Marco Antonio Barrera is an ageless wonder. From all of the brutal fights that he has been in in recent years against Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao, it seems as though he fights with an endless amount of energy.
Although he is 31 years of age, he is not ready to slow down and hang up the gloves. Barrera may be headed towards the latter stage of his career, but he will further cement his standing as one of the greatest fighters to come from Mexico.
Before he possible fights the likes of Morales and Pacquiao again, along with a possible fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, Barrera will face WBC number one Super Featherweight Mzonke Fana on Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX.
The bout will headline the ?Viva Mexico? card, which will be presented by Oscar De La Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions. The Barrera-Fana bout, along with three other bouts, will be televised on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Barrera, (59-4, 41 KO?s) from Mexico City, DF, Mexico, won the WBC Super Featherweight title over Erik Morales in November. The hard-fought battle between the two fighters was the third bout between the two legendary rivals.
Now, Barrera faces a fighter who is a virtual unknown from South Africa. Fana (22-2, 8 KO?s) earned the opportunity to fight Barrera when he survived two knockdowns to defeat Randy Suico in May.
Barrera is not getting wrapped up in all of the hoopla of this being an easy bout against an unknown fighter. On the contrary, Barrera trained a total of over seven weeks in preparation of this fight. He spent an extra two weeks of training for this bout in Big Bear, CA.
?Fana has a lot of conditioning and has demonstrated this in many fights,? said Barrera, who made his professional debut since 1989 and has been trained by the same trainer, Rudy Perez. ?He has a good left hand and he is very mobile at all times.?
When numerous boxing insiders and reporters expected Barrera to face Pacquiao and Morales again, Barrera surprised many by fighting his mandatory contender. For someone who has never cared to defend belts like before, Barrera made it clear he wanted to defend his title.
?Since I worked so hard in winning this title, I wanted to enjoy it and defend the title. We worked very hard in this camp because little is known about Fana. We have seen tapes of him but because he is unknown, we trained a lot harder for this fight. The fighters that are unknown are the ones that could surprise their opponents.?
Having sparred with Vicente Escobedo and Dominic Salcido because of their speed and mobility, Barrera will even enter the fight below the maximum fighting weight of 130 pounds.
Barrera has fought in large cities around the world. Barrera could have fought in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, but has wanted to reach all fans that have supported him throughout the years. When the opportunity arose to fight in Texas, Barrera was sold on the idea.
?When the idea was presented by Oscar, I was happy to be able to fight here. We have to reach all of the fans and we are very pleased to fight in El Paso before all of the people.?
For fight fans who wish that he could avenge his loss against Pacquiao, they would have to wait. Another Barrera-Morales fight would draw the same if not more interest by the boxing community.
Still, Barrera explained that his only focus as of now is on Fana. After his bout on Saturday night, he could talk about possible opponents.
?There are a lot of plans in the future with Golden Boy Promotions until I will retire. My number one objective is on Fana. After Saturday night, I will be more than happy to discuss any possible fights there is in the future.?
Despite the number of fights he has fought in, Barrera is content with how his career has gone. He has no regrets over how his career has gone and knows that his brilliant career will one day come to an end.
?There will be a day when I will no longer fight. I have no regrets from all of my fights and I will be content if I were to retire soon. I will be satisfied with retirement.?
If he does retire, he will have left a legacy for fight fans that have watched his fights in person or on television. Barrera has been a staple on HBO programming, including the first ever Boxing After Dark telecast. Barrera and Kennedy McKinney fought the fight of the year on March 2nd, 1996, with both fighters being knocked down before Barrera came away with a technical knockout in the 12th round.
After boxing, Barrera has expressed interest in becoming a boxing analyst and color commentator. He has been behind the microphone before and hopes to make it a career in the future. Not bad for a fighter who grew up loving and playing soccer and was an aspiring lawyer growing up in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Mexico City.
Before then, a possible fight with Morales is on the horizon. With all three bouts with Morales taking place in Las Vegas, the focus for a fourth bout could possible take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, which has become a popular location for big fights taking place in the last couple of years.
?It would be great to fight at Staples Center. The (Great Western) Forum has always been my home away from home. I?m sure that the fight fans in Los Angeles would love to see a fight between two great Mexican champions.?
Looking back on the success of his career, Barrera is modest in placing himself amongst the great fighters that come from Mexico. He would rather allow the public to do that for him.
Still, Barrera will go down as one of the greatest fighters to have out on gloves professionally from Mexico. Barrera may have entered another stage in his career, but he looks forward to the challenges ahead.
Barrera may not have had the blazing speed or awesome one-punch knockout power some fighters may not have possessed. However, he has lived by a model of resiliency and consistency that will make him a Hall-of-Fame fighter.
The ageless wonder is a fighter for the ages and will live on in our thoughts as one of the best fighters to step inside the ring.
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The Marco Antonio Barrera WBC Super Featherweight title defense against Mzonke Fana will take place on Saturday night. Tickets are on sale at the Don Haskins Events Center. Remaining tickets that are valued at $50 can be purchased at Ticketmaster or by calling (915) 747-5234. The “Viva Mexico” card will be televised on HBO Pay-Per-View.
