MANILA, 14 November 2003 — The power-punching Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is facing one of the biggest challenges of his career in the ring.
Pacquiao will square off with dangerous Mexican fighter and current champion Marco Antonio Barrera in a non-title bout on Nov. 15 (Saturday) with his sights set on becoming the first Filipino ever to win championships in three divisions.
Pacquiao had a brief reign in the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight division in 1997. He then moved up to the super bantamweight class and demolished Lehlonolo Ledwaba of South Africa to wrest the IBF crown.
Rod Nazario, Pacquiao’s business manager, said if his ward beat Barrera, the sky would be the limit for the General Santos native. Pacquiao is currently holding the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight title. It won’t be at stake in his bout to be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He is coming off a successful defense of his IBF super bantamweight crown against Mexican challenger Emmanuel Lucero.
His victory against Lucero at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles — a third round stoppage — was his fourth successful title defense, earning him accolades from the American boxing press.
The lone Filipino world champion is expected to encounter tough opposition against Barrera, but he said “I’m ready.”
In Barrera, Pacquiao believes he’ll meet a “worthy” opponent.
Barrera is widely regarded as one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters.
“I really want to make history, that is to become the first Filipino ever to win world boxing titles in three divisions before I quit this sport,” he said.
The fight against Barrera is scheduled for 12 rounds with a maximum weight of 126 pounds, the featherweight limit.
Still, the stakes are high. Pacquiao is set to earn $350,000 (at least 19 million pesos) while the Mexican hero is guaranteed of $1 million.
Interestingly, if Pacquiao wins, Barrera, this early, is guaranteed of a rematch that could take place at least 120 days after their showdown. If that happens, Pacquiao stands to receive $700,000.
From there, it will be “the sky’s the limit” for Pacquiao whether he fights in the superbantam or featherweight division.
Nazario firmly believes the fight won’t last the distance, saying: “It will not last 12 rounds. It’s either him (Barrera) or us.”
According to Nazario, no Filipino fighter has ever received a purse as big as what Pacquaio stands to receive, not even former world featherweight champion Luisito Espinosa or even the legendary Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.
“I can say that Manny Pacquiao will be the greatest Filipino boxer ever because Barrera is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers today,” said Nazario.
Emmanuel Rivera, who has taken over the managerial reins from Daly City-based real estate broker Boots Aniel, believes Pacquiao has all the skills and power to conquer the featherweight division.
Because nobody in his rank seems capable of matching up with him pound for pound, the 24-year-old Pacquiao is getting bored.
Although he would not admit it, Pacquiao is getting impatient in dealing with fighters in his weight category. Nobody seems to stand a chance of beating him in the super-bantamweight (122 lb) division.
The poison-fisted Pacquiao could use his massive power to the hilt against heavier opponents in the featherweight division.
“Nobody can take my punch in the 122-lb division,” said Pacquiao, who has been campaigning, and ruling the world’s 122-pound division with iron fists for the last two years.
“I will fight them anytime, anywhere. I want to meet them to see whether they can take my punch,” he said. As a matter of fact, Pacquiao wants his bouts in the featherweight division to be beamed on the Internet.
Pacquiao is aware that a victory over Barrera will legitimize his claim as boxing’s newest global star.
Even Rod Nazario, Pacquiao’s business manager, thinks “the challenge for Pacquiao can be found in the featherweight class.”
Pacquiao has dominated the world’s 122-pounders the last two years, having knocked out all but one of his nine opponents in the super-bantamweight division. Most of his earlier fights were in the flyweight class (112 lb). For the record, the only time Pacquiao did not win as a super-bantamweight was when he was held to a six-round split draw by rugged Dominican Republic native Agapito Sanchez in their November 2001 brawl in San Francisco.
Aghainst Lucero, the southpaw Pacquiao outboxed the challenger and had clearly got to grips with his unorthodox style by the third round. He staggered Lucero with a left less than a minute into the round, and referee Jose Cobian stopped the contest at 48 seconds into the round.
Southpaw Pacquiao took a few rounds to figure out Lucero’s unorthodox style, then connected with a big straight left that staggered Lucero. Referee Jose Cobian immediately halted the contest at 48 seconds into the round.
Pacquiao sports a 37-2-1 win-loss-draw card, with 28 knockout. Before his bout with Lucero, he defeated Serikzhan Yeshmangbetov of Kazakhstan.
But Pacquiao came close to defeat when he fought Yeshmangbetov.
The southpaw Pacquiao knocked out his Kazakh opponent in the fifth round of their scheduled 10-round non-title bout before a thrilled hometown crowd at the Luneta Park, but not before flirting with disaster.
