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Will It Be Barrera, Not Marquez, Who Will Solve the Pacquiao Puzzle? By Mortz Marcelo Ortigoza PhilBoxing.com Mon, 23 Jul 2007  Former pound–for-pound king Roy Jones has so much admiration on Marco Antonio Barrera that he emphatically told Doug Fisher of Maxboxing.Com: “I’d still say Barrera’s better pound-for-pound than Manny (Pacquiao). To me, Manny’s the busiest fighter in the world, but he’s not a thinking fighter and he’s no one to show boxing technique, and that’s not what being pound-for-pound is about.” He also said: “ Manny is a real good fighter, but he’s more busy than skillful.. He’s the type of fighter that overwhelms other fighters with his heart and his conditioning, but even though he beat Marco Antonio Barrera, I don’t think he’s better that Barrera.” For me, Manny is likened to that multi-million dollar lethal Cruise guided Missile that blasted the Taliban lairs in Kabul, Afgahnistan . It surged the great sky, mountain tops, and prairie unabated. But some skeptics pooh-poohed his style. One of them was Floyd Mayweather, Sr. who quipped: “Maaan, that boy couldn’t forever absorb those punches from his opponents before he could land his punch to hit the same opponents. Other boxing experts said, someday boxing greats (like Manny) will find their match that will outfox them. One recent example is the fork-tongued Vic “Awkward-Moving Raging Bull” Darchinyan who was out-slugged by Filipino-American Nonito Donaire from the start of the first round until the latter delivered his opus magnum’s left cross that turned into smithereens the senses of Darchinyan . Gee whiz that was in a southpaw stance two feet literally glued on the canvas, while his body moved backward, to avoid the right hand cum decoy — of Vic, before he (Nonito) fired the said devastating punch. Everybody who watched it on YouTube could compare the Armenian-Australian to a crawling and walking intoxicated person we amusedly saw on public places. Going back to Barrera, he said he was not himself during his first match with the Pacman where the latter TKO’d him. If he was not himself then, can he pull-out an upset in their October 6, 2007 rematch? If you read the pugilist’s background of the Mexican Assassin, you can see he had losses and a controversial matched that he won. In 1996, he fought the hard-hitting technical fighter black American Junior Jones. Jones’ punches were so devastating that it knocked down Barrera in round five. Sensing he would be “mutilated” by his black opponent, Barrera’s pa – answering the paternal instinct—threw the towel inside, and climbed the dais to halt the fight. Eric Morales once said that the hardest punches he ever received were not of Pacman but of Jones – whom he defeated in a controversial TKO in Mexico. Determined to salvage his prestige, Barrera faced Jones on April 18, 1997 in Las Vegas. However, the proud Mexican lost in a knockdown-free close unanimous decision. Probably hurt that his best was not enough, he retired for a year after the said tussle. In year 2000, World Boxing Organization’ Super Bantamweight Barrera fought World Boxing Council Super Bantamweight Eric Morales in Las Vegas, Nevada. He lost in a split decision in that controversial and acrimonious fight that was dubbed as a classic. Both men—who detested each other up to high heaven—threw more than 1,500 punches except the proverbial kitchen sink and the obnoxious toilet that is probably located in your comfort room. After humiliating the flamboyant and egoistic Naseer “The Prince” Hamed in 2001, he again met archrival Morales in 2002 and 2004. In the said two meetings, he defeated the former. He said -- in an interview after the rubber match — that his strategy was to fight inside since Morales was dangerous outside because of his long hand reach. In May 20, 2006, he defended his super featherweight title against Rocky Juarez. The fight was a slam bang affair where Barrera fought a closed fight to the hard hitting Juarez. The face of the Baby Faced Assassin was a paradox of itself. Its gruesomeness could be likened to assassinated politicians’ face in my country Philippines -- compliment of slugs from .45 caliber pistol. That fight was earlier declared a draw but was re-declared as a split decision in favor of the gory faced Baby Assassin. Even though with out a rematch clause in the contract, the man in Barrera allowed Juarez another chance so once for all to settle the clouds of doubts that surround their first clash. In September 16, 2006, the genius of Barrera had excelled as he resorted to stick, run, and ambush (ala Bernard Hopkins against Antonio Tarver) to the hapless and confused Juarez. It was a boxing lesson Rocky probably did not learn when he was training to represent the U.S in the Olympic. It was a convincing unanimous decision for Barrera who got 117-111, 115-117, 115-113. On March 17, 2007 he lost his WBC Super Featherweight diadem to fellow Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in a unanimous decision. But Barrera dished the alleged oversight of the referee and the judges. He said they did not consider his knocking down Marquez in the seventh round. With all the aforementioned former opponents that tainted his winning records if not question his prowess, it was the Morales rematch and rubber matched (experts said, it was only the rubbermatch since the rematch was questionable) and the Juarez rematched that Marco proved that he could rise from the morgue to topple down those who subjugated him in a Green Beret’s closed hand-to hand quarter combat and a Ho Chi Minh guerrilla mode of hit and run. Now, would this flexibility to adjust could be his antidote to the Pacquiao’s plague that until now haunts him? Moreover, will it be Barrera, not Marquez, who will solve the puzzle on how to defeat the Pacman? (Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com) Click here to view a list of other articles written by Mortz Marcelo Ortigoza.  |
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