IF he has a choice, people?s champion Manny Pacquiao said he would prefer to face in his next fight the World Boxing Council superfeatherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera also of Mexico.
Pacquiao, who was given a hero?s welcome upon his arrival on Friday from the US, said he now wanted to have a legitimate crown and is eyeing Barrera?s WBC belt in March next year and not the WBO title of Alejandro Valero of Venezuela.
?What I wanted to do is to have a legitimate world title. That?s why I wanted Barrera as my next opponent,? Pacquiao told no less than President Arroyo and Vice-President Noli de Castro during a courtesy call in Malaca?ang where he was prepared a ?peoples champion?s cake.?
Fresh from stunning third round knockout win over Erik Morales on Sunday in Las Vegas, the 27-year-old General Santos native is now the top contender to the belt of Barrera, whom he crushed via an 11th round TKO in Alamodon, San Antonio, Texas, in 2004.
Pacquiao, belittled the challenge of Valero for the World Boxing Organization crown in Macau in February next year, saying he is very raw yet for the ?Peoples? Champion.?
?I don?t think Valero had ever meet a strong contender like me. Maybe they were all tricycle drivers. He is starting yet so I think he was mistaken in challenging me,? said Pacquiao, during a 9 a.m. press conference at the Manila city hall.
Pacquiao was the former WBC champion in both the flyweight and bantamweight divisions before venturing into higher superfeatherweight.
?Barrera is an experience fighter and he has fought a lot of good boxers in the past. I wanted him next to legitimaze my supremacy,? added Pacquiao, who is 2-1 in their epic battle with the ?El Terrible? Morales.
He is said he is not affected by the brewing war between two big-time promoters Top Rank of Bob Arum and Golden Boy Promotion of former Olympic gold medalist Osacar de la Hoya.
?I am not affected at all. I am just leaving it to them to solve the problem,? he added.
Pacquiao also confirmed that he is not going to run for vice mayor of Manila in the 2007 election, saying that his closeness with Mayor Lito Atienza and son Ali was just misunderstood by many people.
?It just happen that I am very close to Mayor Lito and his son Ali. They were the ones who helped during my dire needs. It was just taken ?out of context,? he explained.
Mayor Atienza on Monday led Manilans in honoring their adopted son Pacquiao, who was greeted by hundreds of thousands of fans, lining up the route of the tickertape parade organized by Manila Sports Council (Masco) Chairman Ali Atienza.
He was fetched personally by Mayor Atienza at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and together they attended a Thanksgiving Mass at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) before going to Manila city hall where the 27-year-old World Boxing Council (WBC) Intercontinental Super Featherweight Champion was greeted warmly by employees and fellow Manilans.
Atienza said that a monument will be placed at Manila?s famed Baywalk on Roxas Boulevard depicting Pacquiao delivering a left hook to serve as a continuing inspiration to everyone, especially the youth, that Filipinos can be champions too.
A grand victory party was also prepared by the city government of Manila in coordination with Solar Entertainment and Solar Sports at the Rajah Sulayman Park in the evening featuring the country?s top performers and a special number performed by Pacquiao himself.
