized that the foe he was facing in Las Vegas was not the same uni-directional clumsy charging bull he fought in 2003, but a good tactician as well. As many must have noticed, Pacquiao most of the 12 rounds fought Barrera’s brand of the so-called ‘sweet science’. And Manny Pacquiao did it well.
THE SWEET SCIENCE
Of course, Marco worked on his homework, anticipating Pacman’s one-dimensional attacks. But Pacquaio to his trademark had metamorphosed into a well-rounded power-boxer with much improved lateral footwork and ring savvy. Confused, Barrera could not do anything else. Admittedly frustrated he lost his cool in a number of rounds.
Manny’s defense in terms of unrelenting offense & effective aggression was too much, too strong and too fast for Barrera’s predicament. As I said in the first article, it takes a Superman to sustain the stamina needed for the Pacman’s style.
And Manny proved that he could be as technical as Barrera himself! As Barrera admitted, “Manny had a good defense”.
The technical side of the episode showed that Pacquiao did not give Barrera windows of opportunity to counter-punch effectively; but at the same time, Manny failed to make the most of his multiple combinations to hit Barrera at will. But as the fight went on, it became visible that Barrera although successful in luring Pacquiao to his range, failed to unleash, except for a few instances, any outstanding counter-attacks.
And as the rounds unfolded, Marco Antonio Barrera, the pride of Mexico, may have avoided Manny Pacquiao’s best power shots but not the outcome. Barrera must have recognized by then that Murphy’s Law was not in his side.
THE BEST PART OF THE BOUT
Round 11, the best canto in the fight…
With traces of great battles, at last the two protagonists traded heavily in the eleventh. Then Pacquiao landed a right hand to the mid-section followed by a big left to the face, in the process opening a nasty cavernous cut under Barrera’s right eye while sending Marco to the verge of a knockdown.
The fans roared and stood up… including us and the millions watching on TV.
With Manny delivering another right uppercut and a straight left, oh my God, Barrera’s submission became more imminent. This was the moment of truth…! The flash we had been all waiting for!
But then the two scrambled and referee Tony Weeks stepped in to break…
Then came Barrera’s best shot! As the referee administered the break, a frustrated Barrera appallingly landed a huge overhand right to the side of Manny’s face - hurting Pacquiao.
As the boxing world watched in awe, what was Barrera’s best shot of the night turned out to be illegal, prompting a point deduction by the referee.
How could Barrera do that! Barrera’s woes only worsened at this time… and the world bore witness to it! Barrera’s camp knew he had to lose…!
THE WINNING
In the end, Pacman’s win was conclusive, though less imposing than the explosive performances that the boxing world have grown to look forward to.
Accounting a one-sided affair, the judges’ cards showed 118-109, 118-109, and 115-112 all in favor of Pacquiao.
CompuBox reported that Pacquiao’s work rate outlanded Barrera, 249-111 in power punches. Pacquiao connected 37 percent of his bombs, while Barrera landed just 21 percent.
In my book, if the rounds were hard to decide, I gave them generously to Barrera. In the end, I gave only two rounds for the Baby Faced Assassin.
But Barerra, performed splendidly! As a Law student he must have been familiar in acquittal, as Marco smartly eked out himself from the horrors of their first encounter! In the first fight, his corner threw in the towel, this time Barrera hung on standing upright until the end of the final round. That was big victory, in his own terms…!
And Marco was correct; he is going to be a lawyer – a master of the art of acquittal.
THE SCARY MOMENTS
The sudden change of heart from LA to Cebu training camp posed some questioning eyebrows on Manny’s indifference. It can be recalled that the extravaganza in the Cebu Camp raised doubts in Pacquiao’s focus on Barrera and had since been yielding contradicting reports.
When Manny was set to sail for the USA, it was reported that he had no problem with his weight. The training strategy was perfect! But on the eve of the fight there was that mysterious excess poundage of the boxing hero. Truth to tell, although with hardened muscles, Pacquiao checked in like a ghost in skeletal form - reminiscent of a similar trouble in Thailand when he was stripped of his WBC flyweight crown and was knocked out the following day.
Yes, you and I were scared… I knew!
Manny was reportedly 144 lbs during fight night, against Barrera’s 138. As experts say, it takes two days to recover from this situation…, could Manny pull through after that sheer dehydration and famish determination?
That’s water under the bridge now. Manny won in a conclusive way, anyway. No doubt about it. But the scary moments lingered. What if Manny faced Juan Manuel Marquez in the same night?
Freddie Roach admittedly said that “Manny was 80% in the Barrera fight”. Understandably my friends, Barrera as I said was retireable and with Manny as the opponent, he could never turn the tide up to his favor. To me, even if Manny was only 60%, he could still be victorious with Barrera!
Again, the question is, “what if Manny faced Juan Manuel Marquez in the same night”?
THE AFTERMATH
The aftermath of the bout saw the re-emergence of the Mexican pride…
When asked what the difference was between this fight from that of 2003, Barrera replied: “The difference was that in the first one, I felt all his punches. Tonight, I did not feel them. But he is still very big, very strong.”
Hahaha, tell that to the marines!
Barrera must have been sitting on his laurels after he survived the Pacman’s onslaughts. It was a victory in his own right; and indeed it was!
But, after all the factors considered; clearly, it was Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino, who had all the will to win…! Whether you like it or not, it was destiny, so to speak…
See you then in Pacman – Marquez II.
DOODS A. AMORA, PEE
October 8, 2007
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