BARRING ANY unforeseen circumstance, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera are going to get it on for the second time on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas.
A major breakthrough in the peace talks involving Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) happened yesterday in the US after Bob Arum told media outfits, including the Bulletin, that his promotional firm and the Oscar De La Hoya-owned company “are going to have an announcement on Thursday.”
“That’s all I can say this moment and I am still not allowed to speak,” said Arum.
But somebody who is privy to the talks confirmed that Pacquiao and Barrera will fight in a rematch on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas.
“At this very moment, the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch is on but anything can still happen in the next 12 to 24 hours but we are now looking at a Barrera rematch given the favorable result of the mediation.”
Daniel Weisntein, a retired San Francisco judge, presided over the court-ordered mediation the past two weeks in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao declined to confirm the news about a Barrera rematch but he was chirpy when the Bulletin got to him early yesterday afternoon.
“I already know what’s going to happen,” said Pacquiao, who did not elaborate as he has probably been told that an announcement will be made soon.
Pacquiao had also been batting for a Barrera rematch the past week or so.
Top Rank currently promotes Pacquiao, while Barrera is under GBP, which also claims promotional rights over the Filipino boxing sensation on the strength of a contract that Pacquiao signed with GBP on Sept. 19, 2006, in Los Angeles. Pacquiao has renounced that contract and has stuck with Arum.
Last week, Top Rank was on the verge of announcing a Pacquiao bout in Vancouver, Canada, against Humberto Soto, which Top Rank also promotes, after the warring factions encountered several disagreements on various fronts.
Pacquiao had beaten Barrera to a bloody pulp in Nov. 2003 in San Antonio, Texas, and Barrera is aching to get back at his proud tormentor before hanging his gloves for good.
Pacquiao, 28, hasn’t fought since overpowering Jorge Solis last April in San Antonio, while the last outing of Barrera, 33, was a loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in March in Las Vegas.
