Marco Antonio Barrera dispatched Paulie Ayala in their featherweight showdown last Saturday. He proved he still belongs in the ring with the best in the world. He proved he could still knock out a live, tough guy. He proved he could still dig to the body like the best in the world.
The Juan Manuel Marquez-Barrera fight is a fight that fan’s have been interested in seeing for many years. Long before Manny Pacquiao ever came on the scene. Long before. For years Juan Manuel stood by waiting for his big shot, his big fight, against the likes of a Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera chose, understandably, to go after the more lucrative opponents (Morales, Hamed) or the easier fights against older guys (Kelley, Tapia) or smaller guys (Pacquiao).
Marquez was made to wait.
With Juan Manuel Marquez still waiting in the wings, Pacquiao’s people are trying to do what they can to lure Marco back for the rematch. And truth be told Barrera will probably go that route. The bigger money is in the rematch.
But the sad thing for fans is that if by some chance Pacquiao wins the rematch with Barrera there is little chance that we would ever see a Marquez-Barrera match-up. If Barrera loses to Pacquiao he would be coming off another big loss and another comeback would be very difficult.
The logical thing now is for Barrera and Marquez to square off with the winner going after Pacquiao. This is a natural match-up considering the fact that Pacquiao has the unnatural advantage over both of these guys because of the fact that he fights as a southpaw. Everyone knows lefthanders are unnatural.
First, let?s explore the merits of a Pacquiao-Marquez rematch in relation to the other two possible fights.
The truth is that if most fans honestly assess the Pacquiao-Marquez fight they will have to admit that Marquez will probably win the rematch. At least he should be considered the betting favorite based on his performance in that fight.
There is very, very little chance that he would come out semi-cold and get caught and overwhelmed by the Pacquiao power again. Not a second time.
Many people felt that Marquez won 9 of the 12 rounds and even with the 10-6 score in the 1st round did enough to pull out the win by a score of 113-112. But a draw is a fair outcome. I guess.
Now let?s try to figure out what makes the Barrera-Pacquiao rematch so appealing. Besides the fact, of course, that it was a very lopsided fight the first time.
The fact of the matter is that Barrera’s performance Saturday night versus Ayala proved that the performance he gave against Manny Pacquiao back in November was a bit of an aberration.
Looking back through the lens of history and in the context of Barrera’s performance last Saturday against Ayala some things are starting to become clear about Barrera’s performance. Things that weren’t so clear in the days and weeks following Pacquiao’s veritable destruction of “The Baby Faced Assassin”.
It’s true, he looked slower than Pacquiao. Pacquiao looked hungrier and tougher. Manny clearly and distinctly unleashed all hell on Barrera.
But Barrera showed hunger on Saturday night. He came in ready, focused and with one thing in mind: to knock out Paulie Ayala. And he did. Where was the hunger in the Pacquiao fight?
In the immediate days leading up to the Pacquiao fight Barrera had some very serious distractions. Most obvious were the revelations that Marco had been fighting, not to mention living, with a metal plate in his head as a result of a medical procedure done in Mexico City back in 1995.
Barrera had fought 16 times since the procedure, had been examined by the boxing authorities and was cleared to fight.
At the same time all this was going on Barrera and his camp had to evacuate Big Bear and finish training camp in San Antonio as a result of the wildfires that struck California in the last week of October 2003.
All this happened in the few weeks leading up to the fight and Barrera was soundly defeated by a power punching dynamo in Manny Pacquiao
Interestingly, Murad Muhammad, Pacquiao’s promoter, is quoted this week telling reporters that, “a rematch with Barrera is important in order to prove to everyone that Pacquiao clearly won the fight.”
It is fascinating to me that he would say that. Doesn’t it just sound like “promoter talk”? Anybody that witnessed the fight knows that Manny clearly won the fight.
Let the fans see what happens when the “real fan’s fight” between Barrera vs. Marquez finally takes place. The winner can get a rematch with Pacquiao, assuming Manny gets past his next opponent.
Let’s not forget the fact that both of these guys are from Mexico City. What a boon for Mexican boxing this would be. In fact, forget Las Vegas or the Staples Center; let?s have the fight right there in Mexico City.
This is the real “fan’s fight” folks.
