IT?S now time to walk the talk as boxing icons Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera finally meet for the second time Sunday morning at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Weeks leading to the fight, the much-anticipated bout has been constantly hyped by both camps, with the bulk of the promotion assumed by American trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach, a two-time trainer of the year who has handled Pacquiao since the Filipino fighter debuted in the United States six years ago, has been consistently telling the media during interviews about Barrera?s inclination to be ?dirty? in times of duress inside the ring.
Barrera has been unruffled during his entire training in Guadalajara, Mexico, some that didn?t sit well with Roach, who felt it was Barrera?s strategy to be undisturbed so that Pacquiao would take him lightly.
Yesterday at the Mandalay Bay, the final press conference was held and, as expected, all personalities involved tried their best to sell the bout to the public.
Just like Roach, observers can?t fathom a Barrera win, especially with how a then-raw Pacquiao manhandled Barrera for 11 grueling rounds in November 2003.
?I need this fight. I?ve come to win this fight. I don?t come with any excuses or want to talk about the last fight. No, no, no, I?m here to talk about this fight,? was Barrera?s opening statement during the presser.
Barrera opened fireworks by deriding Roach?s claim about how the Mexican illegally use the method of wrapping his hands.
?I?d like to say to Freddie Roach my hand wraps are the same as what I used in 2003. So don?t worry about that. The fight is only three days away and I am ready,? said Barrera.
Taking his turn, Pacquiao addressed the crowd about his excitement over the fight, also expressing some of his uneasiness over Barrera?s previous claim that he lost the initial encounter because he was only distracted.
?I?m really excited about the fight this Saturday [US time]. We will see whether or not Barrera was really distracted in the first fight,? said Pacquiao. ?I?m 100-percent conditioned and Barrera is 100-percent conditioned. So I?m going to try and give a good fight. I hope everyone will enjoy the fight. This is for all the Filipinos and everyone who loves boxing.?
Not to be outdone, of course, is Pacquiao?s trainer, who asserted their readiness to repeat over Barrera.
?We have had a great training camp both in Cebu and down at the Wild Card. I hope they don?t have any excuses this time around as we don?t have any,? said Roach ?We are 100-percent prepared for this fight. We know it?s going to be a tough fight. Marco is a real game guy, but I do believe we?ll get it done before 12.?
On the day he and Team Pacquiao left the country nearly two weeks ago, Roach divulged to the BusinessMirror about making use of some rough methods, which is the only way for Barrera to avenge his humiliating loss to Pacquiao.
?I can?t figure out how Barrera is going to win this fight. He can?t outbox us, he can?t outpunch us, he can?t outslug us. I think he has a reputation of getting dirty,? said Roach.
Roach said Pacquiao?s aggressive, but methodical, offensive approach would eventually force Barrera to resort to illegal attacks.
?I think Manny?s going to frustrate him. He?s going to resort to tactics of that nature. We just have to be ready in case that happens,? said Roach.
In their final press preview here in the country held at the Wild Card Gym in Para?aque, Roach was evidently demonstrating to Pacquiao how an elbow and head are used illegally during a fight.
Pacquiao did his training at the RWS Gym since August 15, a move which, at first, raised eyebrows from boxing observers and even from Pacquiao?s ardent followers.
Roach, however, assured everyone that they had a great time preparing Pacquiao and that everything was in order during their whole stay in Cebu.
In all his major bouts in the US, Pacquiao trained at Roach?s landmark Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.
Roach probably knows his ward is not used to foul tactics, which was evident during his fight with the late former world super-bantamweight champion Agapito Sanchez of Dominican Republic.
In the Sanchez bout, Pacquiao narrowly escaped with a split draw but not after getting cut and had his legs almost twisted by the rough treatment the Filipino took from his opponent.
?It?s funny because I?m preparing him for what might happen, but I can?t ask him to foul back,? revealed Roach, who himself is a former pro boxer ?Because I told him if the guy hits you low. Hit him low, too. But Manny, he won?t foul, ever. Manny will not resort to do the same thing.?
Tomorrow, the official weigh-in of the match will be held, a mere act of formality as both boxers will relatively make the weight.
Since losing to Pacquiao, Barrera had a flourishing campaign in the super-featherweight division capped by his reign as the World Boxing Council (WBC) champion, a title he took from bitter Mexican rival and the sport?s equally illustrious champion Erik Morales.
Barrera and Pacquiao faced each nearly four years ago with the Filipino superstar scoring an emphatic 11th-round TKO victory in November 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The win catapulted Pacquiao to where he is right now, one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world second only to kingpin Floyd Mayweather, Jr, the reigning WBC welterweight champion.
The 33-year-old Barrera (63-5-0, 42 knockouts) is coming off a close 12-round verdict loss to compatriot Juan Manuel Marquez in a World Boxing Council (WBC) 130-lb championship last March at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas
Among Barrera?s victims in the post-Pacquiao-loss era were another compatriot Erik Morales in a WBC title fight and American Olympian Rocky Juarez, whom the Mexico City native fighter decisioned twice in 2006.
Pacquiao meanwhile established his legacy by winning the last two of his trilogy with Morales the last two years. His win over Barrera jumpstarted his stardom.
Pacquiao instantly seeped his way into the consciousness of hardcore American boxing fans after he defeated Ledwaba via a smashing sixth-round TKO victory which was the Filipino?s US debut in June 2001 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena also in Las Vegas.
Since that night, Pacquiao established his eminence by fighting 14 times, taking on seven former world champions, most of them future Hall-of Famers that included both Barrera, Morales and Marquez.
