When you ask a die hard boxing fan for their opinion regarding the Pound for Pound Champion, there are two choices that stand as the heavy majority for the top spot. One is Floyd Mayweather, JR, who is the majority (or at least plurality) option. Second to Floyd in votes is Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao has been famous for a long time, but it is only recently that he has achieved what may be the height of his fame. Pacquiao has a history of fighting prime opponents who carry both heart and talent. Between Erik Morales, Oscar Larios, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera, Pacquiao has fought more big name fighters for bigger pursers than most boxers could ever dream of approaching. He has always shown up in the big fights, never disappointing the fans by playing too tactically but instead standing in and trading shots with even the biggest punchers that are willing to face his hurricane flurries.
In his first fight with Barrera, Pacquiao dominated the Mexican countryman with hard shots at all angles to all parts of the body. Barrera almost never looked like he had a chance after the third round. However, Pacquiao found himself in a much more even back and forth competition with Juan Manuel Marquez in the very next fight out. After dropping Marquez three times in the first round, Pacquiao was at a loss to beat his opponent to the punch. Marquez countered him every step of the way to eke out a controversial draw in that fight.
As of late this year, Pacquiao had two magnanimous potential rematches in his range of selection. The fight with Marquez is the biggest, but the overlooked match that took place with Barrera deserved mention as well. Barrera was considering retirement and badly wanted one last shot at Pacquiao for good measure. He also wanted a final payday while his body was still good enough to fight and his name was still big enough to draw Pay Per View Attention.
The hype surrounding the fight was a dialogue of what was left in Barrera?s tank. The two possible openings he was given for victory by the press was an ability to box and move and the last streak of fury inside of a great fighter who loved to switch between boxing and brawling.
Barrera entered Mandalay Bay on October 6th as a +271 under dog and, while beloved in Vegas, perhaps as the visiting boxer in Las Vegas. Barrera was defeated by Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight in the same arena only seven months earlier. This time around, he would have to be twice as aggressive in what appeared to be a more hostile situation in order to be victorious.
Therein lied the real trouble for him in the fight. If Barrera came out of the gates like a bull, he beckoned a brawl. Brawling with Pacquiao is about as smart as cooking a sheet of metal in your microwave and placing your head by the clock. However, if he eased off of the gas and boxed, he was asking for a disastrously one sided punch track and a clear points loss.
The fight started off in the manner of the latter of those two choices. While Barrera looked even over the course of the first few rounds, many fans credit Pacquiao with taking control throughout the entire distance of the fight. His hands never exploded as they did in the first fight or in his showdown with Larios. All Pacquiao did was manage consistent shots at a 2-1 clip throughout every trade.
Barrera did not trade until the fifth round, when he finally placed several hard right hands and received a mouth full of boxing glove from both hands in return. His corner told him not to trade after the round and he obliged them as the fight continued.
During the middle rounds of the fight, the situation grew from a state of nervousness to a state of desperation. Barrera?s corner flip flopped on their earlier advice and told Barrera to pick up the pace. They told him Pacquiao was tired. They told him that his right hand was connecting and his jab was controlling the action. They tried almost anything they could to psyche Barrera into fighting. Nothing worked.
In the eleventh round, a frustrated Barrera put a punctuation nail in his own coffin. After a full fight with hardly a moment in which he was able to reach the chin of Pacquiao, he hit on the break and suffered a one point deduction. Barrera could hardly be blamed; he was frustrated and was in the midst of responding left hands and punishing rights from Pacquiao, punches reminiscent of the first fight. While the fight was already well out of hands on the cards, the minus was an even bigger hole for Barrera to fill.
The crowd of a 10,000+ people cheered every shot and, while they have seen better fights in terms of action, the product offered was satisfying to most. Even so, it took plenty of time for several good exchanges to take place and those exchanges were never of the caliber offered in the first fight.
To the surprise of very few, Pacquiao was announced as the winner of the fight by margins of 118-109 (twice), and 115-112. Pacquiao landed 138 more punches and threw 140 more overall. He also connected on over half of his power punches. Some have claimed that Barrera controlled the fight with his jab and was able to use it to close the gap against Pacquiao, but that opinion was overridden by the judges that night and by the books of historical hindsight. “It was different from our first fight,” a smiling Pacquiao said after the fight. “He’s a good, smart boxer. For me, I’m satisfied with that win. I thought the people were happy with that fight. I’m trying to make people happy, to give a good fight. I hope that people liked this fight tonight. We did our best.”
Barrera surprised many, including Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach. Roach thought his man was going to knock him out, but credited Barrera for being game competition. As for Barrera, he announced it would be his ?last fight.? Before taking a parting shot.
“I’m sad because I lost, but he hit me with very few punches, very few combinations. I thought I controlled him with my left hand all night,” said Barrera, a lock first-ballot Hall of Famer. “I’m happy we’re finishing off the career with that.”
All that remains for Pacquiao is his rematch with Marquez, a fight set to take place early next year. That fight is the one piece of unfinished business left on Pacquiao?s plate. While he would go on to lose Morales later in his career, he also scored revenge for that loss with two brutal knockouts in consecutive rematches. His fights with Hector Velazquez, Jorge Solis and Larios were one sided in nature. That leaves him one worthy challenger when it comes to the discussion of rematch history. The world can?t wait to see it.
