LOS ANGELES–Promoters of Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Mexican ring idol Marco Antonio Barrera have decided to take the next step leading to a dream rematch between the world’s top two featherweights as soon as possible.
Murad Muhammad of M&M Sports and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, the promoters of Pacquiao and Barrera, respectively, have recently agreed to proceed and discuss details of the proposed return bout.
Schaefer, CEO of Oscar De La Hoya’s promotions outfit based in Los Angeles, and Muhammad, speaking in his home base of New Jersey, will talk next to Home Box Office (HBO) executives in a bid to book a fight date within three months the soonest.
The state of California has been mainly considered as the venue of the match owing to the large concentration of Latino and Filipino fight fans. “The Staples Center (located in Los Angeles) is one of the venues being seriously considered,” said Schaefer.
Securing a fight date is the top priority of both camps as most big-name boxers have booked a fight in September and October. The month of November is also being considered, memorable because Pacquiao knocked out Barrera last year in San Antonio, Texas in one of the most surprising results of the year 2003.
“Klitchsko, Tarver, Mayweather, James Toney, Trinidad, Mayorga have already fight schedules in the fall,” said Schaefer.
Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya fights Bernard Hopkins on Sept. 18 with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez fighting in the undercard of the pay-per-view event against young Orlando Salido. Marquez drew with Pacquiao in a highly controversial match last May while Barrera is coming off a big win over Paulie Ayala last week.
“it is going to be an intriguing fight,” said Schaefer, who is planning to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, to personally talk to Barrera and his handlers and discuss other details of the fight should a fight date gets penciled soon.
Also being considered by both parties is the possibility of staging the fight on pay-per-view. “We are studying the feasibility of putting the fight on pay-per-view which looks more likely,” added Schaefer.
“It is true Mr. Barrera would like to fight Mr. Pacquiao. He would like to show that that fight in November was an off night. Every athlete has an off night but we would not like to take away anything from Mr. Pacquiao,” said Schaefer.
Muhammad will also talk to Kerry Davis of HBO in order to secure a fight date with the giant cable television company even as he dismissed hopes of having the fight in Manila this year. Muhammad said he will expect an answer in a week from HBO.
“HBO is considering to stage a fight next year in Manila. This year would be too soon,” said Muhammad. “A Thrilla in Manila II is just hard to ignore. I believe Manila deserves it,” added Muhammad.
According to Muhammad, San Francisco is also being considered as one of the venues of the proposed rematch with the “People’s Champion” belt previously held by Barrera as the main object of the rematch. Pacquiao, who inherited Barrera’s belt, has been regarded as the world’s top featherweight.
Previously, Barrera was considered king of all featherweights after beating some of the biggest names in the division. He was forced to give up his belt from the alphabet world governing bodies of boxing, refusing to pay sanctioning fees, among others.
“Marco Antonio Barrera deserves to have a rematch because he was the one who gave us the opportunity to show who Manny Pacquiao is,” said Muhammad.
“Manny Pacquiao will try to equal or better his performance when the rematch takes place and we will prove that the first one was no accident, no fluke,” said Muhammad.
