LAS VEGAS ? Rafael Mendoza, the seasoned boxing agent from Mexico, has joined the Manny Pacquiao cheering squad.
Mendoza, a former sportswriter who has handled 18 different champions over recent decades, Friday said Pacquiao?s speed will be the key against Marco Antonio Barrera.
?Why will Pacquiao win? It?s very simple. It?s very, very simple. And it?s very easy. You just cannot beat a guy like Pacquiao who maybe is the fastest guy in the world,? he said.
Mendoza, who was in Manila last year as Oscar Larios? agent, said Pacquiao is so fast, so quick that Barrera will end up ?punching the air.?
?There?s only one guy faster than Pacquiao. Maybe it?s Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Pacquiao is better with cutting the ring,? said Mendoza who considers the Filipino southpaw as the best pound-for-pound.
?Pacquiao is so fast and Barrera has no chance of hitting him. Barrera has no legs. He?s a desperado. Barrera cannot beat a guy with such movement. No way. It?s impossible,? he said.
Mendoza said the age factor is certainly going against Barrera who, in his better days, couldn?t even handle Pacquiao when they first met in 2003.
?Barrera is now four years older. When you are 23 or 24 and you fight until you are 27 then you have three years of experience. But when you are 29 and you fight until you are 33, you do not get experience.
?You get older. Otherwise, then all fighters should get better at 35. No, no, no,? he explained.
Mendoza said Barrera should go to work early because as the fight goes on his chances of stopping Pacquiao becomes smaller.
?Barrera knows that. If I were in his corner I?d tell him that,? he added.
In the end, he said only an accident, whether it?s a broken hand, a sprained foot or a headbutt, can stop Pacquiao from winning.
?What about an accidental uppercut from Barrera?? Mendoza was asked by a Filipino sportswriter.
The question fell on deaf ears.
