?I was sad because I lost the fight, but he never really hurt me?I didn?t even think he landed that many punches.? — Marco Antonio Barrera
Last night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Manny Pacquiao, 45-3-2, 34 KO?s, defeated Marco Antonio Barrera, 63-6, 42 KO?s, over the course of 12 hard fought rounds. RSR had the fight in favor of the ?Pacman? eight rounds to four, or 116-112. Manny won most of the exchanges, was always the aggressor and landed the more telling blows. Nonetheless, it was great to watch. Rounds four, five, and six were old-fashioned donnybrooks, and every round was filled with explosive tension.
Barrera, a master technician, held his ground beautifully and countered effectively, however, he seemed content to allow Pacquiao to set the pace and dictate the offense. Pacquiao handled his position as the aggressor and appeared confident of victory. There were few dissenters in the pro-Barrera audience. ?It was a good fight, and it was different from the first fight,? Pacquiao said. ?He?s a good, smart boxer; I?m satisfied with the result. I knew he would have to box me this time around.? Barrera said: ?I was sad because I lost the fight, but he never really hurt me?I didn?t even think he landed that many punches.?
Barrera was incorrect. The punch stats showed Pacquiao landing 256 punches to Barrera?s 120. Pacquaio also more than doubled the power shots landed with a 54% connection, with Barrera registering 34%. ?I was surprised he (Barrera) lasted the way he did, ?said Pacquiao?s Trainer, Freddie Roach. ?He has a lot of heart and guts. He fought a great fight. Manny boxed well. He showed good footwork, cutting off and moving him (Barrera) to the right. When he did that, it was beautiful.?
The only real controversy came in the eleventh round after Pacquiao had opened a cut below Barrera?s eye during an exchange. The fighters clinched soon after and as Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to break to break up the fighters, Barrera staggered Pacquiao with an overhand right. Weeks penalized Barrera one point for the infraction. Barrera complained later that it was not an illegal blow and that the point should not have been deducted. Marco Antonio is still a great fighter, but again I disagree with him. In addition, most of the audience of over ten thousand people roared their disapproval of the infraction. After a minute or so of recovery, they resumed fighting for a very short while until the bell ended the round.
Round twelve was uneventful other than Barrera showed a little more aggressiveness and Pacquaio still managing to win the stanza on aggressiveness, and overall effective punching. Both men bore the welts and bruises of a well-fought encounter.
Manny Pacquaio retained his International Super Featherweight Championship and Marco Antonio Barrera stated that this was unequivocally his last fight and that he continues no more in this sport that he loves. He had announced this decision prior to the match.
Much honor was bestowed on Barrera at the post-fight interview. Everyone from Oscar De La Hoya to Bob Arum proclaimed Barrera as one of the greatest fighters of recent times and thanked him for all of his contributions. Barrera took this all in stride as he proudly held his beautiful daughter in his lap.
The rest of the card was well represented with featherweight Alejandro Perez improving has record to, 11-0, 5 KO?s, with a six round decision over Jaime Villa, 5-3, 2 KO?s. Featherweight Michael Farenas, 18-2, 16 KO?s, looked particularly sharp in stopping Arturo Valenzuela, 19-9, 17 KO?s, and Vicente Escobedo, 15-1, 11 KO?s, won a decision over Miguel Angel Munguia, 15-7-1, 13 KO?s, in a junior lightweight affair. Steve Forbes, 32-5, 9 KO?s, looked very sharp in winning over Francisco Bojado, 18-3, 12 KO?s, by ten round decision.
Librado Andrade, 26-1, 20 KO?s, got off the canvass to knock out Yusaf Mack, 23-2-2, 14 KO?s, in 7 rounds, and win the vacant USBA Super Middleweight Title. A terrific fight. And, Steven Luevano 34-1, 15 KO?s, decisioned Antonio Davis, 24-4, 12 KO?s, to retain his WBO World Featherweight Championship.
It was a great night of boxing. All involved should be proud.
