MARCO Antonio Barrera is raring to get back at Manny Pacquiao.
In an interview following his recent win over fellow Mexican legend Erik Morales, Barrera said a rematch with the Filipino champion, the reigning Ring Magazine featherweight king, is his main concern next year.
“For 2005, a bout with Manny Pacquiao is my top priority,” said Barrera in an interview with Boxingtalk’s Ricardo Lois during a press conference for Oscar De La Hoya’s Boxeo de Oro.
“But we will have to wait and see,” added Barrera, whose stature as the world’s best pound-for-pound featherweight fighter was ruined when Pacquiao stopped him in the 11th round of their first meeting last year.
“He has a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez that he needs to win first and that is not an easy fight for him.”
Pacquiao, who is coming off a fourth-round demolition of Thai Fahsan 3K Battery in Taguig last week, is slated to face WBA/IBF featherweight champ Marquez on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas in a rematch of their May showdown which ended in a draw.
Meanwhile, concern over Pacquiao’s readiness to face Marquez cropped up after it was learned that the Filipino hero was planning to leave for the United States only on Jan. 10.
The January departure goes against the advice of his Los Angeles-based American trainer Freddie Roach, who came over to personally handle his training against Fahsan.
Roach had instructed Pacquiao to immediately fly to the US after Christmas to start preparing for Marquez, who is undergoing high-altitude training in the mountains of Toluca, Mexico.
Pacquiao is said to prefer starting light training in the US only when he arrives on Jan. 10. Reports said he had stopped doing light conditioning while resting in General Santos City following his victory over Fahsan.
The move has worried not a few Pacquiao supporters, who said he should get back to work immediately if he wants to be in the best shape against Marquez.
Against Fahsan, Pacquiao was criticized for visibly tiring easily and losing his deadly timing. Many fight pundits attributed this to his cramming in training for the unheralded Thai.
