SACRAMENTO, California — He is not jumping up and down stairs and beating up meat in freezers. But Filipino Manny Pacquiao must be relishing a bit of the Rocky syndrome for his Nov. 15 fight with two-time World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.
Not only is Pacquiao the underdog at 10-3 for the non-title featherweight fight dubbed “People’s Championship” at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. He also enters the ring with the “house” fighter in Barrera who belongs to a stable of elite boxers with HBO contracts.
