THE FIRST time they met in late 2003, Marco Antonio Barrera was the overwhelming favorite and Manny Pacquiao was the clear underdog.
Almost four years later, things are now different — totally different.
Pacquiao is now the favored fighter, while Barrera is the one who’s been regarded as a long-shot to win the rematch scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
“When Pacquiao won against me, the pressure to win was on me,” Barrera told the Spanish-language sports daily ESTO. “I was the star, the favorite and had the obligation to win.”
“Now, the star is Pacquiao and he has the obligation to win. The pressure is on Pacquiao,” said Barrera, who meets Pacquiao in a press conference on Wednesday at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
“My enthusiasm for boxing is back and if there’s one who is hungry for a victory, that would be me,” added Barrera, who lost an 11th-round knockout to the Filipino southpaw at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Six sparring partners, three each from Japan and Mexico, are set to arrive in the city of Guadalajara, Barrera’s training headquarters, in the second week of August to work with him.
Oddsmakers have installed Pacquiao as the heavy favorite going into the scheduled 12-rounder dubbed by co-promoters Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions as ‘The Will To Win.’
Pacquiao, meanwhile, is slated to report for training at the Wild Card in Hollywood, California, in the coming days.
