THE WORLD BOXING Council has ordered Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera to face in a mandatory defense of his super featherweight title the winner of the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales fight on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas.
The decision was announced by WBC president Jose Sulaiman during the organization’s 44th annual convention in Dubrovnik, Croatia, yesterday. This followed the approval of the third Pacquiao-Morales fight as the final eliminator to decide Barrera’s mandatory foe.
According to the report from Fightnews, in the event that neither Pacquiao nor Morales is available to fight Barrera, third-ranked Humberto Soto of Mexico will be the next official challenger.
There have been reports that Morales will move up in weight after the Nov. 18 fight, making a possible Pacquiao-Barrera rematch even more plausible.
Morales is actually rated No. 1 in the lightweight (135-lb) division of the WBC ratings ending Oct. 31 while Pacquiao, the reigning WBC International super featherweight (130-lb) titlist, is the top-ranked challenger to Barrera’s crown.
A Pacquiao-Barrera clash is expected to become a megabuck fight since the Mexican has been angling for a rematch with the Filipino since losing by an 11th round stoppage in their clash in 2003.
Barrera won the super featherweight title by decision over fellow Mexican Morales on Nov. 27, 2004.
Meanwhile, Filipino boxing trainer Edito “Ala” Villamor, who calls the shot for the undefeated Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, yesterday expressed confidence that Pacquiao is well on his way to yet another resounding victory over the weight-conscious Morales.
Villamor reported from Los Angeles that Pacquiao is in terrific shape, and is training religiously for his third fight with Morales dubbed as the “Grand Finale.”
“Grabe, parang hindi napapagod sa training (He doesn’t seem to tire during his training),” Villamor said of Pacquiao.
