Emmanuel Lucero was undefeated when he challenged champion Manny Pacquiao for the IBF Super Bantamweight title on July 26, 2003 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. It was a fistic experience he will never forget.
“That was the first loss of my career, against Manny Pacquiao. I was confident I was gonna beat this guy,” recalls Lucero. “He look so small. But look what comes and happened. I went over there, feel confidence. Get knocked out in the third round.”
When asked what makes Pacquiao so good, Lucero doesn’t hesitate to answer. “Oh, he got a tremendous left-right hand. Nobody could see that punch. I’m telling you – nobody could see that punch. I said before the Barrera fight, if Pacquiao caught Barrera with the left-right hand, Barrera’s gonna go down. And what happened? Caught him up. I mean, Pacquiao hit hard. I’m telling you. He caught me. I went down, they stop the fight.”
Lucero also had complimentary words to say about Manny Pacquiao as a human being. “He’s a nice person. Beautiful. He says it was nice to fight with you. You a nice guy. Your name is like my name. We both born in November! That’s what he told me! Nice man. Normal guy. Very, very, very nice. I learned something about that.”
I asked Lucero if he were lucky enough to get a rematch with Pacquiao, what tactical changes would be make? “I would fight him real nice. Practice a lot, a lot of defense. He not gonna touch me with the left-right. That’s it. I could take him. Body punches. Body punches.”
Lucero, 34, is still active as a professional. Based out of Scranton, Pennsylvania now, Lucero, aka “The Butcher” has lost his last seven fights including two decisions this year to Monty Meza Clay, as a lightweight. His overall professional ring record stands at 26-13-1 (6 KO’s).
One last question to Lucero, if Pacquiao fights Floyd Mayweather in 2013, who wins? “It’s gonna be a tough fight. I give it about 50-50. Both are tough. But if Pacquiao catches him with a left-right hand, Mayweather is going down. Down.”
