LAS VEGAS ? Legendary Kronk Gym owner and Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward said yesterday Manny Pacquiao?s failure to knock out Marco Antonio Barrera has no effect on his marketability as one of the world?s most exciting fighters.
Steward, who served as analyst on the HBO pay-per-view commentary panel, put the blame on Barrera for not engaging Pacquiao and avoiding a head-on collision to survive the distance in their WBC International superfeatherweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center last Saturday night.
?It?s understandable what Barrera did,? said Steward who has worked with over 20 world champions including Tommy Hearns, Michael Moorer, Wilfred Benitez, Naseem Hamed, Mike McCallum, Jimmy Paul and Milton McCrory. ?He fought to survive. This was his last fight and he didn?t want to get knocked out.?
Steward, 63, said whenever Barrera connected and Pacquiao retaliated, the Mexican backtracked.
?Manny?s too strong for Barrera,? said Steward. ?I thought Barrera fought a tactical fight, a smart fight. It didn?t do anything to blunt Manny?s stature. The fans saw what happened. Barrera just didn?t want to get hurt in his last fight. Manny tried to make a fight out of it. That?s boxing. It happens. Manny just has to live with this and move on.?
If there was any doubt that Pacquiao was in shape for Barrera, he showed up the skeptics by going the entire route without backing off. He went full throttle from start to finish and probably could?ve gone on. It was a different story with Barrera who looked ready to surrender after 12 grueling rounds with the Filipino icon.
Former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough said Barrera appeared to be in better condition than when he faced Pacquiao in 2003. At least, he lasted the distance in the rematch.
?I think Barrera was better prepared this time,? said McCullough whose last fight was a knockout loss to Oscar Larios in 2005. ?He had all those distractions before the first fight. But Manny was just too good. No more excuses from Barrera.?
McCullough, however, noticed Pacquiao wasn?t as sharp as before. He wondered if struggling to make the 130-pound limit had taken a toll on his stamina, reflexes and power.
?It?s wide open for Manny,? said McCullough. ?He could even move up to lightweight. Or if he stays at superfeatherweight, he could fight so many tough guys like maybe Alex Arthur who?s much bigger than Manny. He makes the superfeatherweight limit at the weigh-in but when he enters the ring, he?s 150. He would be a competitive opponent for Manny.?
Arthur, the WBO interim superfeatherweight titlist from Scotland, has a 25-1 record, with 19 KOs, and stands 5-9.
McCullough, 37, said he hasn?t officially quit the fight game and is planning a comeback in December in Ireland against Kiko Martinez who recently knocked out previously unbeaten Bernard Dunne in the first round. Dunne once trained at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
McCullough, now a Las Vegas resident, works as a public relations associate for UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) when he?s not boxing. One of his favorite UFC fighters is Fil-Am Brandon (The Truth) Vera, an unbeaten heavyweight.
Two ?swing? bouts involving Filipinos were cancelled in Saturday?s program.
Superbantamweight Vernie Torres, who joined Pacquiao in a slow boat from General Santos City to Manila to find fame and fortune in the ring in 1994, was supposed to face Mexico?s Manuel Sarabia in a sixer while US-born Filipina Ana (Hurricane) Julaton was booked to take on Hondi Hernandez in a four-rounder.
The contests were on a ?wait list? and would?ve gone on if the regular fights in the undercard ended early. There were six bouts that led to the main event. In all, the Top Rank and Golden Boy co-promotion had a schedule of 66 rounds in seven pairings, excluding the ?swing? bouts.
Julaton?s manager Angelo Reyes said she would?ve fought if only opponent Hondi Hernandez made the weight.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum assured Julaton there will be a spot for her in a coming promotion. Reyes mentioned two possible dates for Julaton?s pro debut until the end of the month.
Julaton, 27, is a former taekwondo and wushu practitioner who turned to boxing only three years ago.
London ?s authoritative weekly trade paper Boxing News editor Claude Abrams said he was disappointed that the much-ballyhooed ?Will To Win? duel between Pacquiao and Barrera didn?t erupt into an all-out war.
But trainer Freddie Roach said he was pleased with Pacquiao?s performance.
?It wasn?t all about speed and power,? said Roach. ?Barrera is a skilled fighter and kept away from Manny. We anticipated what he did. Manny could?ve done a better job cutting him off. Barrera circled away from Manny and went to his right. Manny could?ve stopped him if he cut him off.?
Still, Roach couldn?t complain. The punch stats showed Pacquiao landed 694 total punches to Barrera?s 578 with a connection rate of 37 percent to 21 percent. Pacquiao threw 369 jabs to Barrera?s 338 and landed 22 percent to 12 percent. In power punches, Pacquiao had a huge edge, 176-81.
Two judges Jerry Roth, 66, and Glenn Trowbridge, 64, scored it 118-109 both for Pacquiao, awarding only two rounds for Barrera. New York judge Tom Schreck saw it 115-112 for Pacquiao and surprisingly had it even at 95-all after 10 rounds.
Referee Tony Weeks, 51, slapped a one-point deduction on Barrera for hitting on the break in the 11th round. It was a desperate move by Barrera who nearly went down from a Pacquiao barrage a few moments earlier.
