Before November 15th 2003, like many other American boxing fans, I had never heard of Manny Pacquiao, let alone seen him fight. On the other hand we had seen his opponent Marco Antonio Barrera go to war many times against the likes of Junior Jones, Prince Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales among others. Needless to say, I expected Barrera to win via a late round stoppage. However, after Barrera was awarded a “gift” knockdown by referee Laurence Cole in the first round, it was all Pacquiao.
Throughout the duration of the fight he constantly beat Barrera to the punch, while also proving that he can take a hard punch. He sent Barrera to the mat in both the third and eleventh rounds. The fight was ended with forty-two seconds remaining in the eleventh round when Barrera’s corner mercifully stopped the fight. Manny Pacquiao was suddenly the next big thing.
Just a mere five months later Pacquiao was in the ring with reigning IBF and WBA Featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao gave Marquez all he could handle, knocking him down three times in the first round. However, Marquez was able to escape with his belts after managing to pull out a controversial draw.
After a quick tune up fight in December to stay sharp, Pacquiao is scheduled to face “El Terrible” Erik Morales next month in what I think is going to be the toughest fight of his career. “El Terrible” owns victories over Barrera, Pauly Ayala, Junior Jones and Wayne McCullough. His last fight in November of last year was the third and final fight in his trilogy with Barrera. Barrera won a close majority decision and is still the only man to beat Morales.
Still, Morales is one of the greatest and most exciting featherweights of all time, and right now he is hungry and wants to prove he is still the man to beat in the division. He is a very skilled boxer who has sported excellent power in every division he has fought in, but he may be biting off more then he can chew in this fight.
I think he will definitely stay in the fight with Pacquiao, and will still be throwing punches after twelve brutal rounds in which each man pushes the other to the limit. But this fight may be taking place to soon after the Barrera fight for Morales to be at his absolute best. A fresh, in-shape Pacquiao in my opinion, can beat anyone in the division. Regardless of all the intangibles, this epic encounter has “fight of the year” written all over it, and I can’t wait to watch it. Is it March 19th yet?
