Rod Nazario, business manager of featherweight People?s Champion said yesterday that a rematch with legendary Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera is almost a done deal, saying he was ?90 to 95 percent sure the fight will take place.?
It seems the only problem is the fight date and venue.
With Oscar De La Hoya fighting Bernard Hopkins on Sept. 18 and Roy Jones Jr. battling Glen Johnson one week later, Nazario said indications are the rematch will take place ?in the first two weeks of October,? although a November date had been mentioned as a possibility.
However, Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard he was prepared to fight even on Sept. 4 or 11, obviously eager to settle the issue with Barrera and then move on to another rematch, this time with World Boxing Association/International Boxing Federation champion Juan Manuel Marquez. After this, he plans to go for the big fight with World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Erik Morales provided the Mexican retains his title against Carlos ?Famoso? Hernandez on July 31.
Pacquiao, who returned last Friday from what he described as ?an enjoyable family holiday? with wife Jinkee and their sons Emmanuel Jr. and Michael Stephen, added that he was ?warmly and well treated? by Thai boxing fans and was scheduled to return to Bangkok with his wife on the 29th to participate in the GMA 7 TV show ?Extra Challenge.? A concerned Nazario, however, asked him to make sure he didn?t engage in kickboxing or any other challenge where he could injure himself.
Nazario disclosed that he had told promoter Murad Muhammad about his desire to stage the Barrera rematch in Manila if possible and was ?willing to pay for the travel and accommodation of Kerry Davis? the HBO Sports executive so he could visit Manila to ?check on his security concerns as well as the site which is the Araneta Coliseum and the TV equipment of ABS-CBN and GMA? which he was certain would meet the standards required by HBO.
