Over the next year to year and a half a lot of questions will be answered concerning these three great fighters: Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. It seems like you cannot say one of their names without mentioning one of the others.
Starting with the much anticipated rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao this October 6 in Las Vegas, the boxing world will start to get definitive answers concerning the current golden era of the featherweight division.
The scenarios are endless.
We can have possible trilogies, possible retirements and fights that will define the career of each future hall of famer. Over the next three weeks I will break down each fighter and see what the next year and half will mean for their boxing legacy.
Marco Antonio Barrera
Although Juan Manuel Marquez is a few months older, Barrera is the oldest as far as ring years are concerned compared to Marquez and Pacquiao. At the age of 33 you can argue that Marco Antonio Barrera is the best Mexican fighter in the post- Julio Cesar Chavez era.
This October he faces the toughest challenge of his career when he faces Manny Pacquiao in a rematch that has been four years in the making. Manny handed Marco his worst physical beating. Marco attributes the loss to having to deal with brushfires in Big Bear, Ca, the location where Marco was training.
Reports also surfaced about Marco’s head surgery, which he had earlier in his career. Barrera goes into the rematch as a heavy underdog. Not only by the odds makers, but also within the boxing circles. Marco has come back twice in his career after being labeled as “done”. The pride of Mexico City came back from his short retirement after losing twice to Junior Jones in 1997. He also came back from the Pacquiao loss and defeated Erik Morales in the 3rd fight of their epic trilogy.
At the age of 33 Marco Antonio Barrera is already a hall of famer in my eyes. He has an impressive record of 63 wins 5 losses and 42 knockouts. Marco has been in some of the most exciting fights in boxing’s history. Marco put the BAD in HBO’s Boxing After Dark debut when he knocked out Kennedy McKinney in the 12th round after he was on the canvas twice himself.
Who can forget when he defeated the heavily favored Prince Naseem Hamed? Prince Hassem fell from the boxing hemisphere after that April night in 2001. Marco took two out of the three fights in the epic trilogy with rival Erik Morales. Those 36 combined rounds were probably the best in boxing history
The thing about great champions is that they always have one great fight left in them. The Manny Pacquiao loss has always been in the back of Barrera’s head. There is nothing he would love more then to defeat the still in his prime Manny Pacquiao to prove all his doubters wrong. If Marco can defeat Manny Pacquiao he should retire. Marco already has had a legendary career, but a win over Manny Pacquiao will put Marco in the discussions of best Mexican fighters off all time and best fighters in the smaller weight divisions.
Next week, Part 2 – Juan Manuel Marquez
