RICHARD SCHAEFER, the man who runs the day-to-day operations of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), one of the world’s chief boxing companies, is not discounting the possibility of a victory by Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera over Manny Pacquiao on Oct. 6 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Schaefer, who holds the position of Chief Executive Officer at the Oscar De La Hoya-owned firm based in Los Angeles, warned the Filipino southpaw of what an 18-year veteran like Barrera could do.
“I believe that Barrera has a very good chance and I’ll tell you why,” Schaefer told boxingtalk.net yesterday. “Everytime people have counted out Barrera, he has performed at his best.”
Schaefer noted Barrera’s performance in the third fight with Erik Morales a few years back and the one against Prince Naseem Hamed in April 2001.
“Barrera’s career has been built on challenges and Barrera lives for these fights and these kind of big challenges. I think we will see Marco Antonio Barrera yet again turning back the clock to make everyone a believer,” said Schaefer.
While it’s been announced two weeks ago that Pacquiao-Barrera 2 is finally on, Schaefer and Top Rank head Bob Arum are scheduled to meet anytime during the week to finalize the entire card.
Top Rank promotes Pacquiao while Barrera fights under the GBP banner and only the intervention of Daniel Weinstein, a retired San Francisco judge, made it possible for the two warring companies to join hands in staging one of the year’s most anticipated matches.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, is busy shooting a film that will be shown at the film festival during the Christmas holidays and is tentatively scheduled to depart for Los Angeles to resume his training on July 19.
Barrera, currently vacationing in Acapulco, is also setting the stage for his preparation as he plans to work out near his residence in Guadalajara before moving either to Big Bear, California, or Mexico City.
