Taking on a fighter of equal skill isn’t new to Marco Antonio Barrera. He’s done it several times in his career — three battles with Eric Morales, another against Manny Pacquiao quickly come to mind. But Juan Manuel Marquez poses a more difficult challenge.
Preparing for Marquez (46-3-1, 35 KOs) is nearly impossible. There’s no way to know what style he’ll bring into the ring on fight night.
“He’s not the same fighter from one night to another,” said Barrera, who puts his WBC super featherweight title on the line tomorrow night (HBO pay-per-view at 9) when he faces Marquez in Las Vegas. “I know that he’s going to come out with something new.”
That’s Marquez, always changing things up. Whether or not it’s done deliberately isn’t the issue. The bottom line is it works for him, at least most of the time.
A notoriously slow starter, Marquez has experienced a few bumps in his career. In May 1999, he was outboxed by Freddie Norwood. It was Marquez’s first shot at a major world title and he looked uncomfortable in the ring. He’d lose by unanimous decision.
Norwood successfully defended the WBA featherweight title two more times before being stopped Sept. 9, 2000, by Derrick Gainer. Two years later, Marquez would defeat Gainer in a unification bout.
Then there was the fight that propelled Marquez to superstar status: a showdown with Pacquiao in May 2004. In that fight Marquez displayed his fighting versatility.
He came out determined to match the hardest-hitting featherweight punch for punch. The plan backfired immediately — Marquez was dropped three times in the first round.
But Marquez rebounded and did something almost no other fighter can, he immediately changed styles. Marquez went from slugger to master boxer in a matter of seconds.
From the second round on, Pacquiao was in the toughest fight of his life. The fight ended in a draw, but Marquez’s ability to quickly change tactics opened many eyes — even Barrera’s. The champ, however, is confident of retaining his crown
