IT may all be a part of an act, but world champion Marco Antonio Barrera on Tuesday said he is rooting for Mexican countryman Erik Morales to beat Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao when the two fighters collide on March 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?I?m rooting for Morales because as Mexicans we have to root for one another,? said Barrera at the press conference announcing his pay-per-view clash on April 9 against South African Mzonke Fana, according to the website fightnews.com.
Fana will be challenging Barrera for the World Boxing Council super featherweight title, which he wrested from arch rival Morales by a contentious majority decision in November 2004.
Fana earned a crack at Barrera, who was practically beaten to a pulp by Pacquiao in November 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, by beating Filipino Randy Suico in an elimination fight.
The statement of the ?Baby-Faced Assassin? ran counter to the earlier statements attributed to his right-hand man, Roberto Diaz, who just a few days ago reportedly was willing to give tips to Team Pacquiao so ?PacMan? could prevail over ?El Terible.?
Diaz was also quoted as saying that Barrera is keen on Manny winning after the sound beating he got from the Filipino boxer the first time they squared off in the ring.
On the other hand, Fana, who has a record of 22 wins?eight by knockout?and 2 losses, said ?this [title shot] is a big honor for me. To be fighting a legend like Barrera is something that I have always dreamed of.?
The Barrera-Fana title clash will be staged at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, just across the Mexican border, where Barrera?s fans are expected to come just like they did when he faced Pacquiao in 2004.
But the excitement of the Morales-Pacquiao encounter is reaching fever pitch and taking on an immense aura of its own, with one boxing writer describing it as ?The Little Hagler-Hearns.?
The fight between ?Mar?velous? Marvin Hagler and Thomas ?The Hitman? Hearns is considered as one of the ring classics of all time, when Hagler staked his undisputed middleweight title against the former welter and junior middleweight titlist.
?When the two squared off, few could have anticipated the utter fury that broke out, shocking that it was only the first round. Hearns, pumped up from watching kung fu films in his dressing room, and believing his power was too much for anyone, initiated the action with stinging rights,? recalled Matthew Sanderson of the website tigerboxing.com.
?Hagler, stunned and cut, paid him back. Science went out the window. By the end of the greatest round in history, Hagler had Hearns, his right hand broken, looking shaky,? he added.
Given the intensity of that match, which Hagler eventually won, ?many have likened Manny Pacquiao?s super featherweight debut against Erik Morales as potentially akin to that amazing piece of condensed fury,? Sanderson noted.
?Although few would predict a third-round knockout, already the Filipino star is classed as the Hagler who will stop Morales? Hearns,? he added.
