By Rick Reeno
Marco Antonio Barrera, fresh off of his two round destruction of Mzonke Fana is now looking towards the future and some big name opponents. The two names that are at the top of the loop for Barrera are Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao.
When weighing his options, Barrera is leaning towards a fourth meeting with Erik Morales over a rematch with Manny Pacquiao. The general feeling from Marco is that he has everything to lose and very little to gain by beating Manny Pacquiao at this moment in time.
"Right now it doesnt make sense to fight Pacquiao, he just lost a fight with Erik Morales. Everyone will say I beat him because of what happened in his last fight. I want to fight him again, but everything has to be right." said Barrera
Barrera seems to be very open for a fourth meeting with Morales, but he would have to make the match soon as Morales is looking to move up to 135 pounds. Morales has hinted at moving up to 135 and facing the winner of the megabout between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. Barrera went on the record this weekend with his intentions to stay at 130 pounds.
"I'm not going to move up, I feel good at this weight and for now this is where I'm going to stay" said Barrera
With all of the disputes going on in the Pacquiao camp over money stemming from the Morales pay per view, the likelihood of the rematch between Pacquiao and Barrera happening this year are very slim.
Should the fourth meeting with Morales not come off, Barrera is going to play the waiting game and see who the public demands for him to fight.
"If we don't go with Morales, there are a lot of other fights out there."
The pound for pound rankings have become an absolute mess for boxing experts. The arguement over who should be ranked higher on the pound for pound list has become a highly debated topic. Manny Pacquiao dominated Marco Antonio Barrera with a one-sided TKO victory, Barrera beats Erik Morales by unanimous decision in a fight where he was a heavy underdog and then Morales comes back and beats Manny Pacquaio by way of unanimous decision. Who should be ranked above who? It all depends on who you ask, but a rematch between Barrera and Pacquiao would quickly solve the problem.
Another fighter that is being thrown around for a possible meeting with Barrera is the always dangerous Jorge Barrios. Barrios stopped the previously undefeated Mike Anchondo last week to capture the WBO's version of the 130 pound title. Both Barrera and Barrios are promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and a meeting between the two men could be a fight of the year caliber matchup.
"He (Barrios) is a very good fighter, strong puncher, it would be a good fight."
