“KING MANNY” IS THE “NEW” TITO TRINIDAD
Las Vegas, NV-After dominating and stopping Erik Morales in the tenth round of their Saturday night rematch, Manny Pacquiao has become the new Felix Trinidad of the boxing world! An icon and hero in his homeland of the Philippines, like Trinidad, Pacquiao always comes forward, looking to knock his opponent out. His style is crowd pleasing, and his determination to win is infectious.
PHILIPPINE CROWD WILL DWARF THOSE OF TITO
Everywhere Pacquiao goes, from restaurants to his own home, he is mobbed by dozens of fans. Every time Trinidad won, Puerto Rico would hold a parade and a daylong celebration. The Philippines is no different. Pacquiao, who will board Philippine Airlines late on the 25th, is expected to have his own day, as the Philippines will likely declare this Friday, “Manny Pacquiao Day”! Born in General Santos City on the southern island of Mindanao, Manny will be honored across the country.
BARRERA IS THE LAST GOLDEN BOY!
Marco Antonio Barrera is the last golden boy of the boxing world. After defeating Erik Morales in late 2004, and winning his third title in as many weight divisions, Barrera became Mexico’s top boxer. Unlike his rival, Tijuana’s Morales, Barrera was raised in Mexico City. In Barrera’s early days, he was a vicious body puncher who rarely backed up. However, Barrera has made a 180’ degree turn, transforming himself into the master boxer who schooled Prince Naseem Hamed, and more recently gutsy IBF guy Robbie Peden. Now Barrera holds 2/4 of the super featherweight championship, and is still the king even though Pacquiao blitzed through him at 126 in 2003. Marco is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
BARRERA & PACQUIAO HOT LIKE OSCAR & TRINIDAD!
In 1999 two undefeated fighters, Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad clashed in a unification bout dubbed “The Fight of the Millennium.” With the exception of Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002, the fight was, and has been, one of the most anticipated bouts in recent years. Each fighter could not be more popular, and the atmosphere was electric. Although the fight was a dud and controversial, no fight has yet lived up to the pre-fight buzz this fight had.
SUPERFIGHT OF 2006 WILL BE PUGILISTIC RIOT!
Should Pacquiao and Barrera get it on later this year, the bout could be the closest boxing fans will get to a “Fight of the Millennium.” Before this the little guys have not received any media coverage on ESPN Sportscenter, or any other major sports outlet. However, with Pacquiao’s huge win against Morales sparking the buzz throughout the mass media, and a Barrera win come March, ESPN will have no choice but to cover the fight instead of having ten ex-football players discussing the same game all hour long.
DISTRACTION VS. DISTRACTION!
Marco Antonio Barrera made it clear that the many distractions he faced before his bout against Pacquiao were too much to overcome. He told people that he was not really himself, and the real Barrera was not in the ring that night. He backed up those statements by dominating and stopping Paulie Ayala, and beating Erik Morales in major fights after the loss. When Manny Pacquiao lost to Erik Morales, he felt that his distractions were also too much to overcome. He promised his fans that in the rematch, all his distractions were gone, thus a dominating victory of Morales.
FANS DIVIDED OVER VICTOR OF MANNY-MARCO II
Those in favor of Barrera will look to Pacquiao’s victory as precedence to why Marco will beat Pacquiao in their rematch. Barrera will have no distractions against Pacquiao in the rematch, which is why he will win. However, let’s compare the results of the two distracted boxers in their most recent losses. Pacquiao lost a two-point fight, where he had a large gash over his eye and stunned his opponent in the last round. In Barrera’s loss, he was run out of the ring, and wanted to quit after an accidental clash of heads. Eventually he had to be rescued by his corner man.
THE FANS WILL DECIDE WHAT WEIGHT THE FIGHT WILL BE! Currently, Marco Antonio Barrera is scheduled to challenge Jesus Chavez’ IBF lightweight championship. Chavez is a live underdog, who can outwork and smother Barrera similar to Pacquiao. The fight will take place at the MGM Grand Garden, March 25th. This bout will not be on pay-per-view as originally speculated, rather HBO Championshipo Boxing. If Barrera beat Chavez, then expect him to only call out Pacquiao at lightweight. Barrera is not as big physically as Morales, but Pacquiao eats to hit 130 and could be sluggish in a lightweight bout, even though Pacquiao would be the clear favorite. What could be the determinative factor in this mega-fight is who the star of the fight is. Barrera has the belts at 130 and if he wins at 135. However, Pacquiao defeated Barrera in 2003 and in his last two PPV fight (with the help of Erik Morales) more than doubled Barrera’s past two PPV dates.
BIGGEST NON-MEXICAN CROWD SINCE 80’S? The Filipino crowd last Saturday was one of the biggest non-Mexican crowd in years and Pacquiao is the current flavor of the month in the mainstream sports world. If Barrera-Chavez becomes a success and Barrera can sell out the MGM Grand, then Golden Boy Promotions should take the lead in the negotiation. But if Pacquiao, who will likely take a tune-up in the middle of the year, can put on a great show and sell out his fight with him as the star of the show, then Gary Shaw can take over as lead promoter. More importantly, Barrera would have to come down to 130 to fight the bigger star, Pacquiao.
